Whitewater Rafting
This past weekend I went with 11 other guys from church to West Virginia for a rafting trip (yes, we both heard and made plenty of "Deliverance" jokes). Anyway, it was quite possibly one of the greatest trips I've ever been on without my wife (no trip is complete without her).
I LOVE being on a river. There's something about rivers that gets me going more than a lake or even the ocean. Rivers are alive and moving and going somewhere. They're dangerous yet peaceful. If a river is surrounded by mountains I think there's not a better place in the world to be. Luckily, the New River in West Virginia weaves through the old coal mining mountains of that state and offers the most breathtaking scenery I've seen since moving to the east coast. Make all the jokes you want about West Virginia, but it's a BEAUTIFUL place.
One scary moment came on the first of our two trips down the river. We were entering a series of rapids called the Upper Keenie's when our guide told us that it was the most rigorous area on the river. He said if we fell out to swim hard to the left to avoid some undercurrents and some rocks. As we passed through the Upper Keenie's into the Middle Keenie's, we hit a huge wall of water just as our guide turned the boat hard left. John Newhouse was sitting the third seat back on the left and the momentum of the water combined with the sudden turning of the boat sent him tumbling into some intense rapids. The look on our guide's face told us all that the situation wasn't good. He immediately threw a rescue line to John that missed by about five feet. John went flying downstream, bobbing up and down as he went. Our raft made it to an eddy on the other side of Middle Keenie's and waited to see where John was going. We thought he made it onto some rocks on the side of the river and, after a few tense seconds, we saw him come racing over a huge rock right back into the middle of the rapids. Our guide shouted a few expletives and commanded us to "paddle forward and dig it in!!!" We once again missed grabbing him by only a few inches. Another boat got to him right as he entered another series of rapids and he caught hold of their rescue line. Unfortunately he caught it as he was entering the rapids, so he was stuck holding a rope that would save him while being submerged in water that could kill him. He went under for a few more seconds before popping up one last time. When he did the other boat grabbed his PFD (personal flotation device) and hauled him in, gasping for air.
It was intense.
I loved being with the guys from church and bonding with them over experiences like this one. It feels good to be a man of God, with men of God, doing what God intended for men to do. (Women, roll your eyes here).
I can't wait for our next men's adventure trip - tuna fishing in the Atlantic!
I LOVE being on a river. There's something about rivers that gets me going more than a lake or even the ocean. Rivers are alive and moving and going somewhere. They're dangerous yet peaceful. If a river is surrounded by mountains I think there's not a better place in the world to be. Luckily, the New River in West Virginia weaves through the old coal mining mountains of that state and offers the most breathtaking scenery I've seen since moving to the east coast. Make all the jokes you want about West Virginia, but it's a BEAUTIFUL place.
One scary moment came on the first of our two trips down the river. We were entering a series of rapids called the Upper Keenie's when our guide told us that it was the most rigorous area on the river. He said if we fell out to swim hard to the left to avoid some undercurrents and some rocks. As we passed through the Upper Keenie's into the Middle Keenie's, we hit a huge wall of water just as our guide turned the boat hard left. John Newhouse was sitting the third seat back on the left and the momentum of the water combined with the sudden turning of the boat sent him tumbling into some intense rapids. The look on our guide's face told us all that the situation wasn't good. He immediately threw a rescue line to John that missed by about five feet. John went flying downstream, bobbing up and down as he went. Our raft made it to an eddy on the other side of Middle Keenie's and waited to see where John was going. We thought he made it onto some rocks on the side of the river and, after a few tense seconds, we saw him come racing over a huge rock right back into the middle of the rapids. Our guide shouted a few expletives and commanded us to "paddle forward and dig it in!!!" We once again missed grabbing him by only a few inches. Another boat got to him right as he entered another series of rapids and he caught hold of their rescue line. Unfortunately he caught it as he was entering the rapids, so he was stuck holding a rope that would save him while being submerged in water that could kill him. He went under for a few more seconds before popping up one last time. When he did the other boat grabbed his PFD (personal flotation device) and hauled him in, gasping for air.
It was intense.
I loved being with the guys from church and bonding with them over experiences like this one. It feels good to be a man of God, with men of God, doing what God intended for men to do. (Women, roll your eyes here).
I can't wait for our next men's adventure trip - tuna fishing in the Atlantic!
posted by CoryJones at 9:35 PM
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