Kayak

Placed June 13, 2003
Closest city: Ohiopyle

Difficulty: Moderate
Terrain: Moderately difficult - can be very wet, muddy, and slippery, and includes a few hills. Not accessible for strollers, wheelchairs, etc.
Distance: A mile or two.
Time: About an hour.

Please bring a stamp pad for this box.
Logbook replaced 7/19/08 (thanks, Mommo!!)

Friday

We finally got to the campsite, albeit very late! It's very muddy and still raining, but it's nice to be away from the city! Tomorrow we rise and shine early to test our kayaking skills on the Middle Yough. I'm kind of nervous - I've never kayaked before...

Saturday

Today was so much fun! The locals kept commenting that they haven't had this much rain in 15 years. We rented our kayaks and were shuttled to where we set in. The water level was rising and rising, but after our first turn in the river I was loving every minute of it! Sure, we only hit Class 1 and 2 rapids but I'm hooked! I want to buy my own kayak now so that I can get out more often. I'll do that tomorrow before we leave...

Sunday

Good news and bad news. The good news is that I bought a kayak! The Yough has me hooked. It's a lovely green beauty...I can't wait to break her in. Unfortunately, there is just no room in or on the car for my new purchase. I couldn't just leave it, and I couldn't return it either. My only option was to hide it for now until I can come back and get it later. So that's what I did. After we packed up our campsite and checked out, we drove down the road a bit to the Falls named after a vegetable. We parked in the lot and started carrying the kayak, looking for a good hiding spot! Over the grated metal bridge we went (I wonder if anyone ever goes down this stretch of the river!?) and veered to the right on the path that pointed us to Great Gorge. After we saw a green blaze on a tree, we forked right instead of staying on the main trail. Eventually we came to a small stream and had to veer right, going downhill. The bottom was a wet, muddy mess - glad I wore my hiking boots! From there, we turned left onto the yellow blazed trail, all the while looking through the trees at the Lower Yough on our right hand side. We could hear the shrieks and laughs of the rafters hitting the rapids. I only wish I too was out there! Up another hill we went and forked right again onto a small footpath. We had to walk over some rocks and through some mountain laurel bushes - no easy task carrying a heavy kayak! Luckily, I found a hiding spot soon after we broke through the bushes. Where the trail ends in a steep decline, I sighted a tree on the hill at 270*. We left the kayak there. I hope that it's safe for now...