On our second journey to the Lehigh River, we had the pleasure of having our friends the Kramers, Addisons and Wilsons accompany us on another exciting journey down the murkey waters of the northern PA river. We had so many good memories about the previous trip, that our excitement infected the spirits of our friends.
As we prepared our rafts for the adventure, our friends looked up to us as the “veterans” to lead the way and show them how to navigate the cool winding river near the town of Jim Thorpe. I of course relished the role as the lead guide who would blaze a watery trail through the waters of Lehigh. The tour, which we were a part of was lead by the Whitewater Rafting Adventure company, which had approximatly 15 dark green boats on the water. When the river guides gave us the okay, all of us carried our rafts into the water, jumped in and started paddling. Rahesha, Roshawn, Kameron and myself made up the crew of our raft, and with our veteran skills we stroked into the forefront of all the boats in our group. With me sitting in the back guiding our grand raft, the four of us smiled in satisfaction as we stroked in rhythm, easily outpacing the remainder of the rafts in our wagon train. However, as we approached a rough portion of the water, we lost our rhythm, and our raft started to spin in circles. While spinning in circles, the other rafts from our group began to approach as they found their rhythm. Although I was in the back of the boat, my back was actually facing front, and I was encouraging my crew to find their stroke and swing us around, when suddenly, I felt the raft lurch downwards. I turned and looked behind me just in time to see the raft heading over a rock and down a three foot dip. As our raft tipped downwards I fell back, and as I fell back Rahesha fell into me and we were tossed over the side along with our oars! The water was only about four feet deep, but the current was so fast and the rocks were so slippery that I couldn’t gain any purchase to stand. I grabbed the handholds on the side of the raft, and I snaked my hand out and grabbed a hold of Rahesha’s life vest and pulled her to the boat. All the while I could feel the cold water rushing by as we traveled alongside the boat. Rahesha panicked a little because she thought that Kameron fell out of the boat, but he didn’t. He however, was upset because he thought his parents were gone. As I continued to try to gain my orientation, my big toe hit a rock and began to throb, and one of my shoes fell off of my foot. Once I calmed Rahesha, I swam across the current with the raft in tow, until I came to a rock outcropping in the water that was about two feet deep. We all jumped in the raft, thanked God and kept on going. While all of this was going on, a nearby raft collected my missing shoe and oar, and the Wilsons had grabbed Rosahwn’s oar and we were back in business, although more humble! LOL!
Now that I have told you about our hair raising experience, don’t think we are done rafting! This is a family float rafting trip. There are only 3 rough areas on this trip. The only reason why were were tossed, is because we weren’t paying attention when we came up to that little dip. This is still a great trip for kids ages 6 and up, and everyone is required to wear life vests. Our friends enjoyed the trip so much that we have now decided to make it an annual family and friends event. As you can see from the pictures above it looked bad. Picture #1 is when I began to fall out of the boat when we hit the rock. Picture #2 shows that am already under and Rahesha is now falling in behind me. Picture #3 shows us that we are all safe and sound, and as you can see I enjoyed the experience, although my family members were shaken. I would love to thank the Whitewater Rafting Adventure photographer, who once again took some great photos!
I can’t wait until next year!
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