On an unusually cold and gloomy August 22, 2009, I went on a canoe trip on the South Fork Shenandoah River with the Outdoor Adventure Social Club. There weren't enough people signed up for the trip to cover the cost of renting the usual ten-boat trailer full of canoes, so we assembled an ad-hoc flotilla out of people's personal boats and one canoe that I rented from UVA. It rained on us lightly and intermittently, and I did not take many pictures.

We spotted this spider and its web with an interesting zig-zag stitch near the put-in (which I think was at Island Ford). A little online research suggests that the spider is a yellow garden spider, Argiope aurantia. They are supposedly common but I do not remember seeing this kind of web before.

Our ragtag party launches.

Facing upstream, probably (intentionally) grounded, after going through a rapid. This is one of my favorite rapids. The calm water up above is the remnant of an old mill pond, and at a break in the old dam (out of the picture, to the right) there's a sluice with a one-foot drop that gives you a good ride but is not difficult to steer through.

Lining up the course to go over the dam. I think that's Pete's whitewater kayak but I can't remember who was paddling it that day.

Other canoes waiting below the dam.

This guy brought his own solo canoe. It is designed to be paddled by one person and has attachment points for decking as well as leg braces for rolling.