Yesterday was good for the soul. Tough on the body, but good for the soul. I spent the day on the upper Gauley river, one of the best white water rafting spots in North America. My wife, my dad and one brother also made the trip. I'd forgotten how much I enjoy these trips. We travelled to the center of West Virginia, and adventure in itself. Near Beckley, at the convergence of the Gauley, the New and the Cheat Rivers, is some of the most beautiful, remote land I've seen. The river gorges are deep and inaccessible, the rivers themselves pristine and powerful. It's like going back a thousand years and seeing what the land must've been like before Europeans and capitalism colonized.
Our raft guide was a real piece of work. A larger than life 27 year old, he did a great job guiding us down some hideously dangerous rapids (class 5 plus, in his words). He professed to: (1) having 38 stitches in his back from a cancer operation a week ago, (2) having a heart attack at age 24, (3) growing up on one of the mountaintops along the river, (4) sleeping only every third day for about 6 hours. The stitches are confirmed; all else is suspect. But I appreciated him nonetheless, because we finished the 16 mile run in one piece.
During this trip I was reminded of what crummy shape I'm in. Try this for 6 hours: lean far out over the raft's edge, paddle for your life (literally), with your feet wedged in very unnatural positions to hold you in the raft. Add to that jumping off a cliff and scrambling back into the raft. Sore didn't begin to describe what I felt at the end of the day. But it's a good soreness.
I am also reminded that we all need adventures in our lives. Adventures - things that stimulate the mind, body and soul. Things that break us out of the habits and safety of everyday life. When we stop embracing challenges, we start the long slide to oblivion. For at least a day, my family and I reversed the slide, and turned back the clock just a bit.
5:52:07 AM 
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