I will start with some background - I had the good fortune a few years back to make a trip to Ohiopyle, PA with the Higley clan to be introduced to the sport. It was love at first sight. I knew it was something I wanted to do more of, it was just a matter of figuring out how - MI doesn't exactly have a ton of ww rivers. None the less, prior to leaving PA we came about a little boat for a very reasonable price that I decided I had to have. Impulse buy - maybe... Since purchasing it I used it one time, on a float of the Grand River with Sandra that turned out to be quite the adventure. Missing boat plugs, crazy mosquitoes and us hitching in bikinis. Ah memories... I figured that WY would be the perfect place to get my boat wet in some ww. So, prior to getting to Jackson for our wedding I contacted both Eric and Aaron to see if they would be interested in doing some ww kayaking. Of course they were!
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| It is amazing how much you can fit into a station wagon! | Photo credit: Eric |
The morning of our trip Matt pulled out to spend time with his nieces, so Melinda, Eric, Aaron and myself set-off for our little adventure. First stop was to rent kayaks and gear for the three of them. Then we performed some fancy packing to get all of our gear into the two cars and headed on our way to the Snake River.
We arrived at the put-in and prepared to go. I was excited and somewhat nervous, I had not been ww kayaking much and my boat is tiny. O'well, how bad can it be - right? Though the course of the day I got my answer, it can be BAD. Everything started out well enough, we got into our boats and headed down river going though some rapids and enjoying ourselves. In the back of my head I was somewhat concerned because my boat was pretty tipsy. It didn't help that the eddy lines seemed to like to grab the edges and try to flip me. Sure enough the river finally had its way with me, I was coming out of an eddy (no rapids to be seen) and found myself underwater. Since my roll ability is pretty much non-existent I pulled my skirt and swam. Eric and Aaron split their effort between trying to grab me and my boat. We were quickly approaching the biggest rapid of the day (lunch counter) and decided I was going to have to swim it. Through the rapid I went, I was able to get into an eddy on the other side and crawl out. Later I learned that Aaron ended up going though upside down while trying to haul my boat. In the end Melinda saved my boat and Eric was nice enough to let me borrow his to get down to it. Did I mention that the water was cold? I was freezing!
We finally get everything arranged and continue down the river. Melinda was in front of me and hit a big hole, it flipped her. I was really close and tried to go around, I flipped as well. Now we are both swimming with the brothers chasing our boats. We finally manage to cling to a rock face and climb up it to get into calmer water (on the other side) and our boats. At this point I am still in good spirits but colder than I can ever remember being. I am also starting to notice that my reaction time is slowing down...
Back into the boats and down the river we go. It didn't take very long until I found myself back underwater. That was it, I was done - I was cold and scared. I couldn't function properly and just wanted out. Unfortunately out wasn't an option. In steps Aaron, he offers to let me hold onto his boat as we go though the next set of rapids. I am pretty sure I can handle that and we set off. As we were floating Aaron decided to pull his throw bag and tie us together. One problem, just as he was removing his skirt we were approaching the start of the rapids. He quickly puts the skirt back on and I continue to hold onto his boat for dear life. Unfortunately his boat had already filled up with water - he was sinking. We leaned into each other and hoped for the best. He finally able to maneuver us over waters edge and emptied his boat. We could see the take out around the bend, just a short way to go.
No way, I am not doing it, I am done! This is what I was telling Aaron. I would rather take my chances climbing up the ridiculously steep slope covered in loose rubble and then scale the highway wall then spend another second on the water. He tried to convince me that it would be easier just to float the 100' to the takeout - I was having none of it. During our discussion Eric comes walking along the upper slope. He would go with me while I work my way up and Aaron would deliver my boat to the take-out.
Usually I am not the sort of person to back down from a challenge, nor do I scare easily. Well, it sure seemed like WY had its way with me over the past few days. It was good for me, learning your limits is always a good thing - It allows you to know what areas you need to work on to improve.
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| photo credit: Eric |
My little blue boat is now looking for a new home, it isn't a good fit for me at the moment. A play boat for my poor beginners skills just do not mesh. Limit learned :-)
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