good times

[topaz119]

It was a beautiful day on the river yesterday (the Chattooga, right on the border of Georgia & South Carolina, also known as where they filmed Deliverance.) D & I have rafted a lot of different rivers over the years--the New and the Gauley in West Virginia, the Youghiogheney in Maryland/Pennsylvania, the Snake in Wyoming, etc) and in all the years we've done it, I've only been out of the raft once (Iron Ring on the Gauley, which is a Class V rapid and one that you *really* don't want to be out of the boat on, but we hit it wrong one year and I backflipped out, hit the water, and came up right alongside the raft as we all finished the rapid. It was pretty painless for a 'your life is in danger if you're in the water' kind of a rapid.)

Yesterday, I was out of the raft TWICE. The first one was a stupid little dip that I didn't get my lean away started early enough, but the second was Corkscrew, which is a Class IV and I went out on the high side and got to take the last 2/3rds of the damn drop on my own. blech. Our guide threw me a rope really fast (bless him) and then hauled me back in at the bottom (though I think he had to tell me 4 or 5 times that it was okay to let go of the line because by god, all my brain knew was that I HAD THE LINE AND I WASN'T GOING ANYWHERE.) He was pretty freaking adorable. At some point in there, I lost my paddle, Oldest's paddle (because the kid held it out to me but wasn't braced to take the torque of the current and wisely let go) and my pants.

Now, granted I was wearing swim shorts under my cargo pants, so it's not like I was flashing anybody, but it made for a great story, and an even better one when the above-mentioned adorable guide snagged them off a rock further downriver. :D

There are pictures of my Corkscrew debacle, which I got to commemorate the occasion (and D's birthday.) Unfortunately, they were having issues with their burner so they're mailing things out, but I will share when the CD arrives.

(I may possibly be getting too old for this shit, but I hurt less today than I did after the zip lines in Costa Rica a few years ago, so the weight training might be helping? maybe?)

Comments

[jenna_thorn]

Any vacation story in which you lose your pants is, by definition, a story worth telling. 8-)

I'll sit at the bottom of the rapids and hand out beer from the cooler. With my knitting. I may be younger than you, but I'm too old for going through rapids.

[topaz119]

I did actually walk around the last big rapid, because it felt like tempting fate, what with having been out of the raft twice already. I should probably give up trying to keep up with the boys, but they always talk me into these things (or better yet, talking me into doing all the planning/arrangements, too!)

[turps]

The losing of your pants makes that story *g*

Glad you're okay, though!

[topaz119]

It was too funny, t!

[i-llbedammned.livejournal.com]

I am glad it seems like you had fun. At least you got some good stories out of the adventure.

[topaz119.livejournal.com]

And pictures, too! The photographer was too funny after that second fall--as soon as they had me back in the raft, she called down to tell me she had great shots of the whole thing!

[withdiamonds.livejournal.com]

You're awesome, but you knew that. I'm happy you're okay. The only place I ever rafted was on the Miami river near Ft. Ancient, OH, and the only time I was ever out of the raft was for portage. My fellow ICU nurses and I used to go every summer, until the babies started to arrive. :)

ETA: It was really a canoe, and we also got out to pee in the river.

[topaz119.livejournal.com]

The river itself is soso gorgeous, it's almost worth the pain of having to fling yourself over rocks just barely covered by rapidly moving water. (Or at least that's what I'm telling myself!)