Oh my. The last time I went white water rafting was when I was in the 8th grade (I think) I absolutely love the water so my dad thought it was time to go again for a mini vacation. My uncle has an Airstream camper/campsite in Tennessee so we thought we would stay the weekend! We left Oneonta on Friday morning at 4:30 a.m. and drove to Springville to pick up my aunt and uncle. We loaded the suburban and were on the road in no time! Zach and I were crammed in the back seat. It was hilarious because his legs are so long so he could never get comfortable.
We finally arrived at Cherokee White Water Outfitters near the Ocoee River. We went through the "safety spill" and grabbed a helmet, paddle, and life jacket. Our guide was Nick. Saying he was awesome is an understatement. He is an adrenaline junkie and being my age, was ready for some rapids! Zach and I jumped in the front of the boat & I'm glad I ended up riding in the front. Our boat was the first one out so we were the lead. Within the first 10 minutes of the trip, our boat slammed into a rapid, and Nick flew out the back. He quickly jumped back in and we were back on track.
As we were rafting the Ocoee, I couldn't help to laugh at the names of the white water rapids. For example..... Double Suck, Hell's Hole, Double Trouble, Screwdriver, etc. Not to mention these rapids are class III and IV so there is definitely some intensity as we were on the Ocoee!
When we approaching the Double Suck rapid, our guide said.... "Guys, this is one of my favorite rapids on the river. Its name is Double Suck. Can anyone figure out why it's called Double Suck? Well, it's because if you fall out, it SUCKS twice as bad." I looked at Zach and started laughing hysterically thinking there was no way we would fall out of the boat. Boy, was I wrong!
We clinched our paddles as Nick said "We're going to hit Double Suck hard!" He gave the commands and we began to paddle. There was a boat in front of us and the guide was a girl. The guide was new, but she had 4 FAT people on her boat. Bless her heart. She was my size so managing a boat full of bigger people must have been hard. There boat quickly turned completely sideways and we were right behind them. Needless to say, our boat T-boned them right in the middle of Double Suck. Zach, Robby (Dad's friend) and his daughter Whitney immediately got flung out of the boat. Our guide Nick got slung from the back all the way to the front. At this point, I was starting to panic. There were only 2 people left in the raft (Me and Robby's other daughter who had never been before)
I looked to my left and saw Zach and Whitney going under fast and Robby clinging to dear life on the side of the boat. With both hands, I somehow yanked Robby onto the boat, then onto Zach & Whitney. Zach was luaghing so hard that I began to laugh on accident haha. Poor Whitney was scared for her life. Once we ALL got into the raft, we only had 2 paddles. We ended up finding them and were right back on track. Our guide LOVED our little diaster. I can't blame him, it was the most fun I've had in a while!! The rest of the trip was AMAZING! Besides Double Suck, Hell's Hole was my next favorite rapid. So in a nutshell, that was my weekend white water rafting.
I encourage anyone to go if you have never been. You will not be disappointed. I can't wait to go back next summer and take all of my friends!!
We finally arrived at Cherokee White Water Outfitters near the Ocoee River. We went through the "safety spill" and grabbed a helmet, paddle, and life jacket. Our guide was Nick. Saying he was awesome is an understatement. He is an adrenaline junkie and being my age, was ready for some rapids! Zach and I jumped in the front of the boat & I'm glad I ended up riding in the front. Our boat was the first one out so we were the lead. Within the first 10 minutes of the trip, our boat slammed into a rapid, and Nick flew out the back. He quickly jumped back in and we were back on track.
As we were rafting the Ocoee, I couldn't help to laugh at the names of the white water rapids. For example..... Double Suck, Hell's Hole, Double Trouble, Screwdriver, etc. Not to mention these rapids are class III and IV so there is definitely some intensity as we were on the Ocoee!
When we approaching the Double Suck rapid, our guide said.... "Guys, this is one of my favorite rapids on the river. Its name is Double Suck. Can anyone figure out why it's called Double Suck? Well, it's because if you fall out, it SUCKS twice as bad." I looked at Zach and started laughing hysterically thinking there was no way we would fall out of the boat. Boy, was I wrong!
We clinched our paddles as Nick said "We're going to hit Double Suck hard!" He gave the commands and we began to paddle. There was a boat in front of us and the guide was a girl. The guide was new, but she had 4 FAT people on her boat. Bless her heart. She was my size so managing a boat full of bigger people must have been hard. There boat quickly turned completely sideways and we were right behind them. Needless to say, our boat T-boned them right in the middle of Double Suck. Zach, Robby (Dad's friend) and his daughter Whitney immediately got flung out of the boat. Our guide Nick got slung from the back all the way to the front. At this point, I was starting to panic. There were only 2 people left in the raft (Me and Robby's other daughter who had never been before)
I looked to my left and saw Zach and Whitney going under fast and Robby clinging to dear life on the side of the boat. With both hands, I somehow yanked Robby onto the boat, then onto Zach & Whitney. Zach was luaghing so hard that I began to laugh on accident haha. Poor Whitney was scared for her life. Once we ALL got into the raft, we only had 2 paddles. We ended up finding them and were right back on track. Our guide LOVED our little diaster. I can't blame him, it was the most fun I've had in a while!! The rest of the trip was AMAZING! Besides Double Suck, Hell's Hole was my next favorite rapid. So in a nutshell, that was my weekend white water rafting.
I encourage anyone to go if you have never been. You will not be disappointed. I can't wait to go back next summer and take all of my friends!!
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