I recently had the opportunity to get on the lower James River flowing through Richmond, VA. I was immediately struck with the interesting juxtaposition of the natural and urban environments. Beautiful Class III water, tall buildings, wading herons, bridge pier upon bridge pier upon bridge pier, lush vegetation, long stretches of pipes and walls, tongues of flowing water and natural rock, extreme outdoorsy types, hardened urban dwellers, and more. It was quite a surreal contrast that i really enjoyed being in the midst of. To add to the awesomeness of the area, when i was riding to the put-in and wandering around at the take out, i was passed by dozens of mountain bikers coming off of trails, road bikers pulling in from winding road routes, climbers toting crash pads to hidden bouldering spots, and an full array of paddlers (kayakers, canoes and rafters). In addition to the obvious outdoorsy types, i also observed a rainbow of ethnicity, social class, and sexual orientations, ... it was a wide spectrum of people. Clusters of spiked leather jacket wearing punkers hanging out under the bridge piers, bikini clad sunbathers on tiny strands of sandy river sides, a flock of flamboyantly dressed guys walking up a river side trail, solitary transient types carrying clothes in plastic grocery bags, smartly dressed couples holding hands enjoying each others company along the river, families with fishing gear, all were present and enjoying the beautiful resource in their back yard. As i sat with the sun setting, soaking in my surroundings, i was also struck with how little litter there was (at least near the access points). Now, i realize that a huge urban center and a large river interfacing will have it's share of environmental issues, but this lack of litter was surprising. And almost on cue as the sun was dropping and this lack of litter struck me, i began noticing folks coming up from the trails leading from the river side walking by a trash can and throwing their garbage in it on their way home or to their next adventure. I witnessed every walk-of-life i mentioned above go through this action in a very non-nonchalant and natural way. ...i think i'm in love with Richmond. I look forward spending more time in this gem of a location.
Unfortunately, i didn't have my phone or camera with me, but i did find tons of photos from the exact same area on the interweb. I pulled and posted a handful below that reflect some of what i witnessed:
