A lot of localized flooding of creeks, etc. around here... A couple of idiots went down one such creek, resulting in rescue efforts to retrieve them after they found themselves stuck between a tree and a wet place (downed tree across the entire creek causing it to be completely impassable... with the current and force of the water behind them, one ended up clinging to the tree for dear life, the other was pulled from the water downstream, pretty battered and without his kayak.
Anyway, we hit one of the rivers: Genessee River... (some of you may have heard of Letchworth State Park in NY... waterfalls and stuff... beautiful! And, in quite a few older movies)
Trees everywhere floating downstream. I've never seen a river with that much current. The water was like boiling chocolate milk in a pot that was being shaken. What a great ride. It was like being on a kiddie rollercoaster for a while, up and down on the smaller (1 foot) waves...
Then, a few miles later, the river goes over a spillway... I don't know how high it is in the summer, because I had never kayaked that stretch before... All I could say was "ohhhhh shiiiiitttttttt! Woohoooo! as we hit that stretch.... a couple hundred yards of 3 to 4 foot waves attempting to whip me every which way. A canoe would never be able to go through that... and if I hadn't had a spray skirt on, there was one wave that washed over the whole front of the kayak, up to my chest, that would have filled me up instantly. (I have an 11 foot Perception America).
It was incredible! Now, I want a whitewater kayak and to learn all the necessary skills to handle that stuff (or worse) more often.
Interestingly, we left the river with an extra canoe paddle, a basketball, and a message in a bottle from may of 2000.
Anyway, we hit one of the rivers: Genessee River... (some of you may have heard of Letchworth State Park in NY... waterfalls and stuff... beautiful! And, in quite a few older movies)
Trees everywhere floating downstream. I've never seen a river with that much current. The water was like boiling chocolate milk in a pot that was being shaken. What a great ride. It was like being on a kiddie rollercoaster for a while, up and down on the smaller (1 foot) waves...
Then, a few miles later, the river goes over a spillway... I don't know how high it is in the summer, because I had never kayaked that stretch before... All I could say was "ohhhhh shiiiiitttttttt! Woohoooo! as we hit that stretch.... a couple hundred yards of 3 to 4 foot waves attempting to whip me every which way. A canoe would never be able to go through that... and if I hadn't had a spray skirt on, there was one wave that washed over the whole front of the kayak, up to my chest, that would have filled me up instantly. (I have an 11 foot Perception America).
It was incredible! Now, I want a whitewater kayak and to learn all the necessary skills to handle that stuff (or worse) more often.
Interestingly, we left the river with an extra canoe paddle, a basketball, and a message in a bottle from may of 2000.
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