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On the surface, a canoe trip in the heart of Virginia's York River region is an unlikely place for a lively discussion of "Beowulf" translations-but when you have an environmental engineer who also likes to carve Old English text into canoe paddles and a literature professor from Hampton University along on the trip, it didn't seem so crazy.
An avid paddler, Virginian Hal Wiggins doesn't mind explaining the intricate patterns, images and words he carves into his paddles by hand. As he explains it, Old English writers didn't just say things simply-they used their imagination to describe some pretty typical events. For example, they didn't just write, "We crossed the sea in a big boat." Instead, they wrote, "The foamy neck came over the whales road." This style made their stories more alive, more exciting.
Trying to use the same Old English writing style to describe a canoe trip on part of Virginia's South Anna River and some of the Pamunkey River is challenging. So instead of saying that we paddled one of the cleaner, more intimate stretches of river in this area, I'll say-Nature threw 'round her cloak and swallowed us-because that's what it felt like.
Thick, dark green buffers, alive with late-summer cleomes, cardinal flowers and hibiscus, lined the riverbanks the entire 8-mile stretch, from the Route 738 put-in to the take-out at the state Department of Game & Inland Fisheries Boat Landing at Route 301. This is a perfect stretch for beginners and day-trippers seeking solitude, a slight current to pull them along and it features an unusual cache of fossils.
The headwaters of the South Anna are in Louisa County, near Ashland, VA. Along the South Anna, as in the rest of the basin, farms and forests dominate the landscape. The heavy forest cover makes the river corridor a haven for critters, birds and fish. About a mile downriver from the Route 738 put-in, the South Anna joins the North Anna to form the Pamunkey River. The Pamunkey and its sister river, the Mattaponi, join at West Point to form the York River, which eventually flows into the Chesapeake Bay, between the Rappahannock to the north and the James River to the south.
The South Anna is one 27 sub-watersheds in the larger York River basin. Remote in most places and teeming with fish and wildlife of all kinds, the South Anna has many personalities. There are Class I-II+ rapids above and just below the fall line. It also features meandering stretches that lead into the Pamunkey. What it does not feature is people. Occasional anglers dot the terrain. But, for the most part, paddlers feel pretty far removed from the nearby growing suburban centers.
Once on the river, one passes a number of sandy beaches and some good, old-fashioned swimming holes. About five miles after the confluence, there is a particularly dramatic bend in the river. Here, the current has carved out what seems to be a bottomless pit on the far side of the river.
Local canoe outfitter Garrie Rouse tells a story about how he and his brother used to challenge each other to touch the bottom at this spot. "It's deep. I don't think either of us ever touched the bottom. We always chickened out," he laughed. "But he'd chicken out first." Taking up the challenge, some fellow paddlers held their breath and tried to sink to the bottom. Most quit after going 5 feet or so below the surface with no bottom in sight. For the most part, though, the river is fairly shallow.
Both the South and North Anna are prized for fishing. All year long, one can catch everything there from the resident small- and large-mouth bass to carp, sunfish and perch. The spring spawning runs from the ocean, up the Chesapeake Bay and to the rivers bring rockfish, herring and shad.
One highlight of an early fall trip to the South Anna/Pamunkey is the fruiting pawpaw trees along the banks of the river. When ripe, the fruit of the pawpaw is a real delicacy. It looks like avocado when you peel it, but it's sweet. The pawpaw, a tropical tree, is native to the area.
Another unusual feature of the river is found about two miles upstream of the Route 301 boat landing, where erosion has exposed an unusual site -an old clay "morel" deposit that spills out countless layers of fossilized and crushed seashells-treasures from the sea floor millions of years ago. Here, paddlers can get out of their boats and get a close-up look at the bounty stuck in these clay walls.
While it's easy to get caught up in the uniqueness, beauty and serenity of the South Anna and Pamunkey rivers, the land-river connection cannot be ignored. A quick look at challenges facing the local landscape-and the river-is alarming. The land surrounding the South Anna/Pamunkey is under increasing pressure from development from all sides according to a local watershed group, the York River Watershed Council.
Overall, the York River basin covers 2,660 square miles, or about 1.7 million acres of Virginia's coastal plain. About 72 percent of that is covered by forests. All told, about 7 percent of the commonwealth's land base drains into the York River basin.
Basin statistics are not static, though. According to the York River Watershed Council, the population of the York River basin is projected to grow 78 percent over the next 40 years. In the upper reaches of the basin, Spotsylvania and Hanover counties are feeling "acute development pressures, especially near Interstate 95 and the existing town centers of Ashland and Fredericksburg, VA. At the lower end of the watershed, Gloucester, James City and New Kent counties are among the fastest growing in Virginia-growing more than three times the state average," according to a recent council publication.
The York Watershed Council was created in 1996 to stimulate public debate over innovative ways to manage a river basin.
In 1995, the council, along with the Center for Coastal Policy at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science, published a comprehensive report on the basin to help better promote watershedwide planning and management. Through the report, the council promotes the analysis of the watershed in sub-watershed units. The sub-watersheds can be more easily observed and analyzed and ultimately-according the council-better managed over time.
The report also has an important public information component. By breaking the huge basin into sub-watersheds, it customizes information for each area and provides local residents with specific information on their local water resource. Ultimately, residents have the ability to consider the physical conditions of the local landscape to project the impacts of land use change. With this information, they can monitor their rivers and better protect the water-like the South Anna-that's flowing through what is literally their own backyard.
In the case of the South Anna/Pamunkey, it looks to the casual paddler like forest buffers are no problem. The vegetation is lush, and little or no evidence of shoreline development is apparent. On the other hand, if one were to board a hot air balloon and float above the river, the trees and shrubbery visible from the river would be revealed as a green corridor, surrounded on all sides by farms and growing residential centers.
In light of the increasing pressure, the other artwork on Hal Wiggins' paddle may sum up the challenge facing the citizens of this area. It says, "Fate favors those who keep their nerve." In the case of the South and North Anna and Pamunkey rivers, fate, nerve and active stewardship by area residents will favor these rivers.
- How to get there: From points north of Richmond: take Route 301 South toward Richmond. About 15 miles past Bowling Green, there is a traffic light at the intersection of 301 and Route 30, near the city of Dawn. Go approximately three miles past this light. Right after crossing the Pamunkey River at the Littlepage Bridge there will be a boat landing on the right. From points south, take Interstate 95 North to the Interstate 295 South exit. Take the 301 North exit. Follow 301 North for about 12 miles. Hanover is about 1.5 miles from the boat landing.
- Where to eat: The friendly and reasonably priced eatery, Houndstooth Cafe, in Hanover, VA, provides a variety of menu choices, including barbeque. Save room for dessert, though-the apple pie is 5 inches high with real vanilla ice cream as the topper. The derby pie is luscious.
- Information: To learn more about the York River region, call York Watershed Council project coordinator Billy Mills at 804-769-0841, or e-mail: MPRABilly@aol.com
