1st River Run in VA

Today was an incredible day. The weather was near 85F and the sun was shinning brightly. That means only one thing: No excuses, it is time to paddle! I started at 10am at a place called "Alone Mill" and went 6 miles down river to "Bean's Bottom." This run was a great starter and it did prepare me (somewhat) for the next run that I would take. Nothing that I have ever paddled before even compared to the big water on this 9 mile run that I took in the afternoon. It was intense. There were parts of it that scared me and I can count 3 major incidents that nearly left me floating down the cold waters (50F water temperatures). However, every time that I got into a situation where the rapids almost GOT ME, I would do something that many paddlers call: Yell and power through. I was freaked and I did it. Oddly enough, it worked :) The 9 mile run started at "Rockbridge Baths" and ended at "Alone Mill." Essentially, we started in the middle of a the river and did the lower river first and then, the upper river in the afternoon. Sadly, I was unable to take my camera on the 9 mile run so all the pictures featured in the slideshow are from the 6 mile run in the AM. All together, we paddled 15 miles. Wild!