I Will Survive

I'm alive! I should say, we are alive. When we last left our intrepid heros, they were setting out for the adventure of a life time: riding the 5th best commercial river in the world, the Upper Gauley. We went in knowing that it would be intense. We knew Doug, our guide, and knew his reputation. That is to say, nobody asked us if we were looking for the intense ride or a more safe ride after we told them we were going with Doug. Born and raised local to the Gauley river, Doug knows every nook, eddy, ripple, pour-over, hole, undertow and trap in the water, and he will take you through it all. In addition, he has one of the most encouraging personalities I've met up with. Being super intense and directed, the four us felt like we could conquer any task put before us, as long as we had our raft, our paddles, and Doug. One challenge on the Gauley is to charge straight at Pillow Rock and see how far up the face of it you can get your raft. Our group took gold, by no small margin. In addition to feeling like we could conquer the river, Doug frequently let us know who was in charge. You may notice the lack of fellowship with our guide here. Moments before this shot, our raft was vertical in the water, with four young, headstrong rafters seated inside, paddling desperately. No one noticed Doug inching over to the highside of the raft until it was too late. All in all, it was an excellent trip. A small mix up with the local authorities (no worries, it wasn't Deliverance style) at about 4am was the only hiccup. I talked to Justin yesterday (being Thursday) and he said he was also just coming down off the adrenaline. Yeah, it was a good weekend. I think Kevin frames our emotions best.