Adventures in Unfamiliar Mountain Sports - Part II

Deeply relieved to have retrieved our gear we suited up and finally got into the water. The plan was to play around in the still waters of this little eddy until I learned a few basic maneuvers like the Eskimo roll - used to flip oneself back upright when the kayak tips over. I paddled happily around for several minutes getting used to just balancing the boat. I seemed to be getting the hang of it so Reece suggested that I should paddle across to the other side of the river, then come back over to the eddy. I set off, a little worried about the current coming off of The Widowmaker, but found that I was able to paddle hard and cross it. I was pretty damn pleased with myself when I reached the other side and I turned to yell to Reece. When I turned to look back however, I suddenly realized something. I wasn't stopping. In fact, I didn't know how one could stop in a flowing river - we hadn't really covered that. Rather than shouting a victory cry I yelped that I was heading downstream - then I turned my boat to face the direction I was evidently going. Big bouncing waves and my very first white water lay ahead. I still didn't know how to do an Eskimo roll. I felt sort of unhappy.

Ian began paddling like mad and caught up with me in the middle of a section of big choppy waves that I was bouncing my way through. He pointed to an eddy at the side of the river and yelled at me to row like mad for it. A short distance up ahead the water turned into a small, frothing maelstrom of unhappiness as it passed through a narrow constriction with a "hole" (a sort of whirlpool that forms when the river hits a big obstruction like a rock) in the middle. I paddled with inspiration and caught the very end of the eddy, swinging into it with about a foot to spare. Apparently pulling into eddies is how one stops. I was pretty relieved to be in the eddy, but it turned out to be about a foot deep so there were no opportunities to learn the Eskimo roll or anything else. Reece began coaching me on how to navigate the hole coming up in the river. "Avoid it", he said. "Try and steer around it". He gestured emphatically with his paddle.

I paddled out of the eddy and into the middle of the river then turned and headed into the constriction. I was surprised and dismayed to see a number of kayakers were currently occupying the limited space available as they were riding their kayaks into the hole and using it to do little tricks. It would have been good form to wait until they were clear but seeing as the river was sweeping me towards it, my best course of action seemed to be to go like hell and try not to hit anything. It didn't work out. I shot into the white water, paddling furiously in an attempt to steer clear of the hole - suddenly a surprised looking guy in a kayak materialized from the exploding foam. I was pretty annoyed when I had realized that these guys were all hanging around in the way so I couldn't help but feel a small bit of satisfaction (albeit of the doomed kind) as I thundered into him broadside. I experienced a brief moment where the whole world was foaming water, kayaks and paddles, then I was underwater.

Underwater is actually much quieter than above, but I was firmly anchored inside my now upside down kayak by the spray skirt that harnesses you in. Since I didn't know how to Eskimo roll the kayak back upright, my only prospect for breathing again was to get the spray skirt off and get out of the boat. Happily there is a pull tab on the spray skirt which, when heaved on, will pop the otherwise very tight fitting spray skirt off, allowing you to flee the boat. I found it quickly, all the while thinking about rocks. Big rocks. The kind that lie on the bottom of a river and strike upside-down kayakers in the face as they whip by. I got out of the boat quickly. Back on the surface I found that I was now clear of the hole and accompanying white water (I have no idea what happened to that guy I hit) and was in a relatively calm section of river - I grabbed my kayak and swam into another eddy. Shortly after, Reece emerged from the white water, paddling along and obviously enjoying himself. The karmic re-balancing had begun.