Peddling to paddling

“Paddle right,” I shout. “Now left! Watch out for the rock on the right! Pull hard to the left. Keep the raft straight. Everyone paddle hard!  We are heading for a boulder!”

Ted and I take the day off from pedaling and spend it paddling down the Lehigh RIver in a rubber raft with a couple from New Jersey on a day trip. Dozens of groups, each given their own blue rubber raft, join us as we float, bounce and scrape our way down river.

Walking down a cool and treed path, we find ourselves at a trestle where we are given our rafts and led through a spring-fed creek into the river. Pushing off into rapidly running water,  the sky is bright and full of promise and fun. 

The raft is more ungainly than I am used to having canoed and kayaked down rivers. We quickly jell as a group, however, taking turns paddling and making our way through the myriad of obstacles (rocks) on river. Whitewater rafting only occurs on weekends as that is when the Frances E. Walter dam releases water.

“The dam hasn’t released much water,” say one of our guides, helmeted in a highly maneuverable kayak. “It hasn’t rained much.”

The guides do a great job leading us down the river letting us know the route we should take to be safe and not get wedged on a rock. Our pod of rafts have varying success in this goal as some find themselves stuck high and dry unable to move. I pick up an abandoned water bailing bucket that has found its way into the river.

In between dodging rocks, we take in the beauty around us. Large raptors fly high above circling for prey. To our right is the section of the D&L trail that Ted and I biked on yesterday. To our left are towering and steep cliffs thick with the dappled green of many different deciduous and evergreen trees. Each bend we float by creates a different perspective and palette of colors and shapes to appreciate.

After a long two and a half hours we take a short lunch and water bailing break, scarfing down our sandwiches and dumping all the water in our raft back out into the river.  Soon we are back on the river to its most challenging section with Class III rapids. By this time, our paddling skills are much better and we zip around the river mostly avoiding its obstacles.

A technique of spinning the raft 360 degrees when it lodges itself on a rock serves us well as we frantically paddle to the right and the left. We crest the top of a large standing wave falling into its trough. Water covers our bow filling parts of the raft. The rocking and bouncing make it difficult to stay in place as we all lose our seating at times, falling into the center of the raft. Quickly recovering we soldier on. 

And then as fast as we started, a guide signals us off river. We practice our spinning technique for a final time and land on the shore, soaked, tired and ready to take the yellow school bus back to our starting point.