Camping Weekend

I just returned from a weekend camping & white-water rafting trip! The trip was into the mountains of West Virginia.

There were at least three disappointments in the weekend:
- I never managed to make time to wander any of the hiking trails around the campgrounds.
- The group decided not to have a mountain-top devotional service Sunday morning. (We did have a devotional time on the porch of Cracker Barrell, which wasn't a bad second choice.)
- Pastor Ray was the one who had the idea to do the trip and one of the ones who was most excited about going, but at the last minute, he had pastoral responsibilities that demanded he miss the trip.

Overall, the weekend was a grand success. There ended up being about 20 members in our group from WLCChurch.

Only nine members of the group camped out Friday night and three of those members left Saturday after the raft trip. The rest of the group stayed at a local hotel. Members of the group arrived at the campsite Friday afternoon between about 5:30 and 10:30.

Saturday was the white-water rafting! At least two family groups (seven people) caught an 8:00 rafting trip that was geared for younger people. The rapids were all Class III or less and they allowed a lot of time for floating in the river and just enjoying the water and experience. The water was about 65 degrees, so quite comfortable for just a dip.

The rest of the group (13 people) caught an 11:00 rafting trip that had rapids up to Class V. Still, we had time for floating down the river (including through a couple of the smaller rapids), jumping off a rock into a small whirlpool, and jumping off a high rock. Other than bruises, abrasions, blisters, and general soreness, we all came through the experience with no injuries.

Two members of our church group did end up having an "out of boat experience." One guy flipped out of the boat in the first significant rapid we went through. Interestingly, that was the point on the river where they were taking pictures. The photographer did get a couple of pictures of our boat. In the first picture, as we are all working to make it through the rapid, all you can see of this guy is his leg and shoe--the rest of him is hidden by the spray of the rapid. In the second picture, five of us rafters are celebrating making it through the rapid, while the guide is desperately watching behind the boat for the sixth guy to come through the rapid.

A lady from our church group ended up in the water going through another rapid not much farther down the river. After that, we seemed to all get the hang of bracing ourselves and made it without any more unintended swims.

I had to borrow and buy some equipment in order to go camping, but it was worth it. I borrowed a tent from Mark and bought a sleeping bag and folding chair. The ground was harder than I remember it from camping with the family while growing up. I didn't sleep particularly well either night. With the rising of the sun, I was awake and not getting any more sleep--it's the closest I think I've ever come to experiencing what it is like to be a morning person.

The nights were clear. Lots of stars were visible. Camping on a mountain top, there were fewer obstructions and less light pollution than I've experienced for a long-time--northern Virginia is not recommended for sky watching in the backyard.

Saturday morning was hazy, but Sunday morning was clear. Both days warmed up beautifully into the 80's.

The shower houses were pretty nice, for a campground. They weren't cramped, the water was hot, they did get cleaned everyday, and they did have electrical outlets with counter space. On the downside, the glass doors in the ladies' shower stalls didn't provide much privacy. Reports from the men indicated they didn't have hot water Sunday morning and their showers were more private, but didn't drain as well. The members of the church group were assigned adjacent campsites, so we were able to put our tents up together and have our food and parking all close by. Our campsites were also, conveniently, the closest to the shower houses. (Though that did mean a bit more traffic around and through our sites as other campers headed to the shower house.)

There were several members of the group that are talking about trying to make a trip back, maybe in the spring or early summer when the river is higher.