crimson collum

Earlier this week I had an awesome little vacation with two priests from the Archdiocese: Whitewater rafting and mountain biking in West Virginia. This is an annual event and the second time I've participated.

We were supposed to spend two days rafting but our first day was a little rough. The water level was high which meant we had to let into the New River at an earlier point than ususal thus making the day longer: about 5 hours. Add to that, we had two newbies at the front of our raft which is the pace-setting position. They didn't follow our guide's commands very well at all which made the rest of the raft have to row more often and harder.

The rapids were great, with a few class V's, and it was a fun run but we were beat at the end of the day. When day 2 came around we didn't feel like rafting again so we decided to apply the funds to something else: mountain biking. I was a little intimidated by this because I've never been very athletic and haven't been on a bike in like 10 years... let alone know how to work the 24 speeds on the bikes we rented! But, we were all in pretty much the same shape and were wore out just riding to the park where we could choose our trail! We decided to pick a 1.1 mile loop for starters. I think we carried our bikes half the trail! None of us could figure out the gears. But I decided to give it one more try and this time I had a blast. When I figured out the proper gears to use and how to shift them it was a lot more worth the effort. There were some tough up-hills on the short trail but they made for some exciting down-hills as well. I was pretty proud of myself for stretching what I thought I was capable of... Next year... ATV's!

If you ever have any inkling whatsover to go whitewater rafting in West Virginia, especially on the New River or the Gauley River, don't settle for anything less than Class VI River Runners. They are THE BEST. Period. (excellent facilities, brand new cabins, EXPERT guides who value safety over hijinks [go with Eric], pull-over off the river for a complete homemade lunch, a kayaker who films your entire trip then puts together a DVD while you clean up in their excellent shower facilities, cold drinks of your choosing waiting in a cooler when you get off the river, and a nice, fun bar to relax afterwards with some beer and wings as you watch your trip video on a big screen with the rest of the rafters and guides.)