Rafting the Chattooga River

Well, as Kathleen stated, as soon as she and the kids got home I was off on the high adventure camp with the young men. This year they were going to the Nantahala Outdoor Center. Our first day was spent doing the high ropes course. I got to stay with the boys and help belay them as they did the 20 and 40 foot high courses. In the end I got to do the free will drop-a 40 foot drop. If I can get the video that the young men have running around I will post it here.

After doing the ropes course, I took a few of the boys to hike on the Appalachian trail. I figured that since I was here I had to take a little time to go on it. I was pretty impressed, I thought it was beautiful.

As you can see, the trail was beautiful. I would really like to do an extended hike on it. We will see what ends up happening in the future. Ironically, as I was on the trail, it was the same day that the Governor of South Carolina was apparently there too. I didn't see him (probably because he was in Argentina, but I digress).

I took some time to fish on the beautiful river there. It was just gorgeous. I didn't catch anything, but it was well worth the time I spent there. The accommodations at the NOC were really nice, I was very impressed. After the trip was over, as we drove home, we stopped at Sliding Rock. It is this beautiful flat rock, that has the river running down it. You could slide down and splash into the pool at the bottom (8 feet deep). It was a great way to wake me up for the rest of the 6 hour drive home. This collage shows the river that I fished on, the boys right before getting in the rafts, the sliding at sliding rock, and the bunk house that I stayed in at NOC.

The next day we left for the rafting trip on the Chattooga river. The Chattooga is the border between Georgia and South Carolina. It is the river portrayed in the '70s film Deliverance (which I have never seen). We had an awesome guide, who informed us he had never flipped a commercial boat on the river. As you can see, we were his first.
I made it a point to give each of the boys a nick name on the trip. I earned my nickname from the boys on this rapid. After I fell down and knocked T-Bar (nickname, not real name) out of the raft, he named me "The Overwhelming Force of Kapow". The best part about the nickname was showing up to church and being called Kapow.

It was an awesome trip and I was glad that I got to go.