September Outing: Canoe Trip on the James River
We had an early morning departure from St. Francis Church for our trip to Virginia’s James River and the Breeden Bottom campsite. The scenery on the way to the campsite was beautiful; rolling hills, farms, and eventually mountains with deep valleys. The weather was perfect. When the Troop 55 trailer arrived, we set up our patrol equipment and tents, and then drove to the Twin River Outfitters to get our canoeing gear and lifejackets.
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At the Outfitters, we started the first leg of the canoeing trip. Because of the time of the year, the River was lower and this caused us later on to get stuck on rocks and snags at rapids. We would have probably gone right over them if there had been a lot of rain a few days before. Newer Scouts were paired with older Scouts, which generally turned out okay except when an older Scout was much bigger than a newer Scout. When that happened, the newer Scout – being in the front – rode so high that he found it hard to dip his paddle in the water! We also had “buddy boat” system so that two canoes were always sticking together during the trip.
The canoeing was great, and there were a few surprises during the trip. At one point we came upon about 25 black cows standing in a shallow part of the river. They were cooling off and didn’t pay us any attention as we paddled by. Still kind of an odd thing to see: a herd of cows in the middle of a river! There were also a lot of old ruined stone buildings alongside the river. They were covered in vines and brush so that it was hard to see what was once done in the buildings, but because of the placement so close to the river they must have been water-powered mills of some sort. They must have been at least one hundred to two hundred years old!
During the trip, we stopped at a very nice little pool. One of the older Scouts jumped in to swim, and then most of the newer Scouts jumped in after them. Mr. Pan decided we might as well take a break from paddling right there, so everyone had a good swim in the natural pool. It was great, and the water wasn’t even that cold!
We arrived at our campsite, which was on the river, and beached our canoes to make dinner and have a campfire. We were really hungry by that time, and everyone devoured the food we have brought. So many of the Patrols chose to make hamburgers for dinner that our Scoutmaster decided to put a ban on burgers for future outings. Ouch. After dinner we packed all the Patrol gear in the trailer to get ready for an early departure. Our campfire was great, as usual; lots of jokes, skits, and Mr. Merrill led us in a funny song about shaving cream. By the time for Vespers everyone was ready to hit the sleeping bags.
In the morning, we had a cold breakfast – which was pretty good – and broke camp, putting all our personal gear in the assigned cars that drove us to the outing, and had a non-denominational service led by our Scout Chaplain. We got back into our canoes, still in pairs and with our “buddy boats,” and paddled on the last 3 hour leg of the canoeing trip. Again, the scenery was great and everyone paddled hard so that we could get back home as quickly as possible. After beaching the canoes at the final destination, we got a bus ride back to our campsite, piled into our assigned drivers’ cars, and left for home.
This trip was one of the more memorable outings among the many good ones we have through the year. A big “thanks” to Mr. Merrill for planning and organizing this great outing. Canoeing with buddies was sometimes challenging but worthwhile because the older and younger Scouts had a good opportunity to get to know each other better. It was also nice that we had enough time to goof around after doing our camp duties. I’m glad that the newer Scouts could participate in a Scout experience that was exciting and challenging, and yet required buddy-system teamwork and some hard effort. Lots of memories, good times, and great company.
(Submitted by Alex Reinke, Sharks Patrol Historian)
