Edited by author 05-26-2008 07:51 AM
Wristy BusinessTwo weeks ago, the 3 Stooges successfully ran the Upper Lehigh; i.e.,
no fatalities. Pumped with confidence, we planned to do the Lower
which is a more difficult run. I had done the Lower last year and
swam much of it. I was excited to try it again to see if I'd
improved my paddling (or my self-rescue!) skills. It was all I
could think about this week.
So it was dismay that I opened this email from Jerry on Wednesday night:
"Bad news...I may have broken my right wrist while skating last
night. I'll know this afternoon when I get it x-rayed.
I'll keep you posted."A broken wrist would prevent Jerry from paddling. And I thought it
unsafe to run the Lower with only 2 paddlers. Our plans for paddling
were in serious jeopardy. Made for grumpy office days.
Later on, Jerry emailed that his wrist, while injured, is not broken.
"Let's do the Upper." Not exactly as planned, but at least we'd be
paddling. All set to go and mentally prepared to do the Upper. Then
Jerry calls:
"I was riding my motorcycle and the wrist seems okay.
Let's do the Lower." (!!!)
4:30am Saturday. Up and out of bed - made my lunch and coffee.
Headed out to rendezvous with Steve at Quakertown at 6am. Steve was
prompt as usual. When transferring gear, Steve found that he'd left
his lunch at home. As Steve is always quite organized, this was an
unsettling omen. We drove up to Jim Thorpe and met Jerry about 6:50.
We are 3 who believe that if you're on time, you're late. Jerry,
normally organized, said that he too had forgotten his lunch. This
added to my growing anxiety about this trip.
We cartopped our 3 canoes and headed up to the put-in at Rockport.
The parking lot was empty! (Of course, it was a little before 8 in
the morning).
We put-in and were immediately treated to some beefy waves and
maneuvering at "Entrance". The Lower Gorge is stunningly beautiful
and full of challenging rapids and rock gardens, with occasional
sections of flatwater in between. We had a fantastic run and few
swims. And Jerry's wrist, while sore, was holding up pretty well.
We finished up about 1:30 and loaded up the canoes. As we drove back
to the put-in, Jerry said:
"Ya know, we already have a car at
Rockport.... let's do the Upper!" So I watched Rockport go by as
Jerry drove us to White Haven. We did a mid-afternoon run on the
Upper as the Ace was shutting off the water at the dam. We had a
surprisingly good run and each of us (tired canoeists) swam at least
once on this (easier) section.
We topped off the day with some plentiful and delicious grub at the
Ugly Mug. What fun to be 12 again!!
Some pix at
http://www.flickr.com/photos/solo_konoe/sets/72157605239953016/-K
