Balcony Falls on the James River
February 23, 2008
I sat my boat down on the bank of the Maury and pulled out my lunch. Bev and I had already unloaded our gear and dressed for the river and now Bev was driving to Snowden to meet Tom at the take-out. As I sat there eating my PB&J, I spent most of my time either watching the trains pass by or trying to decide whether or not I would seal launch off the bank. By the time Bev and Tom got back, I had talked myself into the launch. So I skirted up and pushed off, flew down into the water, went under, went over and rolled up. It was a fun and exciting way to start the day. It definitely got my heart racing, scared the *#&# out of me in fact, but it also got the first roll out of the way.
Bev and I met in Martinsville that morning at 10 and arrived in Glasgow sometime before noon. We probably hit the river somewhere around 12:30. The first rapid was in sight of the put-in at the confluence with the James. It was bigger than I expected with nice waves at the bottom and made for a great way to start the paddle. When the wind blew and the clouds blocked the sun, it would get pretty chilly, but when the wind died down and the sun came out, it got a lot nicer. Luckily, the wind blew at our backs more often than not, of course that made the boats a little squirrelly from time to time. Tom and I both followed Bev's lines through almost all the ledges and rapids. Bev pointed out all the good play spots and I tried to play in all of them I could, usually until they threw me and I had to roll up. And it usually didn't take long for me to get thrown. I was having just the best time though and trying as many things as I could. There were far more playspots than I anticipated. Three other kayakers put in around the same time we did and we bumped into them from time to time on our way down the river.
I had trouble getting into the best rapid of the run, the one at Balcony Falls, and when I did get in it, I had trouble staying there. One of the other three boaters did some great surfing there though. I took out at the Balcony Falls rapid and snapped a few pics before heading on down stream with Tom and Bev. We took out just below Jump Rock for a snack, then finished up the day by making the most of all the remaining ledges. During that last stretch Bev gave me some tips on getting a stern squirt and I worked on that where I could. I probably had to roll as a result at least three times. So I spent much of my river time upside down on a cold February day, but I've got to say it again, I just had the best time. We were off the water at 3 o'clock and stopped at a pull-off on our way back to the put-in to take a few more photos. Great scenery, great water, great company, just a great day. I enjoyed talking with Bev on the ride up to Glasgow and again on the way back to Martinsville. It's nice getting to hear about all those creeks and rivers that I hope to paddle one day.
I look forward to paddling the Balcony Falls section of the James again. And I look forward to paddling some of the other rivers in the area as well, like the Maury.