Level IV
I'm about to impart to you a little wisdom I have concerning Level IV. But, before you begin, this is not about intelligence levels, or test levels, or even chemistry levels. Its about white water river levels.
At the time I went white water kayaking, I skipped over that notation, as I glanced over a legal waiver I had to sign before I began the excursion. It was a hot summer day on the 3rd of July, as I stood there at Kosir's River Rapids with my younger brother. Level IV, I thought — no problem. I mean, four out of ten levels in rivers right? Plus I have the "water" gene, handed down from centuries of naturally good water skiers and swimmers. So does my brother.
What I mean by that is I seem to have a connection to water. My father used to swim and slalom ski on the lakes growing up and so did my brother. My brother just seemed to be able to pick it up and slalomed on his first try. I used to water ski a little, and I was on a swim team in Wisconsin. My grandparents home was right on a lake that I swam in for years. But long before that I learned to swim by the time I was five. In college I passed a NAUI scuba diving course and after that I did a few dives in the Caribbean. The diving course came easy to me because I was a good swimmer, unafraid of the water. Pretty much any chance I have to get in the water I do because I like to. So kayaking is basically included in that equation.
If only I paid attention to the fact that Level IV is not four of ten levels, it is four of five levels. Did the waiver say that somewhere? I still don't know. Strangely, I experienced a stabbing pain in my stomach, as I paused with that pen in the air. No matter I thought, maybe just a flash of indigestion and signed. Behind me stood my brother and about fifty other visitors waiting to go.
As we stood signing, we debated shortly if we wanted a two man kayak or singles. We decided on singles. One for him and one for me.
It was briefly explained to us that the water levels were low, and also the river would be more crowded than normal, since another bus full of people arrived right before us. But I chose to listen to other words that day like: all rafters must be in good physical condition and unafraid of the water - checkmark. Exciting new adventure and chilly cool waters - checkmark. Scenic - checkmark. Wild thrill - checkmark! We carried our kayaks to the river. The bank was steep and the kayaks were extremely heavy.
Kosir's River Rapids is located in Wisconsin along the Peshtigo River. You may have thought that Colorado owns this, perhaps Utah, or maybe even someplace out west like Montana. But think again. Wisconsin lies on the Canadian border where rivers run fast, deep and cold. Wisconsin is filled with rivers and lakes and the rivers are often filled with boulders, that originated from ancient glaciers that carried them there. These are the white waters of the great midwest and the land of the Menominee Indians or the Mamaceqtaw meaning "the people" who rose up against the French in the 1700's. This is God's Country an old Milwaukee Brewing Company used to advertise. I have a long history with Gods Country wilderness - AKA Wisconsin, since I was born there. At the time I was visiting my parents. They kept a beautiful piece of property up there for years that my grandparents once owned.
Although the Wolf River and the Peshtigo have the longest continuous stretch of whitewater in the upper midwest they still claim less lives than Colorado rivers...but lets not get into morbid statistics.
The fact is I did make it through the day which is why I'm here blogging about it a few years later. The first half of the kayakers couldn't make it over the rocks and the low waters. That left the second half of us including my brother. We did manage to make it over two five foot waterfalls. However due to the number of kayakers, a kayak came over the waterfall on top of my brother who subsequently fell out of his kayak. He climbed back in but hurt his back and lost a $300 pair of sunglasses.
I was fine except for getting stuck inside a deep swirling pool underneath a waterfall. As I tried to kayak out of the pool, I got a Charlie horse in my thighs. If you're not familiar with that term it means my entire thigh muscle cramped up as I tired desperately to get past the falls. The force of the water coming down on top of me was crushing. Two "safety" people over to my left who were there to "help" the kayakers just sat there and gave me a thumbs up. Fantastic.
As I continued along the river, it slowed down and deepened. Thats when I saw a woman dangling from the side of a small river boat. Inside the boat were two children about ten years old. She was young - early twenties, and had fallen out and was trying to hit bottom with her feet to stop the boat and this was when I realized she was in serious trouble. I asked if she wanted help and she said no. Actually she was doing the right thing in such a situation so I continued on. Not that there was much I could do.
At the end of the trip, I got out my arms feeling a little tired. My brother is just four years younger and although he's in great shape, I was pretty worried about his condition, because I talked him into it. As I climbed out of the kayak, I started to count how many people had made it through, and also who came in first. Well, I wasn't first, but I was third. My brother came in fifth. As we left, we entered a bar where they showed films of people falling out of their kayaks. I heard a Wisconsin woman say she wanted to do it again. Talk about die hards. Water genes or not, I'll be counting that as my last Level IV H2O experience.
At the time I went white water kayaking, I skipped over that notation, as I glanced over a legal waiver I had to sign before I began the excursion. It was a hot summer day on the 3rd of July, as I stood there at Kosir's River Rapids with my younger brother. Level IV, I thought — no problem. I mean, four out of ten levels in rivers right? Plus I have the "water" gene, handed down from centuries of naturally good water skiers and swimmers. So does my brother.
What I mean by that is I seem to have a connection to water. My father used to swim and slalom ski on the lakes growing up and so did my brother. My brother just seemed to be able to pick it up and slalomed on his first try. I used to water ski a little, and I was on a swim team in Wisconsin. My grandparents home was right on a lake that I swam in for years. But long before that I learned to swim by the time I was five. In college I passed a NAUI scuba diving course and after that I did a few dives in the Caribbean. The diving course came easy to me because I was a good swimmer, unafraid of the water. Pretty much any chance I have to get in the water I do because I like to. So kayaking is basically included in that equation.
If only I paid attention to the fact that Level IV is not four of ten levels, it is four of five levels. Did the waiver say that somewhere? I still don't know. Strangely, I experienced a stabbing pain in my stomach, as I paused with that pen in the air. No matter I thought, maybe just a flash of indigestion and signed. Behind me stood my brother and about fifty other visitors waiting to go.
As we stood signing, we debated shortly if we wanted a two man kayak or singles. We decided on singles. One for him and one for me.
It was briefly explained to us that the water levels were low, and also the river would be more crowded than normal, since another bus full of people arrived right before us. But I chose to listen to other words that day like: all rafters must be in good physical condition and unafraid of the water - checkmark. Exciting new adventure and chilly cool waters - checkmark. Scenic - checkmark. Wild thrill - checkmark! We carried our kayaks to the river. The bank was steep and the kayaks were extremely heavy.
Kosir's River Rapids is located in Wisconsin along the Peshtigo River. You may have thought that Colorado owns this, perhaps Utah, or maybe even someplace out west like Montana. But think again. Wisconsin lies on the Canadian border where rivers run fast, deep and cold. Wisconsin is filled with rivers and lakes and the rivers are often filled with boulders, that originated from ancient glaciers that carried them there. These are the white waters of the great midwest and the land of the Menominee Indians or the Mamaceqtaw meaning "the people" who rose up against the French in the 1700's. This is God's Country an old Milwaukee Brewing Company used to advertise. I have a long history with Gods Country wilderness - AKA Wisconsin, since I was born there. At the time I was visiting my parents. They kept a beautiful piece of property up there for years that my grandparents once owned.
Although the Wolf River and the Peshtigo have the longest continuous stretch of whitewater in the upper midwest they still claim less lives than Colorado rivers...but lets not get into morbid statistics.
The fact is I did make it through the day which is why I'm here blogging about it a few years later. The first half of the kayakers couldn't make it over the rocks and the low waters. That left the second half of us including my brother. We did manage to make it over two five foot waterfalls. However due to the number of kayakers, a kayak came over the waterfall on top of my brother who subsequently fell out of his kayak. He climbed back in but hurt his back and lost a $300 pair of sunglasses.
I was fine except for getting stuck inside a deep swirling pool underneath a waterfall. As I tried to kayak out of the pool, I got a Charlie horse in my thighs. If you're not familiar with that term it means my entire thigh muscle cramped up as I tired desperately to get past the falls. The force of the water coming down on top of me was crushing. Two "safety" people over to my left who were there to "help" the kayakers just sat there and gave me a thumbs up. Fantastic.
As I continued along the river, it slowed down and deepened. Thats when I saw a woman dangling from the side of a small river boat. Inside the boat were two children about ten years old. She was young - early twenties, and had fallen out and was trying to hit bottom with her feet to stop the boat and this was when I realized she was in serious trouble. I asked if she wanted help and she said no. Actually she was doing the right thing in such a situation so I continued on. Not that there was much I could do.
At the end of the trip, I got out my arms feeling a little tired. My brother is just four years younger and although he's in great shape, I was pretty worried about his condition, because I talked him into it. As I climbed out of the kayak, I started to count how many people had made it through, and also who came in first. Well, I wasn't first, but I was third. My brother came in fifth. As we left, we entered a bar where they showed films of people falling out of their kayaks. I heard a Wisconsin woman say she wanted to do it again. Talk about die hards. Water genes or not, I'll be counting that as my last Level IV H2O experience.
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