Alone with the river

Paddling calm, flat, and glassy water you approach a bend in the river. You see nothing exceptionally wild but what you hear is quite different. The sound of whitewater, used by some to lull themselves to sleep, begins to flood your body with endorphins. You look back at all the distance you have covered. Then look at what is ahead, and you find yourself somewhere in the middle floating nearer into the inevitable. Being alone you don’t have anyone to tell you where to go or what to do. All you have is your intuition and what the river is telling you.

As you near closer to the horizon line, your brain focuses. Tuning all your thoughts out to receive every little piece of information. To notice how the water feels, where the current is, and how the rocks are manipulating the path. Having grasped your knowledge of what lies ahead, you charge head on. Huffing and puffing, digging hard with every paddle stroke, peeking over every wave to insure your on track. Finally you come out the other end, face dripping from the turbulent water, mind racing, and still gripped to your paddle. You turn around to see what you have just accomplished. Just as fast as you had entered the rapids, so to do you leave.

Kayaking alone is by far not the status quo among boaters, or really to anyone for that matter. But for me it is the closest I can be to the river and with nature. Scouting each rapid I see what the river is doing and choose what is the right line to take. Just as the river changes, so to does the route one takes. I utilize my previous experiences and apply to what lies in front of me. Without the safety net of a fellow paddler my senses heighten and it is here where I find eustress and flow. Not everyone has an edge to solo kayak, but for me its where I find myself.