A Little Closer To Heaven

As promised, here are my pics and story of my first class IV rapid. It was only about a year ago when the youth group I was helping out took a trip to Tennessee to do a week of rafting, hiking, and caving. Needless to say, it was my first rafting experience. The first picture shows just how inexperienced I was. We floated the upper Nolichucky which is absolutely full of class IV’s. We had spent a couple of days doing class III floats so I didn’t think this one would be a big deal. My friend Troy, the one making the funny face, saw the camera man and pointed him out. So, we decided to stop paddling and smile for the camera. Big mistake! You can actually see the intense face of the guide as we head into the class IV rapid that we were not even paying attention to.

This next picture is priceless. It’s right after the first picture when we actually headed into the class IV rapid. My wife is in the back corner with the look of horror on her face. I’m directly across from her holding my breath. Not only were we headed into it…but we were headed for an undercut rock that could swallow our entire raft. The raft guide started yelling out orders quicker than we could carry them out. On top of that, we had a couple of Jr. High girls in the front who had no idea what their job as the front of the raft consisted of. “Paddle Back, Derek!” the guide shouted with an intensity unlike I had ever heard. We were headed right for that rock! “It’s too late,” I thought to myself. But I continued to paddle like a madman whispering prayers under my breath. Just as we were about to smack into the rock,we finally bested the rapid and missed the undercut by inches. “You’re gonna have to pay more attention and work harder than that if we’re gonna make it through the rest of the trip,” The guide told us as we headed out of the rapid.

The intensity settled. I looked forward to what lied ahead. Another series of class IV’s called the 1/4 mile. It’s called that because it’s 1/4 mile of class IV water. I took a deep breath and realized for the first time the respect that the river demanded. We made it through the rest of the trip with no troubles. It was an adventure I would never forget.

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