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Wow! What a thrill of a weekend!
I'm dead-tired and sore as hell from the waist up. Sitting in this tiny, unpersonal computer lab, with my fingers still smelling like laytex (I've been disecting poor, helpless, dead, formaldehyde-soaked, rubbery, gross creatures again), I am going to tell you about my totally "narly" whitewater experience. I hate the word "narly."
Sunday morning, it's 5:45 a.m., my alarm goes off...I hit the snooze. Nine minutes later when the alarm jolts me again, I dive for the shower. As cold as the bathroom floor tiles are, I still manage stand barefoot on the ceramic until the hot water decides it actually wants to make an appearance.
Out of the shower, then come the layers: underwear (duh), bathing suit, tights, footless tights, long-johns, sweatpants, a lycra long-sleeve shirt, a wool sweater, a fleece jacket, and wool socks. I pack my lunch and other necessities, like lucky ladybug earings, and am out the door, only to find myself running to the Lake Matoaka boathouse in order to make it by 7:00 a.m. The group of 15, gathers wetsuits, paddling jackets, helmets, paddles, sprayskirts, boats, dry bags, and lots of other good stuff. We load the kayaks on the trailor and cram into a 9 passenger van. Can I say "crowded?" Outside of Toano (Tidewater's City O'Shame), be all go to Hardee's for breakfast "to go."
That's it, just sit there and close your eyes. Now imagine, a hot sweaty vinyl interior van with like $50 of greasy sausage, yuck, and other icky stuff. Oh, the aroma...it's enough to make my cat actually WANT to have hairballs. And we're on the road...to Ye Old Appamattox River.
We arrive at 9:30, and unload the boats. Grabbing our wetsuits to change into, I head into the little girls' woods, while the men head for the little boys' woods to change. It took forever to change...to peel of all those layers I already had on to put on a W&M wetsuit and on top of that..all the clothes I had to begin with. The wetsuits are nasty! They have a big "W" on the upper back and and "M" on the ass. The suits are navy and the script is good. Ewwwwwwwwww....
Finally we hit the canal alongside the river to paddle up a slight downstream current. About 4 miles later we dock at the dam and break for lunch. At this point we're all in one piece...a little tired, that's all.
After lunch, it's whitewater time...
Oh boy. Now I wasn't the first to capsize (I was the third of four). I was peeling out of an eddy and I hit a bad current that was heading way to fast towards trees and bad rapids. I flipped over and tried to release myself from the kayak only to discover through the murky water that I had sealed my sprayskirt with the emergency release inside the boat. I managed to release it and my professor caught up with me a little ways downstream. He got me to a rock and back in my boat, which one of the other instructors had chased. Safe, so I thought, until they let me go without a paddle. I was so tired by that point all I could do was laugh and scream "Hey guys, I'm up a creek without a paddle!" Nobody laughed. They threw me my paddle and we went back to the group. I managed to stay in the boat for the rest of the trip but I couldn't wait to get out and in dry clothes. We left the river at about 5:00. THe ride home was almost silent as everyone slept.
I loved the experience and I'd do it again anyday. Despite getting wet, much fun was had by all. I am in pain, yes. But NaproxenSodium is my friend.
Happy Trails...Allison
axwood@maila.wm.edu
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