So, I took my first kayak trip last Sunday on Muddy Creek, a beautiful stream in the southeast section of York County, Pennsylvania.
All the situations that a novice could get into, I got into – running aground, angling sideways over the rapids, taking on too much water, failing to correctly “read" the creek and always paying some kind of price for it.
Snagged on a tree branch, banged sideways, jolted forward, tipped precariously ...and then taking on water and BAM, flat out of luck. Dunked!
The creek would be tranquil for a stretch and then suddenly I would find myself slipping furiously through some rapids. Then, you realize that sometimes you control the creek and sometimes the creek controls you. And you realize too that even a small creek with slight rippling rapids has great strength and energy and can hurt you.
Certainly the notion that you could ride peacefully and stay dry on the creek was dispelled quickly. The reality is you become part of the creek (you are in the creek; the creek is in you). The kids understood this immediately. It took awhile for the old farts to get it.
The backdrop to all this floundering frustration and anxious angst was the nearly untouched beauty of the creek and environs. Traces of history (an old trustle bridge, stone abutments) and stunning rock formations almost made you feel you were in another world. For a mile or two, a majestic blue heron stayed about 40 yards ahead of the group moving downstream at its own leisurely pace.
At the end of the day, I felt thoroughly washed, tumbled and dried. My friend, T, put it best: “We got whupped up on today.”
Finally, a big thank you to the experienced people in the group who saved the rookies from themselves and made the learning experience halfway enjoyable.
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