Okay now you might be wondering exactly what these things all have in common, unless of course you are Mike Moore, but not to worry I am about to clear it all up for you. I might have aptly titled this Brandae's Big Adventure but that sounds just a wee bit too much like PeeWee Herman and let's just avoid that subject all together.
I often wonder where to start and I guess the beginning is usually a good place but on this one I have to give you a little background. Yeah you guessed it this is a long post and hopefully an incredibly witty and enjoyable one.
Born and raised in the Kanawha Valley it was basically taking risks beyond measure to swim in the Kanawha River. Undercurrents from the Locks or just plain pollution. (I grew up in the 1.5 mile stretch between DuPont Plant and the Marmet Locks, not exactly a haven of environmental goodness.) Besides that, swimming in the river meant getting caught, just like in any small town where you know everyone, and that meant only one thing.....................THE WRATH OF MOM! Swimming in the river, even going to the river bank was strictly forbidden. So while I am a good swimmer I have never actually been swimming in a river or lake or creek for that matter. I am terrified of water over my head or where I presume it to be over my head because I can't see the bottom. This fear is almost paralyzing at times because I sometimes have a very difficult time even standing on a boat dock. I have managed for 37 years to live without doing these things and I figured I could finish out my life without it although it would have been most boring, I think.
So this past June as I was nearing my 37th birthday, I made the trip up to Harper's Ferry to attend the
Harper's Ferry Outdoor Festival for FOB. I jokingly made the statement that if I got 20 new members while I was there I would go kayaking. (As I am sure you can imagine, I was terrified I might actually get those 20 members and not be able to back out of that challenge.) As it turns out I met a ton of fabulous people who have an incredible love for the rivers. Yes that is rivers as in all of them. This festival is growing and is one of the best events I have ever attended. Well by the time I left, I had decided that a part of me (You know that rebellious part, that throws caution to wind) really wanted to try kayaking. Of course the other part of me that says safe is better was screaming stay on solid ground.
When I returned to the main office here in Charleston, I explained to Tom Rodd (husband of FOB Director Judy Rodd) exactly how inspiring the festival had been. He offered to bring his kayaks down to Charleston and give me a small lesson in kayaking. So on June 27th, merely one day after the big 3-7 hit. I trussed myself into a life jacket and jumped into the kayak and headed up river on the Elk. Mind you that the river was very low at that point in time as there hadn't been any significant rainfall here in weeks. So it was pretty much flat water and things went outstanding. After I got over the initial fear and learned to steady the boat I had a blast and thus began my love affair with kayaking. (Okay maybe that is strong but I liked it alot and wanted to do it again.)
So after spending the last two weeks, with schedule conflicts and heavy thunderstorms at times, Tom and I finally managed to get back in the water yesterday evening. I was so excited to get back out on the water in that kayak and since I had delusions of grandeur about my skill level I was ready to paddle like a madwoman. So we put in and chatted a bit as we started out on flat but significantly higher water than the last time when I pointed out to Tom that I heard water ahead and thought there might be a rapid. (For those of you that don't know the Elk in Kanawha County - there are deep pools and then shoals all along the biggest part of it.) Panic rose as he suggested we pull over to the side and kind of recon the situation. Let me point out at this point that there were three paths to follow and none of them looked like a good choice to me. The one on the left which we were closest too was what Tom chose for us. This was also closest to the bank and in actuality was a little smaller than the other two. There was a big downed tree in the water just beside this small rapid, which I was sure at that moment rivalled anything on the Gauley or New. So we moved back out and Tom maneuvered to the rapid first and went down like a pro. I on the other hand lost control of my boat and in a panic could not reasonably figure out how to straighten it. At this point I got caught on a rock and grabbed the tree (This is the strainer part if you were wondering) as the boat began to fill with water. Now I have heard these types of objects called strainers and couldn't quite figure it out until that very moment when I felt something like a spaghetti noodle that has tried to work its way through the bottom of colander as the hot water is being drained. You know the one that hangs down from the bottom. In my panicked state I could not figure out that all I really had to do at that point was get out of the boat. So after Tom made his way over to me and helped me out and we emptied about 3 million gallons of water from the boat. I got back in determined to finish this trip though I was very shaken. We finished this section with no significant problems and I have to admit as scary as that was, I am already ready to go again and this time I am going to paddle harder and steer better because as I learned yesterday, you can never really conquer the river and it will let you know it.
Let me summarize, I caught kayak fever at
Harper's Ferry, I did my first kayak trip on the
Elk and on my second trip (again on the Elk) the river with a little help from a large
strainer, taught me a whole new kind of respect.
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