May 2001 - My 2nd Noli Gorge Trip

Well, the final tally is: (drum roll, please)...

3 combat rolls, 2 swims.

I was upside-down more than usual!

The Story

Randy and Jo were paddling a Topo-Duo. It was cool watching them go down together. They even tried surfing in Jaws. Once, they had a nice surf - and got cheers from everyone sitting around!

Then I tried to play a little in Jaws (that was the first combat roll!). I don't know how to play, but I was in an adventurous mood and decided to try anyway!

Above Quarter Mile, I slowed up and Sarah didn't, we bumped together. I managed to stay upright, but Sarah swam most of Quarter Mile - so, while everyone else was trying to get her and her stuff reunited, Emily and I waited at the top. I got kinda cold there with the wind blowing. Plus, I had a way too much time to sit and look at that nasty hole right below us. I decided to walk, but Emily was going for it. It was only her second trip as well, but she's much more aggressive on the water than I am. She made the move look easy, but I still walked.

Later, I flipped at Rooster Tail (Randy said to lean into the wave - I didn't). Then I rolled up facing upstream. I was right-side-up just long enough to hear Lawrence yelling something at me before I flopped over again. I missed the next 2 attempts and swam - bouncing off a lot of rocks before catching an eddy. That was probably physically the worst swim I took, but the second swim was worse mentally.

I don't remember where my third roll was, somewhere between Quarter Mile and my second swim. It was pretty nice, though. Felt like I was in a hole at first, so I hung out and waited until I could get my paddle on top and simply rolled up. It was cool.

I hit a mean hole on the rapid right before Rock Garden (A raft guide later told me it is called Dodo's Hole) I was recirculated before and after I got out of the boat. At one point, my boat did an upside-down ender - with me still in it. I was so confused, I don't even know which end was airborne. I had to chase the grabloop on my skirt all over the place. It was swirling in the water. Once I finally got out, I was still in the hole. My head was above water, but I still didn't like being there. It scared me. I didn't want to do anything hard the rest of the trip. I let that swim, and that hole mess up the rest of my day. I'm not proud of that.

So, I took kind of a sneak route down Twin Eddies because I didn't want to risk getting flipped again. The rest was less eventful. I just kept forcing myself to paddle, hoping for the take-out. My shoulders were really sore by that point.

I think all the rolls I did (that actually succeeded) were off-side (left-side). My on-side (right-side) needs some work. Lawrence said I was bringing my head up too fast on that one. Almost every time I flipped - I set up on the right, missed, and usually made the left one.

Editorial Note