Today’s column (Dec. 19) was about a raft trip my friend Tommy Morel and I took this past Sunday down the James. We tagged along with a bunch of guys who had booked a trip with Riverside Outfitters. The river was way up from a big recent rain and a couple of the people in our boat, including the guide, got tossed into Big Muddy while in Hollywood Rapid. Pretty hair raising, and, ultimately, fun stuff.

Click here then scroll down to find the link to a video one of the guys on the trip shot from his helmet-mounted camera. He didn’t happen to be in our boat, which is too bad because you don’t see us almost capsize, but it does give you a great sense of how high the river was that day (7.1 feet at the Westham Gauge).

Needless to say, the above picture was not taken during our trip. It was taken by Rick Berquist during a flood of the James in 1985 from the Lee Bridge. The little bit of land you can see on the right is the western tip of Belle Isle. This is the “dryway” on the south side of the island. I just thought it was an amazing shot.

A raft trip down the James.