Poconos Late Summer '11

Untitled a photo by DC4416 on Flickr.

This last weekend I travelled to the Poconos with the wonderful Amy Leitch, Carlitos, Matt and Amanda, for another weekend of fresh water escapades. I feel so lucky to have made so many awesome friends that allow me the opportunity to travel along with them and share the dream. This weekend was no exception, the lake has cooled off considerably, since July due to the huge amount of rain the north east has received in the last month, what with hurricane Irene and tropical storm Lee. I have been lucky enough to come the lake a fair few times in the last couple of years and i have never seen it as high as this.. Amy has been coming to the lake since she was 11, and she said said the same. She is now in her thirties, I think that is saying a lot about the volume of rainfall we have had. It really is incredible. We arrived at around midnight on the friday, we all went straight into the lake, under an incredibly bright, almost full moon. Drank dark and stormys around an open fire and shot the breeze, most of the talk was filled about 9/11 it being the 10 year anniversary of the atrocity, and its always very interesting to talk to others about their experiences. It never gets any less shocking to see the images of that day, and like many events of this scale, you will always remember where you were.

Saturday was spent making food together, lake swimming from morning to night, water skiing which I eventually grasped, wake boarding (at which I completely suck at) and just diving off the boat and enjoying the beauty of freshwater. Lakes are by far my favourite type of body of water. we were blessed with superb weather a near empty lake, a golden eagle hovering overhead, and a hot tub to finish things off in. Amazing.

Saturday night after some more night swimming and a couple drinks in he hot tub, a home cooked meal (I rustled the ever English spag bol) a sit around the fire and a couple drinks before we hit the hay.. A 5am rise awaited us on the Sunday morning, off to Massachusetts, for some class 4 rapids and a whole lot of awesome.

Sunday was off the chain, serious. The drive there and and back to the city afterwards was a bit shit, but it didn't matter.. Record high water, a funny guide, myself and 4 other fantastic rafters, meant it could only be an amazing day. The class 4 stuff was unreal. It blew my mind, I absolutely love being in big water like that, immersed in freshwater that's trying it's damnedest to have you off the raft, we all worked hard and kept it upright, but a fair few close calls. So much fun, I'm thinking of trying my hand at going down in a kayak one of these days, just me, the paddle and the water. I bet there is nothing like it.

All in all, an incredible weekend, so much fun, so many laughs, good people, great weather, and so much water, what more could you want?