John and I just returned from a long relaxing weekend in the North Georgia Mountains. That’s where we go to “recharge” when the city life and the oppressive summer heat start getting us down. We stayed right on the Toccoa River. The water was literally 30′ off our covered deck. We couldn’t wait to get in. I held John off just long enough to unpack the refrigerated food we’d brought with us.
Sunset River, the charming cabin we rented this time, comes with a double kayak, a single kayak, and 3 floating tubes. When we touched the water and felt how cold it was, we opted for the double kayak. Since we arrived late in the day we decided to just paddle upstream a ways and float back down, to get a “feel” for the kayak. We planned to take a longer trip the next day. The river seemed to be way up and flowing very fast, but we didn’t let that stop us.
Getting into the kayak gracefully was not an option for me–a plump grandmother with bad knees. My husband, of similar girth, age and condition, somehow managed to lumber into the back slot without tipping us over. The whole time the river was trying to rip us away from the shore and carry us away. We paddled fast and furiously to turn the boat around and head upstream, but it was useless. After 20 minutes of hard paddling and getting nowhere, we fought our way back to the riverbank. Getting out wasn’t any easier. We were exhausted.
After a good night’s sleep, however, we were ready to go again. We decided to kayak from our cabin to Horseshoe Bend Park in McCaysville. We dropped off the Explorer and returned to the cabin to prepare for our adventure. It had rained all night and the river was even higher. Late afternoon pop-up thunderstorms were common and we wanted to get back before they hit. It was only a little after 1:00 and already overcast. I remember being glad that it would be cooler for us.
Did I mention that these kayaks were really “yakboards” that you sit on top of, as compared to kayaks that you crawl into and that cover your legs? You’d think that would make them easier to get in and out of, but trust me, it doesn’t. At any rate, we started out on our trip quite peacefully. We were going with the flow this time. The temperature was pleasant, and my legs could even get a little tan. All was well. The scenery was beautiful as we glided through the water, communing with nature. We didn’t even need to paddle. The river just carried us along. We noticed a little mist along the edges. Because the water was so cold and the air so hot, it always misted over the river in the evening and burned off in the morning. We wondered why it was getting misty in the early afternoon. In fact, it kept getting thicker and thicker until we couldn’t see 10 feet in front of the boat. We knew there was no way we could turn back. We had to keep going to get to our car–2 hours downstream.
We heard the rapids long before we got to them. We’d already maneuvered deftly around some small rapids, practicing our teamwork. John did most of the work, being in the back. But, nothing had prepared us for what we were rapidly approaching. We knew to keep the boat pointed straight ahead and not get sideways, or we’d tip over. We had no idea whether to steer to the right or the left now because we couldn’t see anything–until it was too late. We ran into some serious chop that seemed to go on forever. Then we hit a huge submerged boulder and dropped about 3 feet. I know that’s not exactly like going over Niagara Falls, but it was a pretty big deal to us. We took on so much water, as icy waves rushed over us. I was afraid the boat would sink. Somehow John got us over to a wooden seawall where we hung on for dear life while we caught our breath. We bailed and we bailed. I used my paddle and my shoe. When we got our wits back, we laughed and laughed, so proud of ourselves for surviving .
We continued our journey, running into more rapids, some big and some small, every 200 yards or so. The mist was still there, but at least we knew what to expect. I now have a new appreciation for the power of water. But I feel as if I could do anything, and I’ll go again as soon as I get the chance. I highly recommend a kayak trip down the Toccoa River. You never know what you’ll encounter.
