While I was indulging in the thought that the Tohickon trip on the release weekend was my last river trip of this year, I received a phone call from Allen which was an invitation to paddle the Tohickon Creek again on Friday, November 10th. I was surprised but most pleased to receive the kind offer. I thanked the weather God for the rain and the warming up temperature.

Before the trip, I thought, after the lengthy trip report I wrote for the release weekend, I would be out of talent to compose another one. However, it turned out that this trip won the title of the most exciting trip of LittlePo’s paddling year 2006.

Last weekend was the release weekend of the Tohickon Creek for which I had been waiting the whole season. There are only two scheduled releases: one is in late March and the other early November. If you want to paddle the Tohickon other than these two weekends, you need to ask for rain. Months ago when I heard about this creek, I knew immediately that I wanted to do it. It’s a step up from my river friend, the Lehigh, because it requires more solid river techniques. Paddling the Tohickon would be a good milestone and a perfect end of this river season, I believed.

It had been cold last week and my down jacket was already out of the closet. Last Friday night, I watched the weather forecast with my fingers crossed. The weather lady reported, “Today is the coldest night since…and tomorrow it’ll be even colder.” The numbers were showing 30 degrees for Philadelphia, 26 degrees for Allentown, and nothing above the freezing point for any place on Saturday morning. I started to debate. I don’t have a dry suit and my last river trip was weeks ago.

Of course, I did paddle; otherwise what’s the point of this blog entry? Under my dry top, I had 4 layers – fleece jacket, fleece vest, Polartec base layer, and another Polartec Power Stretch base layer. Three layers to cover my legs. Aqua socks inside my water shoes, two layers of gloves and a helmet liner. I had to loosen the straps on my PFD and squeezed myself in my little boat, and hoped that my armor would not restrict my movements.

On a river trip, this is the most commonly heard and used phrase – “Paddle, paddle, paddle!” It cannot be just “Paddle.” The verb has to be repeated three times in a row with a steady tempo and an affirmative tone to deliver the power. “Paddle, paddle, paddle!” has to be the dogma for every boater; it will not separate the Red Sea for you but it will definitely pave your river way.

A whitewater kayaker should have a snugly fitted boat; the boat is an extension of the boater’s body and the paddle is the arms. The more I kayak, the more I think kayaking is like swimming. Only the parts which engage with the water would be able to maneuver and change the directions of travel. Therefore as long as you always keep the paddle in the water, you have the bargaining chip to negotiate with a river.

Part III: A Popular Play Spot at the Ledges Rapid

After traversing through the rapids No Way, and Staircase, boaters will arrive at the rapid called Ledges. Here is a highlight of the Lehigh River – on the river right, and not too far away from a big boulder, there is a popular play spot. It’s popular because it’s a perfect place for boaters to practice literally every move – surfing, 360 spins, flip turns etc – and if you get washed out, you can easily return to the eddy behind the big rock and try again. Even if the worst thing happens, say you tip over, what follows is a wide and calm river section where you are free to take your time performing an Eskimo roll. There is one drawback about this play spot though: it’s so popular that, on weekends, there is always a long wait.

Last winter, after numerous practices in a pool, I got my rolls going. I told myself, “When the river season starts, I will go in that hole and surf,” as if playing in the hole should be a ritual for an upper gorge boater and I finally had my sacrifice ready.

Part II: the No Way rapid

Another famous or infamous rapid is called “No Way.” There is no way not to talk about “No Way” when people mention the upper gorge. The name suits the rapid: not only because there is no way you can remain dry, but also the deployed boulders in this rapid make it seem like there is no way through. Sometimes after passing through this section, we had to scan the river carefully to look for derelict paddles because plenty of people swam in this section for various reasons. You cannot wing it even if you want to, because No Way is the first rapid after the Lunch Rock which is a hard-to-ignore landmark therefore your nerves know exactly when to armor up.

I was alert every time I did No Way, and the route I selected for this time never repeated the previous ones. When a rock appeared, sometimes I wanted to go around from the left, and sometimes I wanted to backward paddle and go to another side of the river so that I could totally avoid the rock. My body had to execute the commands given by my mind in a super fast motion – as if the body and mind were an item – because there was no time for a blink of hesitation, or I would be the next one who needed a rescue.

The upper gorge of the Lehigh River used to be a legend to me. Two years ago, after I entered the kayaking world, I kept hearing “I want to prepare you for the upper gorge” from Nick, my good friend and also my kayaking mentor. Before I set my boat on that section, I pictured it as an exciting but dangerous waterway, which had many wavy and dangerous spots and would sneakily tip my boat over.

So far, I’ve kayaked on the upper gorge five times. It is no longer a far beyond reach legend of adventure. However, I will still sincerely call it legendary, because I am fascinated by its ability to pass on something new to me every time I paddled – the upper gorge is like a patient and methodical school teacher who has enticed me to enjoy growing my strength and boating maneuvers with inspiring new elements which were always accompanied with excitement and challenges.

Part I: the Z rapid

Since I started to kayak two years ago, Lehigh River has been my major playground. It has two whitewater sections of Class 3: the Upper Gorge (Whitehaven to Rockport) and the Lower Gorge (Rockport to Glen Onoko). The Upper has more play spots and the Lower requires accurate boat control. I like them both. I’ve kayaked on the Upper five times, but I was never bored, instead, the river gave me new kinds of fun, training and surprise every time I visited it.

I was doing some research online to shovel up some facts, rapid description and area maps of the Lehigh Gorge because I have been thinking to compose several articles to depict my excitement and experience on kayaking through the Lehigh Gorge. I hope that my readers will not only share my river satisfaction but also learn more about this river and consider doing some whitewater sport as well.

Below I describe two links which I found useful:

1. Lehigh River Water Trail (http://wildlandspa.org/lrwt/)

This site is very informative. It contains river maps, access point maps, description of rapids and everything you need to know about paddling in the Lehigh River.

2. Northeast PA Kayak School (http://www.kayakschool.com/)

If you have never kayaked before and want to try it, I suggest you to take an instructional class before you head to the river since whitewater sports are accompanied with considerable risks. I personally recommend taking a class from the Northeast PA Kayak School.

The founder of the Northeast PA Kayak School, Jerry McAward, is an excellent instructor. He knows how to diagnose and fix students’ mistakes and is a fun person to be with. I also had experience with another instructor, Tim, who explains the concepts of river reading and kayak strokes in such a simple and clear way, easy for people to digest and apply to.

For almost eight years, I’ve been living in the States, but not until this spring did I develop symptoms of allergies. It was a running nose in March and last week a clogged nose joined. I have problems breathing freely and my mouth hates to multi-task.

The whole situation becomes more absurd when I go climbing, “Are you breathing?” says the climbing instructor, and when I try to cross an eddy line in my kayak, “Don’t hold your breath!” say my experienced boating friends. I so much want to perform unobstructed inhales and exhales, yet I still hold my breath when I undergo abrupt movements or when I experience tough transitions.

Isn’t breathing the most natural thing? Not necessarily. Chinese Kung-fu masters ask their pupils to learn how to breathe before they learn any strokes, and the same thing happens in Yoga philosophy. In many aerobic sports – running, swimming, etc – people ask how they should breathe all the time, because breathing helps to develop rhythm and rhythm brings out endurance.

However, I had never imagined that one day I would have to constantly remind myself to breathe. It is almost as difficult as telling myself to relax when I just jump in a new sport. Both climbing and kayaking require balance, smoothness and elegance. I have heard so many climbers and kayakers use “grace” to refer to their beloved sports, and I will not hesitate to use that word if I know I can breathe better than naturally.

I always believe that a sport looks beautiful if you do it right. While my symptoms trigger my desire to breathe, I’ll just have to step further to keep working on that. I’ll keep monitoring myself as long as it needs to: If I hold my breath, I interrupt the continuity of a sport and disturb its momentum. And the end result? The beauty of the sport will be suffocated.

Last Tuesday I was very happy because I managed to do my off-side roll many times. Even though I still had to set up before my body entered the water to ensure a successful roll, it was an accomplishment to me. Especially when I recalled the first few attempts, during which I was totally disoriented and all the muscles were locked up, how couldn’t I be proud? Oh, please allow me to self indulge for a moment.

After practicing Eskimo rolls for many sessions, I could see my improvement. My rolls are still far from being perfect, but every time I practice a roll, I think beforehand, analyze afterwards before I give it another try. From this process I have gathered some ideas (or tips); they helped me to make my rolls smoother, and maybe they will be useful to you as well.

A good start is important, especially for an Eskimo roll. A good setup position will lead the remaining steps naturally, and before you know it, your head has already popped out of the water surface.

Different instructors have taught me the concepts of an Eskimo roll and each of them emphasized the importance of the setup position. In real situations, when you need to roll up your boat, the river will not be as smooth as the water in a swimming pool. The more challenging situation you are experiencing, the calmer you have to be. The setup position is the first step of an Eskimo roll and it’s the only phase you can stay there for as long as you want. It really helps you to sink your disturbing thoughts and relax your body. Remember, you only need about four seconds to finish a roll, and I believe if you are into kayaking, you can hold your breath for at least a minute. You have plenty of time, so don’t panic!