Mile 603.0 - Miles 603-597: Scrubgrass Bend
603-597 Scrubgrass Bend
Scrubrass Bend makes an elegant 180 degree semi circle around Smith Point. Seen from the air the river channel scribes an almost perfect half moon. You enter it paddling west (into sunset) and exit paddling east (into sunrise). You might experience a common river illusion as you enter Scrubgrass from upstream from Henrico: it sometimes appears that the entire Mississippi River (the biggest volume river in this corner of the planet) dead ends into the wall of forest seen downstream. It might strike readers as strange that a half-mile wide big volume river could appear to disappear. But this is the way of the river. Mythic. Mysterious. Miraculous.
If you are intending to enter the White River, which is located at the base of the bend RBD, stay middle channel and then hug the right bank further down. Before you get there right bank descending at mile 599.5 is found a small pass into a bottomland lake which used to be the old channel and mouth of Scrubgrass Bayou, a White River distributary. Above HG10 you can easily enter through an intriguing channel bordered by overhanging willows, which creates a thick canopy and is a great place to take temporary shelter on a hot day or windy winter's day. (Note: this place is marked No Trespassing but you're okay staying on the water.) For all other routes stay middle channel at first past Smith Point and then return bank left staying closer to the giant sandbar that sprawls around Smith Point at all but the highest of water levels. Above 37HG an incredibly beautiful secret back channel can be found and followed behind Smith Point by staying right left and entering a narrow opening at the base of the Dike #1. Go to Smith Point description below for the rest of the story.
If you're continuing down Scrubgrass Bend towards Victoria Bend, Rosedale and points South, stay LBD. There is a series of underwater Chevrons that were placed by the US Army Corps to break up the strong currents around the outside of the bend and to make conditions more favorable for upstream tows. The water boils & swirls unpredictably over these chevrons, any wind or passing tows makes for big choppy waves. The water on the left side of the channel might seem slow at first but gradually it picks up speed, and past mile 600 it feels like the full force of the current has been shoved over LBD and it becomes the fastest side of the river (contrary to common river knowledge that the fast water stays on the outside of the bend).
At the base of Scrubgrass Bend new water enters the Mississippi from the White River, and then exits one mile downstream into the Old Channel of the White River! If this sounds confusing, don't worry, this is just one of the amazing attributes of the mysterious Mississippi. Keep reading below for more description -- Old Channel of the White River.
During rainy seasons up to 40,000 CFS (cubic feet per second) flow out of the White River into the mother river the Mighty Mississippi and hug the right bank for hundreds of yards downstream. If you are paddling in this area you will see blossoming boils of creamy-colored water erupting through the browner/greener waters of the Mississippi. Both are muddy, but the mud tones vary enough that a distinct demarcation can be seen by the paddler. Watch out for upstream tows who will also be charging upriver in this same area of the river -- and remember that a few of them will cut into the White, usually to access the Arkansas River through the Kerr-McClellan Canal.