Insanity Defense
The very first time I ever went white water rafting I knew I found a sport for me. It was love at first brush. I also spotted white water kayakers and knew they were insane. Give me a nice safe raft, thankyouverymuch.
That was 12 years ago.
Since that first summer so many years ago I have been white water rafting a whole bunch, and sea kayaking quite a number of times. And, as you may recall, I took those paddle and roll classes. And, then, Tuesday afternoon I left work early for my very first run down river in a kayak.
It is safe to say that the bug has bitten me and, now, I, too, am insane.
We went down a very moderate class 2 river—an excellent first river. I borrowed a buddy's inflatable kayak (IK) for the adventure. Unfortunately, we discovered once I was in the water that it leaks. Bummer. It made the run down the river a little bit hesitant, but I was confident that I could do it.
We put in a little downstream from a waterfall, I immediately paddled up to it. Awesome sight to behold. Then, down the river we went. The first rapid was a 2+/3-, and the biggest water we'd see all day. When my friend turned around to surf the rapid I knew I'd have to give it a try. I attempted once and didn't get close enough. My second attempt, however, was spot on. Turns out, though, that I need a bunch if practice—once atop the rapid, I went for a nice little swim.
Safely rescued, recovered, and back in the boat we played for a few more hours.
As she was dropping me off at my car, Captain said the nicest words a girl can hope to hear, "you totally rocked that IK, Granola. Seriously." Music to my ears. Sweet, sweet music.
That was 12 years ago.
Since that first summer so many years ago I have been white water rafting a whole bunch, and sea kayaking quite a number of times. And, as you may recall, I took those paddle and roll classes. And, then, Tuesday afternoon I left work early for my very first run down river in a kayak.
It is safe to say that the bug has bitten me and, now, I, too, am insane.
We went down a very moderate class 2 river—an excellent first river. I borrowed a buddy's inflatable kayak (IK) for the adventure. Unfortunately, we discovered once I was in the water that it leaks. Bummer. It made the run down the river a little bit hesitant, but I was confident that I could do it.
We put in a little downstream from a waterfall, I immediately paddled up to it. Awesome sight to behold. Then, down the river we went. The first rapid was a 2+/3-, and the biggest water we'd see all day. When my friend turned around to surf the rapid I knew I'd have to give it a try. I attempted once and didn't get close enough. My second attempt, however, was spot on. Turns out, though, that I need a bunch if practice—once atop the rapid, I went for a nice little swim.
Safely rescued, recovered, and back in the boat we played for a few more hours.
As she was dropping me off at my car, Captain said the nicest words a girl can hope to hear, "you totally rocked that IK, Granola. Seriously." Music to my ears. Sweet, sweet music.
posted by granola girl at 10:54 pm
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