Ohiopyle, PA

Last weekend, we decided to do a beginner's trip on the Loop. We met at the storeroom at 8am, loaded boats for Laura, Matt, Glenn, Hugh & Peter, and headed out to Ohiopyle. This was Hugh & Peter's introduction to the Loop, and the first Class III water they'd seen from a kayak. The river was higher than I prefer for a beginner's trip - 2.5 feet, as opposed to the normal summer flow of 1.8 feet, but the weather was perfect and there was less carnage than I've ever seen on a first-timer's loop run. We'd meant to meet up with Cornell and Ivan in Ohiopyle, but they ran into some delays in Pittsburgh, so we missed each other. Rumor has it that they had a great time, and ran the loop twice.

Here's what Hugh had to say about the day:

I thought the loop run was excellent. It was nice starting off slowly in the easier first rapids, because it allowed me to get comfortable on the river again. That made it easier when we got into the more difficult rapids. Also, one of the most beneficial things was being able to closely follow others' lines so that I could learn how best to approach a difficult obstacle/wave. What's also really excellent is that the loop provided a nice progression from the middle: It wasn't a huge step up in terms of difficulty, and getting comfortable on the middle really prepares you well for the lower.

I don't think we could have asked for better weather...72 degrees at 10am on Halloween! And it was nice to do just the loop, because it didn't tire me out too much, and gave me plenty of time to get back for Halloween activities.

And Peter:

As my introduction to class III water, it was a lot of fun. Despite having some control difficulties, I felt pretty comfortable. We got down with only one swim, which was nice. And I was glad to have the unseasonably balmy weather, though the water was plenty cold once I got wet.

-L. Lindzey

Ohiopyle, PA

Today's beginner/intermediate trip was awesome! I had sooo much fun on the water. In the morning, we practiced maneuvering in class II whitewater in Elephant rock and Zee rapids. There was even a friendly hole to work on learning to spin! For this part, we had Glenn, Andy, Peter and Hugh show up to work on skills, with Matt, Cornell and Laura helping out. Everybody had clean runs down Zee at the end. For the afternoon, we took a trip down the Lower Yough. For this, Christine and Jeff joined Glenn, Matt, Cornell and Laura to put on at ~2:30. I'd forgotten how much fun the river is at three feet - I hadn't seen this level in months, and there were features to play in all over the place. This was Glenn's first trip down the Lower, and by far the highest that Cornell & Christine had ever seen it ... by the time we took off, it was 4.6', and the rapids were closer to being class IV. Despite 5 swims and everybody surfing multiple times at Swimmer's rapid, we got off the water by 6pm.

-L. Lindzey

Middle Yough, PA

The Youghiogheny river is the local whitewater playground. Different sections of it are suitable for anybody, ranging from novice to expert. For Sunday's beginner trip, we chose the Middle Yough, a class II river. The purpose of this trip was to introduce complete novices to whitewater kayaking, and to start working on the skills necessary to become a competent river runner. Thanks to the experienced kayakers who helped out - Ivan, Cornell & Nik (who handled most of the teaching - thank you!).

Most of us met at 8 am in the storeroom, and after a chaotic 30 minutes, everybody had boats and gear. Eli and Francesca had left the night before - by luck, we ran into them in Ohiopyle right before we were about to leave to put on to the river. At the put-in, everybody practiced eddy turns and peel-outs, and we had our first swimmer. Everybody learned these new skills remarkably quickly, and we headed on downriver. Class II water is fairly straightforward, but definitely has big enough waves to flip an inattentive paddler. We stopped at a few more rapids to work on paddling technique and/or to fish swimmers out of the river. Despite the temperatures in the 40's, the wetsuits did their jobs, and there was no visible shivering or blue lips - I at least was quite warm =)

As we got off the river, I ran into a friend who was heading off to paddle the Lower Big Sandy, my favorite run, so I hopped in his truck to join that trip. Many thanks to whoever fetched my car from the put-in!

-L. Lindzey

Lower Yough, PA

Ivan, Cathy, and I left CMU Sunday morning around 9:30 to meet everyone else at the Boaters Changing House (the place where everyone meets up in Ohiopyle). We ran shuttle and waited a while for Nick and Allison to get their shredder ready.  We finally got on the water around 12:30pm.  We got in some surfing at entrance and then we all got practice chasing a boat and swimmer down Entrance, which a true Lower Yough tradition. (Laura and her Fuse).  Everyone had good lines down Cucumber.  Piddly made for some entertainment.  I watched one guy go for the attainment and get stuck in the pourover and get worked.  I admit, I was amused.  I was in a giant club boat, The Response, so I tried it as well...and did the exact same thing.  I usually paddle a little playboat, so getting worked in long boat is a lot different, especially a boat that is really really hard to roll.  I believe that is the first time I truly contemplated swimming in several years :)  Fortunately, I was able to eventually roll back up.  The rest of the loop was fairly uneventful.

We got to Dimple and Cathy&Laura both walked it.  We met up with David and Adam at Swimmers.  There were only a few people there and the line was very short.  We stayed there for a little while, but the shoreline was already in shadow and it was starting to get cool down.  We had 1 swim at Bottle of Wine.  At Double Hydraulic, Cathy missed her peel out in her ducky went right through the first hydraulic :)  Everyone had good lines at Rivers End.  Fortunately, everyone also made it down Killer Falls successfully.  By the end of trip, Ivan and I had gotten pretty good at being torpedos hitting the shredder to a point where almost knocked off Allison if she wasn't paying attention :)

Overall, another great day on the river.  Afterwards, some of us stopped at the "Out of the Fire Grille", in Donegal.  It used to be an awesome place to eat, but as David Stone stated so eloquently stated, "They sold out to 'the man'".

-B. Kish

Slippery Rock Creek, PA

Kayaking on the Slippery Rock Creek (Ranger Station to the bridge), at ~70 cfs and 9 participants.