In 2011, I spent over three months in Nepal traveling and kayaking in various remote areas.  During that time I developed a strong connection and marvel for a country of humble and compassionate people.  This wonder brought me back again in 2014, though with different goals.  There were still rivers and places I wanted to see, though I always found myself wanting to spend more time staying put in the villages than my paddling partners.  From my kayaking experience in the remote district of Dolpa & Humla I knew that I wanted to spend time in area where there were no cars or buses, only walking trails.  I wanted to frequent the same houses and get to know the locals and how they got on in their daily lives.  I had met so many Nepalis who lived the agrarian lifestyle and radiated some of the warmest smiles I had encountered, it was addicting.

Humla

Late November as I wandered the maze of cobbled streets in Kathmandu I found myself in a volunteer office inquiring about teaching opportunities.  I had done some shorter stints of teaching in Upper Dolpa & Mysore, India and knew how energetic the young population could be.  When the coordinator suggested a working with Sherpas on their English in Kathmandu, I stopped her and explained I wanted to be far from these crowded and polluted streets.  So I was place in the town of Surkhe of the Ramechapp District.  To get there I would take a 9 hour bus ride, 3 of which were on mountainous roads and then still have to walk about an hour to get to my host family.  Having just got off a 24-hour bus from Western Nepal, this commute was quite inviting.  The village even overlooked one of my favorite paddling destinations, the Tamba Kosi River.

Surkhe

For the next month I lived with a host family and their 4 adorable children.  Every morning I woke up at 6:00 am had a cup of tea, some corn nuts, and walked about half an hour to the school while the sun rose and caste its first light on the Himalayas across the valley.  I taught English and Literature in the mornings to the upper level (class 11 & 12) before walking home again for lunch.  After lunch, I again took the walk through mustard fields, past chickens & marigolds back to school by 11:00 am for my other classes.  The afternoons was filled with English and some Math for the 8th, 9th, & 10th classes.  Over 80 students were packed into my 10th class geometry course!  In the evenings I returned to my host family for dinner and early to bed.  Six days a week the process repeated.

12th Class Literature

On my days off I was able to explore the incredible landscape that surrounded me.  A 7-hour hike brought me to the top of Sailung (3200 meters) and views of the entire Rolwaling Himal Range.  A morning sunrise atop the meadows of Sailung with prayer flags snapping all around was a rare special moment in life where time seems to stop.  On another weekend I was able to link up with paddlers and run the continuous big water class IV Tamba Kosi River.  The endless single track, hospitable guesthouses, & rich culture create a unique area to explore Nepal and yourself.

About a month ago, two very powerful earthquakes and countless aftershocks struck this area and many other parts of central Nepal.  My host family was forced to sleep underneath their plastic greenhouse because damage to their home made it too dangerous to inhabit.  Since the earthquake, the country I love has been turned upside down with its citizens questioning even the ground they walk on.  Even weeks later the entire country slept outside in the rain as aftershocks continued to rattle the fragile infrastructure and their lives. The stream of social media of friends in the country who have shared first person accounts of the disaster has been humbling.

Many friends locally set up grass roots efforts to respond to the some of the most remote and hard hit areas outside of the major centers.  First response efforts were led by fellow rafting & kayaking guides who used their knowledge of the area, local connections, & money raised from social media campaigns to save lives and assess the situation.  Quickly it became apparent that more long-term projects were needed.  Improvised housings would need to be replaced by more permanent structures, & quickly due to the impending monsoon.

Nepal will take many years to rebuild, though one of the constant messages I see from friends is they want to build a better Nepal by the hands of the Nepalis locals.  These dark haired short statured Mongols have adapted to live EVERYWHERE in their country.  Their resourcefulness and ingenuity of making do with what the land provides is something to marvel at.  Their bonds of social security are held together through families and villages.

Earthquake Resistant House

Temporary School

For a better Nepal to endure they will still need help from the outside.  Programs like Medical Trek Nepal & Mandala Organization continue to take in funds and turn donors money into houses.  Houses for a better Nepal, more resistant to earthquakes, yet extremely cost efficient.  Just $200 is enough to change a family’s life.

Local efforts and outside donations will make an amazing contribution, but Nepal will also need its biggest resource to return, tourist.  Tourism accounts for nearly 10% of Nepal’s GDP and has been growing over the past decade.  Out of 75 districts in Nepal less than 10 were severely affected by the earthquake.  The airport is totally operational and buses in Kathmandu are waiting.  If you have a love of the outdoors and mountains, there is no better destination on earth.  Nepal has it all and can be done on a shoestring budget, just make sure you like rice & lentils.  I can’t wait to get back!

Elevate Nepal

Come climb and Elevate Nepal on Friday, June 19th from 6pm-9pm at Peak Experiences Climbing Center. Enjoy climbing and Nepali snacks while learning more about Nepal’s needs and people.  Entrance cost to the event will be a donation to support Nepali earthquake disaster relief. 100% of the money donated will be sent directly to a remote village through Medical Trek Nepal for housing during the upcoming monsoon season.

Trail counters have captured huge visitation numbers at the James River Park.

Over the weekend the T-D’s Rex Springston wrote a piece about huge visitation numbers at the James River Park over the past year. It’s a story we’ve been on top of here at RichmondOutside since last spring when the park installed car- and people-counting cameras at a number of different park entrances.

Th cameras were installed in May, so they only counted for two-thirds of the year, but they still recorded over 900,000 visitors during that time — far more than the 527,153 visitors reported by Maymont for 2013. Maymont was first among local attractions as ranked by Richmond Region Tourism.

VCU researcher Vicky Shivy told Springston that in the summer of 2012, her students counted and interviewed park visitors. Based on their findings, Shivy estimated the full year’s park visitation at 1.5 million.

Others also found the numbers hard to believe. “I think some people thought I was out of my mind,” Shivy said.

These new stairs will connect the entrance to the bridge over the train tracks to Northbank Trail below.

In other James River Park news, I snapped these pics of a new walkway to the Northbank Trail while on my way to Texas Beach. According to James River Outdoor Coalition’s Facebook page, the stairs are the result of the first of two work days utilizing REI Richmond Market grant funds to complete new stairs at Texas Beach Access. These new stairs will create a safe path of ascent for park users looking to exit the Northbank Trail, or descend onto the Northbank trail. The stairs are located next to the covered bridge over the CSX railway.

Also last week, I spoke with JRPS superintendent Nathan Burrell to get some updates on stories we’ve featured here in the past. He said the construction work going on in the Reedy Creek parking lot is indeed the first steps in getting the long-delayed Greg Hawkins Memorial water fountain put in. The water lines are in. The human/dog-friendly fountain comes next. He added that he hopes to have five bike work stations (similar to the ones pictured) installed at JRPS units (Reedy Creek, Brown’s Island, Belle Isle, Great Shiplock Park, and Texas Beach parking lot) before spring.

Where the Greg Hawkins Memorial water fountain will soon be located at the Reedy Creek parking lot.

Greg Rollins, president of mountain bike advocacy and trail building group Richmond MORE, sent me this video yesterday to share with the RichmondOutside.com readership. When I first wrote about the project featured here, it was called the “Hidden Link,” but that name was deemed too similar to the planned “Missing Link” trail that will one day connect the Manchester Climbing Wall area with the southside footbridge to Belle Isle. The new trail in the works — now called “Buttermilk East” — will parallel the future Missing Link. You’ll get a sense for the route it will take, as well as the work required to create it in this clip.

As usual, many thanks to the volunteers at Richmond MORE.

If you’re a James River Park System user, you might already know about the Friends of the James River Park and the regular newsletter they send out. It’s full of valuable information and volunteer opportunities for park lovers. I wanted to highlight the lead item in their most recent newsletter because it offers some updates on a topic I’ve covered before.

Volunteers from the James River Hikers at the new Texas Beach boardwalk in the JRPS. Credit: Dennis Bussey

Back in early September, I wrote about the sky-high usage numbers that park Superintendent Nathan Burrell found when he pulled the data from the newly-installed infrared and electronic counters. “Up through July,” Burrell said at the time, “we were at 500,000+ visitors. That’s May through July. And we only have counters at seven locations right now.”

Well, now the Friends of the JRP newsletter is reporting that the park saw “795,117 visitors from May 2014 until the end of October 2014.” Extrapolating from that now rather large data set suggests that by May 2015 the JRPS will see well over 1 million users and probably closer to 1.5 million.

Here’s some perspective: In February the Times-Dispatch reported that Maymont was the “most-visited place in the Richmond area,” with 527,153 visitors in 2013. The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts was second with 479,907 visitors. Rounding out the top five were the Children’s Museum of Richmond with 393,529 visitors; Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden with 339,139 visitors; and Henrico’s Three Lakes Nature Center and Aquarium with 304,621 visitors.

The Washington Redskins training camp brought in 164,789 visitors this year. Needless to say, the Redskins, with their tax breaks and sweetheart deals, don’t offer the city what the JRPS does in one or two summer months.

The James River Park has always been a popular place. We now know how popular.

And keep this in mind too, as I wrote in September, “The JRPS with it’s 1 million or more visitors a year is maintained by four full-time employees (including Burrell), two seasonal employees and one part-timer.” Note to the mayor and city council: That’s crazy!

And the Friends’ newsletter also reports that the park “provides a huge economic benefit to the City. Using the $16 per day per user estimate for park economic impact numbers from the 2014 edition of the Virginia Outdoors Plan, JRPS right now, provides a $12,721,872 economic impact directly to the City and local businesses.”

Entering the boardwalk at Appomattox River Regional Park. Credit: Leonard Adkins

According to the federal government, the greater Richmond area has a population of about 1.3 million. I cite this because, with this large number of people, I’m always surprised when I go somewhere for a walk and don’t encounter even one other person. It recently happened again, and more amazing to me, it was on a beautiful Saturday afternoon of a holiday weekend.

It was a little disconcerting when Laurie and turned off the main road and went by the Riverside Regional Jail to reach the parking lot for the Appomattox River Regional Park. However, once on the trail system, there were no more thoughts about those contained behind concrete walls and razor wire fences.

The park was established in 2003 with just 20 acres, but has grown to include about 80 acres with a trail system that has, if you were to walk every inch of it, maybe close to three miles of pathways. You can thank the volunteers of the Friends of the Lower Appomattox River for planning and helping to construct such a nice network of footpaths into the park’s varied environs.

From the parking lot, Laurie and I descended on the Red Trail, soon crossing over the Cameron Bridge (check out the rock work on this thing!), and turning right to follow the Yellow Trail which loops into a woods whose lush vegetation (mostly) blocked out the sounds of nearby I-295, as well as views of the Appomattox River a few yards below. Helping to make the forest appear to be so lush was a variety of vines, including coral honeysuckle, jasmine vine, grape vines, and, of course, copious amounts of poison ivy.

The park has a non-motorized boat put-in. Credit: Leonard Adkins

We returned to the Red Trail, leading us down to the river and an observation pier jutting quite a number of yards into the river. To the east, traffic moved across the I-295 bridge; directly across the river was the open green space of Point of Rocks Park. There may have been no one else in the Appomattox River Regional Park with us, but the river was being well used by pleasure boaters who sped by us, seemingly wanting to go as fast as possible, and anglers meandering along in their jon boats at the much slower pace of a trolling motor. A couple of raptors flew overhead, while several ducks floated lazily below us next to the pier.

A newer portion of the trail system uses a boardwalk to take visitors across a wetlands populated by moisture-loving plants such as arrow arum, which grew in a large, dense colony that covered acres of soggy soil. This portion of trail came to an end next to a canoe/kayak launch and a picnic pavilion that was so new that there was still sawdust on the ground from where workers had, evidently, just finished cutting the lumber for the roof and the picnic tables. How could it be that no one was here using these facilities—which can be easily reached by a dirt road—on such a gorgeous holiday weekend?

The Appomattox River. Credit: Leonard Adkins

It was an easy ascent that returned us to our car. Yes, it may be a bit of a drive from downtown Richmond, but you can be assured we’ll be returning often to savor the unvisited solitude of this park.

Getting There: Drive 1-95 southward to near Hopewell, take Exit 54 and merge onto Temple Avenue (VA 144) toward Fort Lee/Hopewell. Continue 3.2 miles, turn left onto River Road and, just after passing the regional jail in 3.5 miles, turn left onto the road marked as leading to the park.

The Texas Beach bog now has a gleaming boardwalk spanning it. Credit: Dennis Bussey

Two weekends ago, Lynchburg native, carpenter and batteau builder Andrew Shaw (and crew) delivered a heap of lumber to the Texas Beach section of the James River Park via multiple batteau trips. The lumber was to be used to construct a long boardwalk over the perma-muddy section of trail leading from the base of the Texas Beach stairwell toward the river. The batteau delivery was A) just downright cool and B) an ingenious way of solving the problem of getting a huge quantity of heavy, unwieldy building materials to a rather remote site.

Dennis Bussey wrote a story for RichmondOutside.com about the day and how it came together. Once the materials were delivered, the boardwalk was expected to take three weekends of work by volunteers from Bussey’s Meetup group — James River Hikers — to complete. Well, as these pics show, those volunteers (along with Mike Burton and his James River Park System trail-building crew) work very fast. What was supposed to take three Saturdays was finished in one. Now hikers can navigate this formerly treacherous stretch of trail without need for muck boots even after a heavy rain.

James River hiker and Home Depot employee Jeff White said it over two years ago: “We need to build a bridge across the Texas Beach quagmire.”

Our Meetup group, James River Hikers – Hiking With History, has crossed this sloppy and treacherous section of the James River Park System scores of times during the over three years it has grown from a group of 19 hikers to today’s membership of over 2,200. During the wet season, many pictures destined to Facebook were taken as the hikers would trapeze across the narrow planks and climb over the massive ball of roots necessary to get to the other side and complete our eight-mile loop hike.

The bateau makes its way down the James. Credit: Andrew McRoberts

The legendary Ralph White commented that this problem section was a priority he wished could have been corrected before his retirement. But standing in the way were the complications of 1) design, 2) logistics, 3) manpower and 4) money. How would we get a professional engineer to design it, and how could we pay for it? How to get the necessary construction material to this difficult-to-get-to site? A five level stairwell, part of the over-the-train-track bridge structure, would need to be navigated with the long timbers. The project would require lots of laborers.   Where would the money to purchase the materials come from? A harsh reality is that if it was necessary to budget it through the City of Richmond process, it might have been a project for the next generation to deal with.

Nathan Burrell, James River Park System superintendent, solved issue No. 1 by acquiring at no cost the design services of professional engineer Stuart Toraason from the Timmons Group.

A meeting with Richmond’s park system trails manager Michael Burton resolved issue No. 3, labor to do the work. The James River Hikers would assemble the necessary volunteers. But the suggestion that we engage in a money-raising campaign was rejected. James River Hikers is a “money-free zone.” We’ll do the work, but prefer to leave fundraisers to the Girl Scouts, the Rotary club and your church.

Soon after that, a most curious coincidence happened. Out of nowhere, group member Louis Matherne informed us he had really enjoyed hiking the trails over the years and hoped to make a financial contribution to create something of value, perhaps something like a new bridge. Bingo! Issue No. 4 solved.

Another meeting with Michael Burton, and now we were on our way. This was followed with communications with Home Depot’s White, who arranged the best possible deal for purchasing the construction materials. But what about issue No. 2, how to get the construction materials to the site?

Loading the bateau at the Reedy Creek put-in. Credit: Dennis Bussey

What follows is a story that if in a novel would categorize it as fiction. But it actually happened.

James River Hikers founder Dennis Bussey and event organizer Andrew McRoberts were together at an event one Thursday evening when Andrew came up with the novel idea of transporting the construction materials to the site by batteau just like this would have been done over 150 years ago on the James. It would both fit nicely into the “Hiking With History” theme of our Meetup group and also solve the logistical issues.

Dennis: “Andrew, do you know anyone who has a batteau boat?”

Andrew: “Nope.”

Dennis: “Me neither.”

Both: “Maybe something will come up.”

Twelve hours later, I was at The Wetlands with a group of volunteers painting and staining bridges as part of our yearlong effort to maintain all 120 of the wooden structures in the James River Park System. We were literally lost in the complex network of trails looking for the next bridge to work on when a 30-something guy came up behind us and asked if we had dropped the pruning shears he was carrying. Yes, we had, and as we thanked him, he inquired what we were doing. The conversation evolved from that to our plans for Texas Beach, and I mentioned the batteau concept.

Bingo again! Issue No. 2 solved.

Moving the lumber at Texas Beach. Credit: Dennis Bussey

The guy who returned our pruning shears was a batteau crew member for Andrew Shaw, a carpenter who had built his own batteau.

All that remained was to bring all the players together and coordinate the effort achieved this past Saturday when Shaw and his crew transported the construction materials from Reedy Creek across the river to Texas Beach in his batteau. James River Hikers plus additional folks willing to weigh in carried the materials the 250 yards down the trail from the beach to the construction site.

Under Burton’s supervision, the Texas Beach boardwalk will be constructed by teams of volunteers from Home Depot as well as Saturday Meetups by James River Hikers.

It began as an idea to fix a problem that for years has inhibited hikers, runners, dog walkers and just folks who wanted to experience the beauty, power and wonder of the James River up close. It was an idea plagued with complications, but they were all overcome through a series of coincidences and some determined individuals.

Here’s an invitation. Sometime after Thanksgiving, because the construction will be complete by then, take a hike to Texas Beach and see for yourself what can be achieved when citizens volunteers band together to solve a problem.

The Texas Beach Trail in winter. Credit: gorichmondproject.blogspot.com

There’s a trail that runs along the north bank of the James River — sometimes it almost drops into the river — from the woods behind Pump House Park to the Texas Beach stairs. If you’ve been down to Texas Beach, chances are you started out walking on that trail. Maybe you took it as far upstream as the canal outflow below Maymont, but most people don’t realize that it runs all the way between those two James River Park system parcels. That’s why it’s one of my favorite outdoor spaces in the area. It hides in plain sight. (Click here to see the RichmondOutside.com map of the area and the “Texas Beach Trail.” Click here to take the Terrain360.com tour of the trail.)

Yesterday, the T-D’s Rex Springston reported that the Texas Beach end of that trail will soon get a makeover — with a historical flourish. For a couple of months the local Meetup group James River Hikers-Hiking with History has been working on plans to build a long wooden boardwalk a muddy section of trail that starts near the base of the Texas Beach stairs and runs almost to the river. Dennis Bussey, the leader of the group, has written for RichmondOutside.com before, as have other group members. He told me about the plan for the uber-long boardwalk a few months back, and we plan to cover the build as it unfolds later this month.

But here’s what makes it more than just an ambitious addition to the park system: all the material for the project will be brought across the river to the site via bateau.

From Springston’s piece: Michael Burton, the city’s trails manager, said the boardwalk project has “been on my radar screen for several years. The challenge was always getting the materials to the site.”

Here’s an example of what a bateau looks like. Credit: martingregoryedwards.com