Figured I'd share a laugh from the Lower Yough

[PAC]

Aka a silly LY trip report…

So last weekend I ran over to pull off a quick loop run by myself. Usually these types of runs are uneventful since I know the section well and the level has been low and not technical / pushy (1'8" on this day).

Anyway unbeknownst to me god decided to remind me that I'm just not as good as I think I am and handed me some beat down nuggets to remember for the rest of the week.

Hopefully you enjoy the show - more than I did at the time of execution….

Lead in
I had just hooked up with some buddies and finished playing at Nemos and then running down and pulling to shore a wayward newbie kayak. The sun was out and life was good.
As I entered into Cucumber I was sort of dogging it and being lazy …that is when the first flip occurred (not shown).

Those who have paddled the Lower Yough you know just how shallow this entrance area to Cucumber is and it took me about 20 - 30 feet of using my head and back as a rudder / rock finder until I found water deep enough to pull a roll off. About 10" worth of water - did I already say it was shallow?

So now my paddling buzz has been shaved and my thoughts are in bad places. Mostly I'm just pissed at myself for flipping where I did due to lack of focus.

Now things get "good" ….in that bad sort of way.

I start off by running the river left slot above Guide Rock…
"Oh sugar cookie.. I'm screwed …wrong angle!!"
[img]http://adventurephoto.exposuremanager.c ... 29#photo_s[/img]

"Come on boy recover.. Get on it! Paddle…!!!
[img]http://adventurephoto.exposuremanager.c ... 38#photo_s[/img]

"Ah nuts and double doggie poo…" - Note to self going through the left slot at Guide Rock is better done facing up stream - the only thing I did right up to this point!
[img]http://adventurephoto.exposuremanager.c ... 44#photo_s[/img]

"Now I know that T grip is somewhere around here!" As I make the sign of the cross under water.
[img]http://adventurephoto.exposuremanager.c ... 52#photo_s[/img]

"Ah there it is.. Darn its shallow in here!"
[img]http://adventurephoto.exposuremanager.c ... 29#photo_s[/img]

"Oh well while I'm here... I'll advertise for TOG to the on-lookers" Thought to self nail this roll wimp! [img]http://adventurephoto.exposuremanager.c ... 41#photo_s[/img]

"Boy did that suck!" looking back at what has been
[img]http://adventurephoto.exposuremanager.c ... 53#photo_s[/img]

"Ah criky and its all on film too" Note the F Troop style head gear! [img]http://adventurephoto.exposuremanager.c ... 33#photo_s[/img]

Not taking one's self to serious… priceless!
[img]http://adventurephoto.exposuremanager.c ... 48#photo_s[/img]

Thanks to the folks at Adventure Photo in Ohiopyle for posting the pix and my buddy "Flash" who as the photographer just "happen to be there" at the time! And NO I will not be purchasing any of these particular photos!!!

Hope you enjoyed the show more than I did!

Enjoy the rest of your day!

CU out there! Paul C.

[sbroam]

Reminds me of a beatdown I was delivered at Broken Nose on the Onoee a couple of years ago. I was "ha-ha-ing" (think Nelson Munce on the Simpson's) at my buddy who ran the sneak whilst I "styled" the meat - I was past the last hole and in the shallow "nothing to it stuff" below when point I flipped and performed an extended geological survey. I did eventually roll up half way into the next rapid. First thing I heard was "we thought you'd never roll up!". Not on film, though...

[Mike W.]

http://adventurephoto.exposuremanager.c ... 52#photo_s

I don't know for sure, but this looks a whole lot like a set up for a KAYAK roll Could it be that those Northern winters have finally caught up w/ our old buddy PAC & frozen his brain?

Looks like fun! I haven't been in a boat in nearly 23 hours Going into DT's down here

[the great gonzo]

Great pictures PAC !
I recently had a similar run on the Ottawa in my Acrobat, when, after easily threading the needle in Mccoys between Sattlers and Phils holes I got cocky and decided to, instead of sneaking Horseshoe hole on the left, to do the hard line, catch the eddies on river right and the run the tongue in the middle of Horseshoe.
Trouble was, the boils and turbulences below Phils were a bit more than I could handle, and after some extensive and fancy (albeit completely involuntary) squirting and rolling, I ended up dropping sideways into left side Horseshoe, which was quite thrashy that day. I tried my best to work my way over to one of the tongues, to no avail (oh yeah, I was chest deep in the foampile, with my boat nowhere to be seen). The acrobat then decited that it was time to throw a few cartwheels and finally to windowshade. Once the windowshading stopped I was unfortunately still upside down, still in the hole, going nowhere fast. I then decided that getting some oxygen would be a nice thing, RIGHT NOW, so I swam.
No pictures were captured of this event. but everyone present was deeply impressed and said it was definitely a sight worth seeing... ...
So if anyone of you C1 squirties wants some excitement to your life, I highly recommend trying to catch corner wave eddy below Phils at low levels, you will be rewarded with plenty of adrenaline... ...

Martin a.k.a. the great gonzo!

[keez]

Martin,
Had pretty much the same beat-down at Horseshoe - in my Nitro. Amazing how powerful the water is there, and how totally helpless we can be.
What's that "left sneak route" you were talking about. Is it around the island?
Geoff

[mshelton]

.....uuuhhh PAC....ummm....I would refer to that as a clean line....guess we have different standards

[the great gonzo]

Martin,
Had pretty much the same beat-down at Horseshoe - in my Nitro. Amazing how powerful the water is there, and how totally helpless we can be.
What's that "left sneak route" you were talking about. Is it around the island?
Geoff

Yes, around the island would have been the smart route to go down in the Acrobat...

martin a.k.a. the great gonzo!