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. 我以為該個水庫洩洪的週末，泛舟於Tohickon Creek是我今年最後一次的泛舟行了。沒想到，數天後，接到Allen的電話，問我隔天星期五要不要再泛一次Tohickon？意外歸意外，驚喜卻是更驚喜，馬上二話不說開始準備，心裡頭對老天天降甘霖，以及逐漸回升的溫度心存感激。 行前，想說上次寫了數千字的Tohickon泛舟記，這次應該沒什麼好寫的了，就算再也才華也寫不出來的了，沒想到，這次的泛舟行相當精采，眾望所歸地贏得2006年，由小Po頒發的最刺激的泛舟獎獎座。 Read More…

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. 上個禮拜是Tohickon上游水庫洩洪，玩家可以玩船的好日子。可以說這整年的泛舟季，小女子我都在默默地等待這個週末的到臨。一年就只有三月和十一月，唯二的兩個洩洪週末，是確定可以在這條河上泛舟的，其他的時候，就只能看老天賞不賞臉，有沒有下雨，雨量又是不是剛好云云，基本上，就是碰運氣。幾個月前，我聽一同泛舟的同好談起這條溪，就暗自下了決心，今年一定要參與Tohickon的泛舟行列，因為這條溪流的技術難度，比我經常泛舟其上的Lehigh River還要高些，要能好好泛好這條河，就等於間接證明泛舟的技術有進步，辛苦的練習有成果。 上個禮拜，愈接近週末，氣溫愈是低，羽毛大衣也早已經出箱了。星期五晚上，一邊祈禱一邊看著天氣預報，氣象報導員說著：「今天是入秋以來氣溫最低的一天，不過，明天天氣還會更冷。」接著，螢幕上就大大打出，各地低於冰點的隔天早晨的氣溫，這這這，我心裡開始掙扎，明天真的要去面對這麼「冷酷」的考驗嗎？我的裝備箱裡可沒有dry suit，上一次泛舟也是好幾個禮拜前的事了，不知道技巧是不是生疏了？！ 當然，我還是去了，要不然也沒有這篇文章了。在我的dry top下面，還有四層衣物，分別是fleece夾克、fleece背心、兩層保暖排汗兼潑水的長袖衣物。腿上也有三層，腳上穿著泛舟襪再套泛舟鞋，兩層手套，安全帽下再加一層防水保暖頭套。弄得自己像大胖子一樣，救生衣需得調鬆才穿得上，最後似乎是硬擠才把自己塞進小船裡頭，當時還真擔心臃腫的身軀，手腳恐怕都動彈不得了，要怎麼泛舟？ Read More…

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. 「划、划、划」，這振奮人心的三個字，大概是在河上泛舟的人最常使用、也最常聽到的口令了。可不能只是「划啊」或者是「向前划」，一定要以堅定的口吻，精神飽滿地將「划」這個動詞，重複三遍才算及格。嗯，雖然說「划、划、划」不能給我們摩西劈開紅海的神力，必要的時候，它可是指點河上明路的耀眼燈籠。 對於從事激流獨木舟運動的玩家來說，擁有一艘合身的小船，是最重要不過了。必須感覺那小獨木舟，等於是身體的延伸，而兩端備刃的長槳就是左右臂。我多划獨木舟一次，就多感覺一分獨木舟運動和游泳的相似處。只有與水有接觸的部分，擁有操控方向的能力。也因此，隨時保持槳在水中，是獨木舟玩眾必須牢記的心法。 Read More…

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. 第三話：激流Ledges區的熱門玩點 順著Lehigh River而下，穿過激流No Way以及Staircase之後，等待在不遠處的是激流Ledges。這裡是Lehigh River上相當有名的一處景點：河右岸，距離一巨石的不遠處，有一立體的迴流浪潮，是相當受船家歡迎的玩點。這浪潮之所以熱門，關鍵在於：小船玩家幾乎可以在這裡嘗試各種花式，諸如衝浪、360迴轉、小船翻跟斗等等。如果小船被激流衝往下游，船家也可以輕易地回到巨石後面的安靜水域，往上游划去，重新嘗試一遍。最壞的情況也不過就是翻了船，而浪潮之後的河區不單安靜、而且寬敞，容許船家從容地做出eskimo roll的動作，將小船再翻轉回來。真要針對這個玩點挑出一個毛病，就是，它實在太受歡迎了，星期假日等待的人潮總是大排長龍。 去年冬季，很努力地在游泳池裡練習，終於算是學會了eskimo roll。當時，跟自己說：「等船季開始，一定要到那兒玩玩，讓小船衝衝浪。」似乎，進入該玩點嬉戲是到Lehigh River upper gorge必須從事的儀式，而我已經將祭品虔誠地準備妥當，只等神明採納。 Read More…

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. 第二話：激流「沒法子（No Way）」 Upper gorge另一個著名的，或說是惡名昭彰的激流，叫做「沒法子（No Way）」。這名字恰如其份，形容該激流以絕妙。談upper gorge，沒法子不談沒法子。在這一河段，沒法子保持身子乾燥，河床上此起彼落的石塊，有時候真叫人沒法子找出一條安莊大道。常常，過了這激流之後，就得開始以鷹眼掃瞄河面，留心是否有無主的孤槳，太多人由於不同的失誤，必須脫船游泳，泥菩薩過江，就顧不著他們的槳了。就算你刻意漠視即將穿過「沒法子」的事實，以嘗試降低自我過份緊張的心情，恐怕也是沒法子。因為這激流是過了「午餐石（Lunch Rock）」之後的第一關，你的神經在吃午餐的時候，就早就根根豎立了。 每次過沒法子，我就特別警覺，而這次選擇的通關路徑，絕對不會和上一次重複。當大石在河中出現，有時候心裡想要從左邊繞過去，有時候卻想要往後划去，再將船渡遠些，來迴避和該大石的正面交鋒。腦袋裡一盤算好，身體就得馬上執行命令，耽擱不得，腦袋和身體必須合作無間。這裡，不需要一眨眼的遲疑，就可以讓我成為下一個等待救援的受害者。 Read More…

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 Lehigh River的upper gorge一度只是我夢中的傳奇。兩年前，當我開始泛獨木舟的時候，我的好友兼獨木舟導師常常對我說：「我要你好好練習這些、那些基本動作，才好去泛upper gorge那一部份的河段。」好幾次，我常想，那段河段該是怎麼怎麼地驚險刺激，有許多狂亂的激流，隨時隨地伺機將我的小船打翻。 截至目前為止，我已經駕著小船泛過那個河段五次了，upper gorge不再是可望不可及的傳奇。但是，形容它的時候，還是很難不使用傳奇這個字眼：每次泛舟其上，總是會有新的感覺、新的學習、新的收穫，真難想像為什麼同一河段可以這麼千變萬化；它又好像一個循循善誘的人生導師，每每使用啟發式的範例，伴隨著趣味且有挑戰性的泛舟體驗，導領我心甘情願的認真磨練操舟動作，增加自我的操舟能耐。 第一話：激流「Z」 Read More…