On Thursday we took Caleb kayaking on the Chattooga River! We love to go kayaking whenever we vacation in the mountains, so we were hoping Caleb would enjoy it too! I think he did!
(The last time we went kayaking, Noah tipped out twice, so this time he stayed with some friends of ours.)
Suiting up...
Making the 1/4 mile.....
...trek....
....down to the.....
....river!
Almost there!!!
Just a little further!
Ahhhh!!! We made it! One-fourth mile never felt so long as it did that day carrying the kayaks down to the river in the heat!
Caleb getting ready to stand up in the kayak, while Ethan relaxes on the sideline, watching.
Jordan
The kayaks that we take aren't actual kayaks. They are called sit-on-top kayaks, or duckys, or fun-yaks. You sit on top of the kayak instead of down in it. The river was the perfect temperature and the scenery was beautiful! We brought a lunch and ate it on one of the beaches next to the river.
Most of the rapids were Class II and Class III rapids, but the one at the end of the trip was a class IV rapid and that one was a lot of fun! We all got out of the river and walked ahead to take a look at the rapid before going over it, to make sure we wanted to do it and also to figure out which route to take. Caleb went first, successfully making it down the smoother side of the rapid.
Dad followed behind him, but his paddle got stuck under a rock and he wasn't able to position himself where he needed to be in time, so he got stuck, and had to climb out of his boat, onto the rock below the falls, and then climb back into his boat after the falls.
Ethan decided he didn't want to go down, so Caleb offered to take Ethan's kayak down. He again went over the calmer section of the rapid without a problem.
I went next, and I think I turned around three whole times before I actually made it to the four foot drop at the end. I was headed straight for the rough section of the falls, but somehow got myself straightened out right on the edge of the drop and and successfully made it over to the smoother section of the rapid and went down facing forward (amazingly)!
Yours truly
 |
| I don't know why there was so much water in my boat. |
Caleb took his kayak back up to the top of the rapid and went again, this time trying it down the rough section of the falls. Needless to say, he didn't make it....right side up at least!
So, Caleb got up and tried it again! He hauled his kayak back up to the top of the rapid and went over again......
.....with the same result!
Mom went next, and she went over the smoother section without a hitch! She maneuvered her kayak right where she wanted to go and went over the falls like a pro!
After Caleb's attempts to go over the rougher section of the falls, and Mom successfully going over the smoother section, it was Savannah's turn. She, too, turned around a couple of times, which put her in the position of going over the rough section of the falls! It was too late to paddle away from it, so she tucked her paddles in and scooted down in her kayak and held on for the ride. Amazingly, she went over the falls, bobbed back up and (much to the chagrin of Caleb) stayed right side up!
So Caleb trekked back up river to try to master the drop one more time! But it was to no avail! He again flipped over. So he walked to the top of the rapid again and successfully went down the smoother side on his sixth and final run of the rapid.
There was also a spot where you could jump into the river right below the falls and the pressure of the water would take you under and pop you back up a little ways down river!
All cleaned up and ready to eat some pizza!
And we finished off the day with a stop at our favorite store - Goodwill! There were several good finds there and Caleb was a trooper and waited while we shopped! In fact, he even got us a discount!
It was a very fun day and everyone enjoyed themselves! We can't wait to do it again!
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