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I had thought by now that my nerves would be better but they are getting worse. I was actually shaking for a good part of the first half of this run. I hope this stops soon. I feel really stupid. Oh well, time to put my fear issues aside and discuss the run. All I can say is...WOW! What a ride! Bruce had been telling me that the North Branch would be the biggest water I'd have seen to date. That there would be huge and pushy waves but that it would be great fun and that I would love this river. He was right. I absolutely loved this river. After listening to Bruce's description, I had pretty much freaked myself out. I was worried that I wouldn't be able to control my boat in the big, pushy waves and was scared to death of having to run "Robin's Nest," a river wide ledge with a huge hole. I was already prepared to portage it before I even got there! It was a beautiful morning and after a nice drive to Bloomington, MD, we met Dave, Melissa and Zeth at the take-out and proceeded to the Barnum Whitewater Recreational Area to change and put in.
Once on the water, Bruce wanted me to try ferrying the rapid above the bridge pier to help me loosen up. Having no confidence in my ability to ferry, I refused to do so and insisted on just heading downstream. I followed him through the first rapid and eddied out. Even though this was probably one of the easiest rapids on the run it did push me around a lot. I quickly realized exactly how hard I was going to have to paddle that day. This is an awesome river to practice catching eddies and that is what Bruce had me do. Most rapids can be run just about anywhere but I was still most comfortable following the others. I was really happy that Melissa was paddling with us. We spent most of the day talking which helped calm my nerves. While doing so, I wasn't watching where I was going and ended up getting stuck on some rocks in a real shallow area. I had to get out and move the boat to a deeper area to get moving again. Needless to say, I started paying closer attention to where I was going!
The next few rapids were big, wavy, rock gardens. Nerve-wracking but awesome fun! Then came the hydraulics. Here I took the easy line down river left avoiding the meat of the hydraulics. After watching the others run the harder lines, we were off to "Blue Hole." There is a large rock at the bottom of this rapid. I was supposed to go down the left and then cut over to the right of the rock to avoid the ledges on the left. I didn't get to the right and went over the ledges. This actually turned out to be fun. We then made our way to "Play Hole." Here I was to start out right and get over to the left bank before the hole. It wasn't pretty looking but I managed. Here we took a short break before running a couple more wavy rapids and taking a longer break at the picnic table. Here, we discussed "Robin's Nest," the sole Class III rapid on this river. To run this I was to start down right of center to avoid the low hanging branch and then cut back far left but try not to get grabbed up and turned around by the eddy. Can you guess what happened? I got grabbed and turned but managed to turn back around and run a good line. I learned here that no matter how hard someone tries to explain a move or what can happen, it actually has to happen before you'll understand what they mean.
With "Robin's Nest" behind me, I felt like the weight of the world had been lifted and I was now ready for "Top of the World." This rapid has a huge wave at the bottom. After being told how to take the easy way and avoid the wave, using more colorful terminology, Bruce urged me to not "chicken out" and run the correct line up over the wave. I started through the rapid with every intention of taking the easy way but after watching those ahead of me run the right line I got the courage up and also ran the correct line. Boy was I glad I did. It was awesome air! The next challenge was "Amy's" which I don't really remember and then we finished up with my favorite rapid which is a large, smooth slide ending in a large wave. This resulted in even more air than Top of the World. What a ride!
I absolutely love this river! After
getting over my initial fear, I settled down and thoroughly enjoyed the run and
couldn't wait for the next day.
5/7/2006
Level - 4.33 ft, 956 cfs
Craft: Tomcat
The description of this run can be found in Chapter Six "River Rat" - The Legend Begins
5/21/2006
Level - 4.37 ft, 989 cfs
Craft: Tomcat
6/3/2006
Level - 4.38 ft, 997 cfs
Craft: Tomcat
8/27/2006
Level - 4.12 ft, 817 cfs
Craft: Kaituna
I had been looking forward to the final release of this season since I found out about it. I requested the 30th off from work so that we could be there for both days. We drove down Saturday morning and met Zeth at the take-out. Bruce and I had been suffering from some type of stomach virus for a little over two months. Other than the lingering fatigue I had actually been feeling pretty good most of the week but unfortunately I made the mistake of grabbing a breakfast sandwich on the way down and it flared up again. Although I was suffering from severe abdominal and back pain I changed and got ready to attempt the run. We started downstream through the first rapid. Every time I took a stroke the pain would flare up and I couldn't give it all I could. I had little power or control and was being pushed all over the place. I quickly eddied out and made the decision to takeout. If I couldn't keep control through one of the easier rapids, there was no way I would be able to make it the rest of the way down. I spent the rest of the day sleeping in the truck waiting for Bruce & Zeth at the take-out. We spent the night at the Army Corp Campground sharing a great meal and good conversation around the fire with Rodney K, Judy P and Mike M. I had another bad night and woke feeling extremely fatigued and made the call not to paddle that day either. I followed the crew down to Blue Hole taking pictures & some video clips for Bruce's North Branch page before heading to the take-out. I was very unhappy to have missed the final opportunity to paddle this great river this year. I hope I start feeling well soon.
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| Bruce & Rodney | Judy P |
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