Yaicha

Up in Jim Thorpe, PA, there’s an outfitter with a trip they call the “Big Day Out,” and this weekend our Get Out Philadelphia Adventurers Meetup group tackled the challenge of biking, hiking and rafting all in one long day. After the 25 miles of cycling, I wasn’t sure how much fun the hike would be, since my quads felt shot. In fact, I never would have kept up for the last ten miles on the bike if I hadn’t drafted behind a stronger rider (thanks, Brian!).

I was amazed how well drafting really works. It’s one thing to see professional bike racers do it, and I understood the physics behind it, but when you actually get it working for yourself — especially when you are desperately tired and really need a break — it’s almost miraculous.

Then there was the hike up to see numerous waterfalls. There’s a really nice reward waiting at each waterfall, and I don’t mean the photo opportunities: air conditioning. When you get close to the falls, the temperature drops considerably, and for a tired hiker the change is most welcomed.

The last leg of our journey was whitewater rafting… except the river was so low that there wasn’t much water that was white. That’s okay, as we had a very pleasant float interspersed with a handful of rapids. Not wanting to be denied my fun, I provided my own sound effects as we went through them, to heighten the experience. For some reason, this amused my fellow paddlers.

Brian, CJ, Captain Mickey and I manned one raft. We stayed right with our trip leader, and while the other rafts engaged in splash wars with buckets, we stayed dry, avoided getting stuck on rocks, and led the way through all the rapids for the first portion of the trip. Yes, as Brian put it, we were the brown-nose raft.

Unfortunately, when the other rafts had all soaked each other and saw we were still dry,  three of them conspired to gang up on us and thoroughly douse us with buckets of water. Led by the machine-like Bucket Bomber, Steve, they drowned us in a tidal wave of water. It turned out that our skill in maneuvering our raft was far greater than our ability to launch bucketfuls of water. We really sucked at that. Luckily, it was a very hot day, and the water felt really good. But after that we never really regained our prominence, and Mickey’s dream of finishing first was thwarted. Poor Mickey.

In addition to leading us on this full day of adventures, our outfitter also fed us breakfast, lunch and dinner. By the end of the day, we were sated. With muscles tired, stomachs full, and somewhat toasted skin, more than half of us retired to our campsite to relax around a blazing fire. A really blazing hot fire, thanks to Dave and Mickey’s respective pyromaniac tendencies.

I do think a highlight of our camping experience (as opposed to the Official Big Day Out activities), was the loudmouthed fellow in the next campsite.  He must have been hard of hearing, or thought everyone else was. We heard everything he said, and he opined that “Debbie Does Dallas” was one of his favorite movies. In fact, he offered this opinion on both nights that we camped. Quite the cultured fellow!

We really loafed on the camping part, for once. We didn’t cook at all, except for Mickey and Dave making eggs and bacon on Sunday morning. But I think Steve, Jennifer, Jenn and I got the best of the bargain, though, as we went into town and had wonderful premium coffee, omelets and homemade bread at a little cafe. We also had the distinct pleasure of a full twenty minute seranade of church bells. We decided the church-goers in Jim Thorpe must need lots of encouragement to attend.

The really strange thing about the trip was how little we saw of Maureen. You know, I hardly even noticed her all weekend so I’ve nicknamed her “The Phantom.”

Steve put together the whole trip and it was a great time. Once again, Get Out Philadelphia Adventurers hit a homerun. I’m proud to be part of that group, and look forward to our next adventure.