Falls and Jet

The water from Lake Taupo flows out via the Waikato river. One section of this river narrows to form Huka falls. The falls are not very tall. In fact, the water flowing over the falls almost hides them. But the water is a churning froth. This is beyond white water. Even above the falls, the water churns, and is a strange pale blue, marbled with white. Where it gushes over Huka Falls into the large and suddenly wide river below, The water bubbles up solid white for dozens of yards.
We arrived at the falls overlook, early in the morning. we had the short walk along the narrow stretch of river to ourselves. After we had taken many pictures, none of which look quite real, we headed to hukafalls Jet to get a different perspective of the falls. After suiting up in a rain jacket and life vest that would have made both Neo and Superman proud, we loaded into the boat, Jake and I taking front row seats.

Riding in the boat felt like gliding on ice, as our pilot fishtailed the boat along the banks, in and out of tree stumps and small islands, and under the wings of escaping black swans. On the open water, he cut the wheel, and whoo! partially airborne 360! splash! We headed downstream for a bit, then turned and headed up for the falls. Many "close calls" with the river banks, and spins later, we arrived near the foot of the falls. We could go no further. That white boil of water was more air than H2O, and boats only float on water.

Montgomery Bell and Foggy Bottom

In early spring of last year, we headed out with a couple of friends for a weekend at Montgomery Bell State Park, east of Nashville, and canoeing on the Harpeth river. We arrived at Montgomery Bell Saturday morning, secured our campsite, and set up our tents. Then after lunch, we headed out a trail which connects to the back edge of the iron ore pits and ultimately leads to small and picturesque lake. The trail winds though a typical Tennessee hardwood forest of Maple and Oak, and a forest floor covered with a thicket of last falls leaves and this years new growth, including some blooming may apples, and some unidentified purple flowers as well.

After returning to our campsite, we started up a fire and cooked up dinner. We shared a bit in each others food, making a feast of pulled pork sandwiches, campfire grilled corn on the cob, and smoked turkey legs which led to some complications with utensils that were mostly resolved. And what campfire would be complete without s'mores? When the fire had died down, we all turned in to sleep.

In the morning we broke camp after cold breakfasts, and headed for the Foggy Bottom Canoe Rentals. Despite the fact that the sky threatened rain, we opted to rent a couple canoes and do the 13 mile trip. We enjoyed the start of the trip a great deal, and were having a pretty good time periodically stopping at rock bars along the green river's banks to fish and explore. Then the rain came, and at first it didn't seem too bad. We stopped under some trees to eat, but inevitably, it came time to continue on, and it was still raining. Canoeing in the rain is not so bad if you have a poncho or rain coat, but none of us did. But even being soaked to the bone, as I know I eventually was, might even be welcome if it had been summer, but in early spring, I know I at least was a little miserable.

Which is a shame, because it really is a beautiful river, and I was only dimly aware of it, much more focused on paddling in a steady rhythm to get us back as quickly as possible. Still, there is much to be said about the overhanging trees, and many birds, the deep green water, and red clay cut banks which surrounded us. Maybe this year I will give the Harpeth a second chance, a little later in the year.

Ocoee

The Ocoee River is a great place to Raft in Tennessee. It's located In the southeast corner of the state. The rapids are fun, but not too serious, mostly class III and IV. There is a damn upstream as well, so the should be fairly consistent during the season.

It's been some time since I went, so I can't remember the name of the particular group we used, but, like many of these places, there are several compainies to choose from. Whoever you wind up going with, you will probably start out on the deep water above the damn, learning how to work with your raft mates. Once you do board the raft, it is fairly nonstop until you reach the deeper, slow waters near the end. Here you will have the opportunity to climb out of the boat and float in the water.

This is a half day activity, and a particularly good location for the first time rafter. I highly recommend a visit here, especially if you find your self in the Chatanooga area, which is the closest larg city. A

Rafting the New

In Summer 2004 my husband and I went to Pennsylvania and West Virginia for vacation. On our last day before heading back home we went white water rafting on the Lower New river and had a great time. Before this we had only gone rafting on the Ocoee, which is fun, but not as wild as the New.

The company we went with was Rivers Resort. While I'm sure most companies offer a similar experience, that is the one we went with and the guides were very good. This is very physical, but also very fun. You should be a confident swimmer, but you will of course have a life jacket. The river offers from class II - V rapids, and they are mostly one after another, which is what makes it so difficult. The highlights of the ride were stopping to jump off a tall boulder into the water, and flipping the raft, more or less on purpose. Let me explain: after going over a particular rapid, all the rafts pull over to the side and wait their turn to "surf" the rapid. You come at the rapid from the side, and then paddle like crazy to get into the current between where the water goes down and the white water churns up. When you get there you can stop paddling and stay in the middle of the current. After a few moments the current spits you out, and sometimes that involves flipping the raft. So, we did this twice, pretty good, no flips, and were laughing at all the people who had flipped, but then karma kicked in I suppose. It flipped our raft, and I did bump my temple on a rock, despite my helmet. When I resurfaced it took me a while to realize I needed to swim to the side if I didn't want to go downstream alone. I swam sideways, until I was in the current that circles back up into the rapid. This is where all the rafts are floating and waiting for their turn. Well, the rules are supposed to be, if some one's in the water, pull them out, even if they're not with your group/guide company. so I get sucked up to the first raft and I'm like "hi" and they just look at me blankly and don't help me. At this point, I can feel my legs being pulled under the raft, and I really do not want to go under, because on the other side of them is another raft, and another, and another... I wouldn't be able to get back to the top... so I push off from them and try to make it to one of the Rivers rafts which, after being squished a little between some other rafts waiting for their turn, I finally manage to do. We get reorganized, I get back in a raft with my husband (who has lost his paddle) and the others from our raft, and we're on our way again.

Thankfully, we stopped shortly after that for a riverside meal, and we were all able to compare our scrapes and bruises. The meal consisted of sandwiches you make your self from huge piles of deli meat/cheese and etc., chips, and some Oreo Refrigerate-to-make type desert. By the way, pieces of cheese are really hard to separate with a plastic spork. After the end of the ride, we went back to the saloon which is run by Rivers at their campsite. Everyone was given two free drinks, and we all watched the video, which had been shot along the way, on a big screen. So, of course, we bought the video for maybe a little too much, but how could we resist? Recorded on the video, in all it's splendid glory, is our flip. I'm proud of my husband because instead of going into the water in a jumble like the rest of us, he held on to the top of the raft until the very last. The drinks after were nice bonus, even though I was limited to soda, it being a few months before my 21st birthday.

This is definitely worth doing if you like rafting, but this probably shouldn't be your first trip. The upper New is milder. The Ocoee, in South East Tennessee is good, and I'm sure there are many others.

Some advice: make sure you bring extra clothes, and make sure you eat a good breakfast. I'll give this an A, and I'd do it again, brain damage and all.