Where to Paddleboard in Virginia

This was my first summer paddleboarding. Here are the places I checked out.

Lakes

Ragged Mountain Reservoir

Ragged Mountain Reservoir, Charlottesville - This lake is beautiful and pristine. What I imagine paddling in the Adirondacks to be like. The water is very clear and the surroundings are stunning, with no houses on the water. Perhaps the most zen-inducing place I went to this year. No motorized boats are allowed so it's just you and a few other paddlers on the lake. Despite the clearness of the water I saw almost no fish but I did see a few turtles. Round trip is about five miles. The small gravel parking lot is shared with people hiking and mountain biking so it does fill up quickly.

Swift Creek Lake, Pocahontas State Park - There is peace and tranquility at this popular local state park. To find that peace and tranquility, as well as solitude, it helps to get there early. The 225-acre Swift Creek Lake is narrow and long, resembling a river with no current. You probably won't beat the early morning kayak fishermen, but once you paddle beyond where they are it can feel like you have it all to yourself. A dam prevents you from paddling extremely far, although at approximately 4.5 miles round trip this is an almost perfect out-and-back length. It is common to see herons, kingfishers, and other birds on Swift Creek Lake. There is a fee to enter the park. As of this writing it is $10 on weekends, less on weekdays.

Northeast Creek Reservoir, Louisa - I like this little lake, which is a pleasant 45-minute country drive away for me. Fishermen know about this place but recreational paddlers not-so-much. No gas motors are allowed, just electric, and like most places with this policy the folks out fishing cause little or no disturbance to anyone just out for a paddle. It's about 3.5 miles round trip, perfect for a quick 90-minute summer evening workout. There is plenty of room for parking. Warning: geese and ducks hang out at the parking lot and will come right up to you expecting food. 

Hunting Run Reservoir, Spotsylvania - Not all of the public lakes in Spotsylvania allow SUPs, but this one does. Hunting Run Reservoir is quite big. When I paddle a lake I like to stick to the perimeter and the perimeter of this one must be well over six miles. On my first and only time there I cut it short and still managed to get in 4.8 miles. There are some houses, some very nice houses, on this lake but the no gas motors and no swimming rule helps keep things placid. I enjoyed my visit to Hunting Run and can't wait to go back. There is a fee and you pay at the check-in station near the boat launch - up to $11 for non-Spotsylvania residents.

Hunting Run Reservoir

Rivers (slow-ish moving flatwater rivers)

City Dock, Fredericksburg (Rappahannock River) - I was surprised to discover that there is great flatwater river paddling right in the heart of Fredericksburg! If you enter the water from City Dock Park off Sophia Street and paddle up the river, you can go almost 2.1 miles before hitting rapids. Along the way it is a very pleasant river paddle against a mild current that goes under a couple scenic bridges with the town on your left. The town gives way to a collection of parks on either side of the river where Hispanic families tend to hang out on weekends. There are some great spots for jumping in the water to cool off. Once you turn around, expect your return trip to be about twenty-percent faster than your upstream paddling time. There are several restaurants to choose from in downtown Fredericksburg after you're done. This was my overall favorite river destination. I recommend going during high tide.

Chain Ferry Road, West Point (Mattaponi River) - West Point is where the Pamunkey and Mattaponi Rivers meet to form the York River. There are many places to enter the water around the town of West Point but I chose the primitive and discreet Mattaponi River launch site at the end of Chain Ferry Road. There is a small public parking lot and a sandy/beachy place to get in the river. I headed right onto the big wide and slightly turbulent river, paddling away from the bridge off in the distance and went about a third-of-a-mile until I saw a large creek on the right that looked like it was worth exploring. It was. I don't know if this creek has a name or is just another section of the Mattaponi but it was heaven on earth! I went about 2.4 miles up this creek before turning around and I only turned around because I wanted to, not because the creek was ending. I saw an impressive amount of fish jumping, lots of birds, and a couple nutria! Paddling on a creek like this was a new experience for me and it makes me want to find more places like this. Bonus: ice cream and coffee at The Lazy Cow.

Deep Bottom Park

Deep Bottom and Four Mile Creek (James River) - At just 35 minutes away, this park in Henrico is one of the quickest drives from my home to a place where I can get on the water. It somehow feels both well known and a well kept secret. You have a couple choices at this spot - either stay on a flat section of the James River or explore Four Mile Creek. Or do both. I am not sure how far you can go down Four Mile Creek because I haven't gone that far down it yet. In my two visits to this location I mostly went up or down the river portion and only did the creek as an afterthought. The James River is tidal here. I went once during high tide and once during low tide and there was quite a difference between the two. There are gas motor boats on this part of the river but the park tends to be less crowded than you'd think it would be. Lots of birds, such as osprey, diving into the water for fish.

Wake Beach, Wake, VA (Rappahannock River) - This small, picturesque beach is popular with families. The swimming is good, when there are no jellyfish that is. Being near the Chesapeake Bay, the water is starting to be salty here. The river is very wide and a little choppy so it can feel like beach or bay type paddling. This would be more of a recreational choice. I like to paddle a bit, hang on the beach some, and then work in a visit to a favorite outdoor-dining waterside restaurant called Merroir. 

Tucker Park at Maidens Crossing (James River) - Trailers put in on the Powhatan side of the river, but there is a kayak launch on the Goochland side at Tucker Park. From here, you can paddle up stream toward Powhatan State Park. It's a little challenging for paddle boarding because you kind of have to navigate around some things but that makes it fun. You might encounter people tubing from Powhatan State Park down to the boat launch. This is not a place I would go all the time, but at less-than 40 minutes away I will be keeping it in mind as an option.

Old City Point Waterfront Park, Hopewell (Appomattox River/James River) - Hopewell is where the Appomattox River meets the James. Whatever you do, don't go right onto the James River portion toward the chemical plant. That should be a "no duh", but I thought I could paddle past all that ugliness to Bailey Creek but it totally wasn't worth it. And the water was strangely hot. I don't even want to think about it. After two miles I cut my losses and backtracked. The only good thing was I saw a bald eagle up close. The Appomattox River portion is much, much nicer.  There are some homes around the bend on the Appomattox with impressive little private beaches. Since I had already paddled two miles down and two miles back on the James, I only did one mile up and one mile back on the Appomattox. When I go back I will check out the Appomattox more and maybe put-in at a different location. There is a coffeeshop with excellent food in the heart of downtown Hopewell called Guncotton Coffee for when you are done. One of the great things about river paddling is there's usually a small town nearby with an interesting story.

Randolph's on the River, Port Royal (Rappahannock River) - Randolph's on the River is an enjoyable restaurant overlooking the banks of the Rappahannock River in Port Royal, VA. You can park at the restaurant and get in the water at the boat launch on-site. The restaurant features a covered deck for outdoor seating where a loved one can hang out while you are paddling or for a meal afterwards. This is certainly a calm section of the river, no rapids anywhere nearby and the current is slow. What I don't love about it is all the vegetation in the water. Definitely go during high tide. When I went I saw a bald eagle nest in the middle of the river inhabited by an adult and a couple juvenile eagles.

A Successful Summer of (non-drinking at) Concerts

After a two-year break where I saw almost no live music, I had a pretty full summer of concerts in 2022. At most of these events I didn't drink at all, not even one beer. That's the biggest personal change in my approach pre to post pandemic. For anyone that loves live music, seeing music now is likely to be different than before both in how you experience it as an audience member and as how the performer presents it to you from the stage. In my case I had the additional benefits of increased focus and appreciation due to not being influenced by alcohol. Each and every concert I experienced this season felt like a very special moment...

The Cowboy Junkies

Melvin Seals and JGB

Khruangbin

Trombone Shorty

Phish (three times!)

Leftover Salmon

My Morning Jacket

And that's not all. I still have Goose and Billy Strings coming up in 2022 where I want to continue this positive trend. Not only did I not drink at concerts, but I successfully completed a 100 day gong where I didn't drink at all during that stretch of time. Many of these concerts took place during that time period and I found it easy and life affirming to attend. Now that I've completed a 100 day gong, I see no reason not to make it a perpetual groove.

Dumpstaphunk Charlottesville

Leftover Salmon at Maymont

Phish in Charleston, SC

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Exercise Conversion Chart - One Mile Walked Equals How Many Miles on a Bicycle

I found a handy dandy exercise conversion chart. Now that I've been recreationally bicycling and paddling it's good to know how those activities compare to the exercise of walking. 

According to the chart, for bicycling on a road or paved trail you take the distance you cycled and multiply that by .3 to convert it to miles walked. For example, this morning I bicycled 10 miles, so that equates to 3 miles walked. To put that into minutes, in my case it takes me about 5 minutes to bicycle a mile which averages out to 12mph. To "walk" 3 miles on a bike means cycling for 10 miles which would take me about 50 minutes.

For canoeing/kayaking (moderate) - and I'll add stand up paddle boarding to that - you take the hours paddling and multiply that by 2.0 to convert it to miles walked. By that standard, to paddle the equivalent of walking three miles or cycling 10 miles you would need to paddle for 1.5 hours. So 90 minutes paddling equals 50 minutes pedaling! See how I did that!?

I'm not a jogger, but interestingly one mile jogged is about the same amount of exercise as one mile walked. Of course, when you're running you're going faster than walking so if you only have 30 minutes to walk 1.5 miles or run three miles you're going to get more exercise running the full 30 minutes. But if all you're trying to do is get from point A to point B and those two points are three miles apart you're going to get approximately the same exercise whether you walk or run. You'll just get there faster by running!

I also have a mini-trampoline or rebounder at home. It's not on the conversion chart, but according to some stats I found online I feel at liberty to say that 11 minutes on the rebounder is the equivalent of walking one mile. Therefore, 22 minutes equals 2 miles and 3 miles would be 33 minutes on the rebounder.

I also do slide board! I don't really have many stats for slide board, but based on the little that I have seen it seems like about 9 minutes on the slide board equals one mile walking.

2.5 miles walked = 8.33 miles bicycle, 75 minutes SUP, 27.5 minutes rebounder, and 22 minutes slide board.

2 miles walked = 6.66 miles bicycle, one hour SUP, 22 minutes rebounder, and 18 minutes slide board.

I Chose Paddle Board, But...

As recently as four months ago it had never occurred to me to take up kayaking as a hobby, let alone paddle boarding. Now that I've had some experience with both I can say that stand up paddle boarding (SUP) is an activity that I'd like to continue.

I find SUP to be a better overall workout than kayaking with less risk of repetitive motion wrist or elbow injuries. I also like the perspective you gain by standing up and looking down into the water. Thirdly, SUP as an identity or image is something that I find more easy to align with...sporty and athletic. Lastly, it is common for a SUP to be inflatable and lightweight, making transport and storage a breeze with many brands and options to choose from.

I'm pretty good at research but I still didn't really know what I was doing or what I would want when I bought my first SUP a few months ago. The SUP I got is like what is referred to as an "all around" board. It's 10'6" long, 34" wide, and 6 inches (15cm) thick. Those dimensions are pretty common for a beginner board but it's not the fastest or the straightest and the 325 liter volume is more than I need.

the SUP I got

I don't have any plans to enter competitive SUP races and I have no plans to do overnight camping trips with a SUP, but I am a fitness-minded paddler. I like to SUP at a moderate to fast pace for a couple hours straight. As a full body workout. I don't use it for yoga or for a leisurely float on the water. I like to move. So for my next paddle board I want something more sleek.

The characteristics I'm looking for in my next inflatable SUP include:

-A displacement hull. SUPs with a displacement hull typically have a pointy nose. This helps it cut through the water more efficiently and track straighter. These are usually called touring boards. I want to get more out of each paddle stroke. More speed and better tracking.

-A width of 28 to 30 inches. A wider SUP, like my 34" wide board, is too slow. It's also probably too wide for my body type which can disrupt my paddle stroke. I'm a smaller paddler so I need a more narrow board. I don't bring a bunch of gear so I don't need much storage space.

-A thickness of 12cm as opposed to 15cm. This one's not a must because there are some good boards out there that are 15cm (6") thick, but I'm under 150lbs so based on what I've learned I stand to gain by going with a 12cm (5") thickness offered by premium brands. Lower center of gravity = more stability.

-A volume of 300 liters or less. A board is going to respond differently to me than it is to a heavier person. I'm not bringing along a child or a pet or gear and I don't need a lot of weight capacity. Ideally I'd like to find a board designed with a 130 to 160 pound person in mind. Also, a board with less volume requires less pumped air! I don't mind manually pumping up a SUP but I'll do anything I can to speed up the process.

-Durability. This would seem like a no brainer but sometimes racing boards are made with one thing in mind - speed - and may not be designed with as much durability as an all around board. So the goal is to find a board with the above characteristics and durability. Lakes and rivers can have rocks and sticks.

-A weight of 24lbs or less. Most boards meet this characteristic but there are some hefty ones that would be disqualified by weight alone.  

The board that best meets all of the above characteristics appears to be the Red Paddle Co. 11'0 Sport model.

How Simple Can You Make Music? No Theory, No Chords, No Key, No Genre, No Style, No Nothing

The last 2.5 years have been weird. In a lot of ways. Musically, I've gone through a period of not wanting to play music at all, to a period of extreme creativity, to a phase of wanting to learn complex music theory and harmony (not successful), back to a stage of not wanting to play at all, and now in a state of trying to maintain some type of interest and keep it going as a hobby. At the moment, the best method of doing so seems to be trying to make it as simple as possible.

Kimolas chase the rabbit

The simplest way I can think of is whistling. Whistling a melody would be an example of keeping it simple. Playing that whistled melody on a musical instrument is just one step up in complexity. If you can find those notes on a musical instrument and play the melody, then no further thought is needed. Done, done...and done. 

I could leave it at that. But I'm going to add two more things to it:

1) Because I am aware of the major scale (do, re, mi, et cetera), I am going to analyze that melody by figuring out which number of the scale each note conforms to. In other words, can I make the entire melody fit within the notes of the major scale? Most melodies will fit. When it does fit it is diatonic. It's like a puzzle. Half-steps are either going to be note 7 to note 1 or note 3 to note 4. Once this major scale puzzle is conquered I assign each note a number based on where it falls in the major scale.

2) Independent of number 1 above, I take time to practice playing the major scale on my fretted instrument using two different fingerings. In the first way of playing, note 1 of the major scale is under my middle finger. In the second way I have note 1 of the major scale fall under my pinky finger. That's it. Now I know two different patterns to play the same melody because I can see how the melody is simply a variation of the major scale. That's it. 

That's it.

And that's it!

Stand Up Paddleboard vs. Folding Kayak

I almost got an Oru folding kayak but didn't. I got an inflatable stand up paddleboard (iSUP) instead. Next year I might still get an Oru, but for this summer I decided on an inflatable stand up paddleboard that could double as a kayak. Specifically, I chose the Tahe Beach 10'6" SUP-YAK over the Oru Lake/Lake+. Here are some things I thought about when making this decision.

Portability: tie

Folding kayaks and iSUPs will each fit in the trunk or backseat of your car, making packability, portability and storage essentially a tie. 

Set Up Time: advantage Oru Lake

Here's a category where the Oru stands out, especially the Lake model. Once you get good at it, it's said that you can easily fold/unfold the Lake in under three minutes. It takes me almost ten minutes to pump up the iSUP to 15psi and then three or four additional minutes to attach the seat or chair and footrest. You're in the water ten minutes quicker with the Oru. (So far, I don't mind manually pumping the iSUP for 8 to 10 minutes. It's kind of like a pre-kayak warmup workout. You can always get an electric pump...for an additional cost.)

Weight: tie

The Oru Lake weighs approx. 18lbs. The Tahe Beach SUP-YAK weighs 23 to 24 lbs. That's a nominal difference and since you're not lifting anything up onto the top of a vehicle and all you're doing is carrying it to the water, I consider this a tie. It wasn't significant enough of a difference for me to make note of it. Both are easy to carry.

Versatility: advantage Tahe SUP-YAK

Simply put, it's super easy to go from sitting (kayaking) to standing (paddle boarding) very easy with the SUP-YAK. That's exactly what it's designed to do. Pretty much anything you can do on a folding kayak you can do with the SUP-YAK, plus you can also stand up to paddle. That's a win-win.

Speed and Tracking in the Water: advantage Oru Lake

The Oru Lake will get you from point A to point B faster than kayaking on a paddleboard. It more than likely tracks better as well due to the way it cuts through the water. That said, the SUP-YAK is a pretty smooth ride. Which leads me to...

Stability and Confidence in the Water: advantage Tahe SUP-YAK

By the time you've pumped the Tahe Beach SUP-YAK up to 15psi, you've got a rigid board that is going to be very stable in the water. It's 34 inches wide and you can stand up on it, so of course it's stable! You can also feel pretty confident in rougher conditions. There's no need for drain holes or being worried about it taking on water because with the flat design water just rolls off. If I had an Oru Lake I would only want to be out in calm, flat conditions and although it's unlikely that either are going to fail, I'd be a little less confident in the folding kayak.

Comfort - advantage Tahe SUP-YAK

The seat that comes as part of the SUP-YAK package is quite comfortable and substantial. You can also upgrade to a low frame camp chair type seat, sold separately. I like the one sold by Airkayaks. Either way, you'll be sitting up higher off the water in the SUP-YAK than in the Oru, and that may also make it more comfortable.

Dry Off - slight advantage to Oru Lake

One of the knocks on inflatable kayaks is that they are tricky to dry off entirely and failure to do so can lead to mold. This is not as much of a problem with inflatable stand up paddleboards. A SUP's flat design means that there aren't any nooks and crannies for water to hide. Still, after initially drying it off when coming out of the water, I like to unroll the SUP again once home so that it can air dry. I wouldn't want it to be put away while still damp. I can only assume that the drying process for the Oru Lake is slightly easier, but the advantage isn't as distinct as when compared to inflatable kayaks.

Oru Lake kayak

Tahe Beach "SUP-YAK"

For me the thing that mattered the most was versatility. I love having the option to sit or stand while paddling. Sometimes I'll paddle up the river and SUP all the way back down. If I never wanted to stand and only wanted to kayak, then the Oru Lake would probably have been my first choice since as a kayak it's going to perform more like a hardshell.

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Goose - My (and Your) New Favorite Band

At any point over the last 30 years, if someone had asked me who my two favorite bands were the answer would have been The Grateful Dead and Phish, or Phish and The Grateful Dead. The same answer either way. When Jerry Garcia died in 1995 that pretty much made The Grateful Dead a "past tense" band for me, leaving Phish as the unrivaled top-favorite "present-tense" group. 

Number two behind Phish was always a distant but still fervent second, occupied at various times by bands such as Leftover Salmon, .moe, String Cheese Incident, Dark Star Orchestra, Yonder Mountain String Band, Sound Tribe Sector Nine, My Morning Jacket, Dr. Dog, and Ween. None of those ever came close to knocking Phish off its perch. Now, out of nowhere, there is a band rising higher than any of those contenders that came before it, and that band is Goose. 

I believe my first exposure to Goose was while watching their debut at the 2019 Peach Music Festival where they struck me as a talented yet generic jamband. Another in a long line of generic sounding 2nd or 3rd tier jambands not worth my time. Fast forward to spring of 2022 and that general impression remained about the same. I actually hadn't thought much about Goose at all. That changed when I again found myself watching a live festival performance, this one being the April 2022 Sweetwater 420 Festival. No question Goose had gotten better, but I was also now more receptive to what they had to offer. I soon watched that Sweetwater 420 set a 2nd time and liked it even more. After that it's been non-stop Goose.

I was wrong to write off Goose as a generic jamband at some minor-league level. Yes they are most definitely a jamband and in fact that is their number one attribute. They jam. They jam at a level that rises above all the criticisms and comparisons to some new territory that is both familiar and unique. You can get into it. You can get lost in it. It is not going to let you down. I love how Goose goes straight to the epicenter of the genre (if I may), then works its way back out from there. They scratch that itch, whether you currently have poison ivy or got rid of that rash years ago. They scratch it.

Jamming is one thing that sets Goose apart but it is not the only thing. More important than the jams themselves are the foundations on which those jams are set and for Goose those are very stable blueprints. They flat out have some awesome songs. I feel like I am just getting to know these songs and there are probably some I am still unfamiliar with. And at this point instant classics are constantly being introduced to the repertoire. Was Animal really just played for the first time on 6/11/22? I guess I'm not that late to the party.

You have to love the song first before you can really love the jam. To use Phish as an example, a 20+ minute Soul Planet or Set Your Soul Free is never going to feel as good as a 20+ minute Ghost or Tweezer. With Goose I don't know if we are on hallowed "Tahoe-Tweezer" style ground, but they seem to at least get to "Ruby Waves" level on a regular basis, if you know what I mean.

Another thing that sets Goose apart from, well...everyone else, is that they have a really good singer. Guitarist Rick Mitarotonda can actually sing in a way that would appeal to the casual pop music listener, and that is a rarity in the jam-dominated live music world. I put him in the same league as Jim James or maybe even Thom Yorke when it comes to that. I'm surprised that I don't hate Rick's use of the autotune/vocoder thing but in contrast I have even come to like it in a weird way. I see it as a vocal tool he uses to his advantage similar to how Jim James would use reverb when My Morning Jacket first came out.

The overall sound of Goose is appealing, regardless of the song or the jam they are in. It's not all rock or jam all the time. For example, there are hints of bossa nova and calypso, hints of middle eastern scales, Paul Simony grooves, hummable hooks and melodies, and way, way more to it than that. And of course there seem to be passing references to all your favorite other bands. Yeti could totally be a .moe song. Hungersite would make for a killer My Morning Jacket number. There's some song I don't know the name of yet that reminds me of 46 Days. And so on. I've come to view these as good things.

Rick is a good, might I say, great guitar player. I don't yet know where he falls in that tradition or whether it's just within the jam world or the larger world of guitar, but I can say that he really shines during the acoustic Radio City Music Hall sets from June 2022. He also puts off an aura of being someone that you can put a lot of faith in and that is a characteristic he shares with Jerry and Trey. 

The piano sounds in Goose, when the guy Peter plays them, are extremely tasteful. I cannot believe that he didn't start playing piano until he joined Goose in late 2017. Unfathomable and quite impressive. (Referring to him as "the Peter guy" is one step up from his former title of "mustache dude". He's growing on me and I'm sure at some point soon his goofiness will become endearing).

The twin drumming of Goose - drum kit plus percussion - is something I find myself focusing on. It's easy to draw comparisons to Widespread Panic there. Goose seems to have cut and pasted that drum+percussion vibe and planted it in the middle of what they are doing and it works very, very well for them. 

However, the thing I probably find myself listening to the most in Goose is the bass. I don't know why this is. The bassist's name is Trevor Weeks or Weekz. Anyway, it's not like his playing is real flashy and it's certainly not a reproduction of Phil Lesh or Mike Gordon. If anything it's like a better Rob Derhak but I admit that's a lazy and unfair comparison. 

Phil Lesh, and to some extent Mike Gordon, are always "soloing"... adding bass counterpoint to the lead line. This particular style of playing has heavily (and perhaps negatively) influenced many that are trying to follow in those footsteps. Trevor doesn't really do this. He is mostly supportive, adding nuance in a more standard bassist function, and yet is still very prominent in the mix making it very easy to hear what he is doing. Very tasty.

OK I've rambled enough. I was originally only going to write the first two paragraphs above but kept adding more thoughts that weren't really very well fleshed out. At this point I'm only like three months in to really listening to Goose so these impressions could definitely change with time.

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