Whitewater Rafting Trip Summary

US National Whitewater Center

Charlotte, NC

September 12-14, 2008

Our whitewater rafting trip was fun, exciting and all accounted for. Special thanks should go to Gary M, Chris B, Alex B and Michael B for doing an exceptional job to make the trip a success. 

We left Apex Crossing Shopping by 5:10 PM. Some of us stopped near Asheboro for dinner and met in front of the Ranger station. We checked in with the Ranger about 7:45 PM. It had gotten dark and we had a little difficulty finding the camp site. Thanks to David Keller who pulled and parked the troop trailer next to the campsite.  SPL and ASPL did head count and assigned the sleeping quarters to the scouts (cabin or tents).  The scouts did great settling themselves and unpacking. There were no activities planned for the night, so the boys talked and shared stories among themselves. Lights were out at 10:30 PM. There was a lot of excitement and chit-chat for some time.  We had to quite down some scouts.  

Saturday September 13:

Bright and early next morning, the smell of food and coffee was in the air.  All eyes were open by 7 A.M.  There were pancakes, eggs, bacon and sausage sizzling at every station.  Everyone had a full dose of energy to start with.  With lots of enthusiasm all helped to quickly clean up so we could get to the waves.  We huddled to get ready to go for rafting.  Everyone was accounted for.  They all had their change of clothes and lunch packed.   

We left the campsite 9:30A.M. and arrived at the US National Whitewater Center at 10:15A.M.  After all cars were parked, we grouped at the entrance gate.  The troop was divided into two groups, scouts and adults mixed.  Group one had 24 participants and group two had 31.   Both groups had their briefing for about 30 minutes.  We buckled up our gear and boarded 6 per rafting.  At least one adult was in every raft along with the guide. The weather was perfect and water was choppy with all the additional rain from the past few days, just the way we wanted it.  We went around the course several times.  There were some scouts, adults and guides who fell off the rafts. Highlight of rafting was not Mr. Gay falling off the raft, but Mr. Gay falling off the raft with style! We recovered all the lost shoes and swimmers safely. By noon there was not a single scout dry or unhappy.  There were many requests for second rounds of rafting.  We had some cuts and scrapes but no major injuries. Our scouts demonstrated their safety skills well. 

Lucky for us, the Whitewater Festival was being held this weekend at the center.  The festival was not yet in full swing, but there were many vendors who had their booths and samples ready.  Scouts helped themselves to the free goodies and sampling.  NOS high performance energy drink was the favorite sample among the scouts.  Some brought a packed lunch and others bought food from the vendors while chilling with the music of the live rock band that was playing.   

By 3:00 P.M. we had a head count and packed into the cars and headed back to the campsite.  Some scouts still had energy enough to play capture the flag while others played softball before starting dinner. Mr. Gay helped the scouts who were feeling queasy or under the weather and also treated the cuts and bruises (thank you Mr. Gay).  For dinner some had cheese burgers, macaroni and cheese, spaghetti, hotdogs, philly steak sandwiches and yes, many had salad and rolls to complete their meals. 

As the day came to a close, everyone gathered around the campfire.  Aaron Reza set up an exciting campfire program which started with a song that got everyone going. He hosted a Boy Scout trivia game show which the adult group won and were awarded a jackpot of candy (yes they did share this with all the scouts). Finally we had a solemn US Flag retirement ceremony.   

With no sleep in their eyes, a game of man hunt was played till 10:30P.M.  No amount of coffee could keep the adults up. Lights off were at 11:00 P.M. and this night there was not even a peep.   

Sunday September 14:

We had an early start with bagels, cereal and pop tarts.  The scouts broke down their camps, packed up and were ready by 8:30 A.M.   Michael B did an outstanding job helping out with the quarter master duties.  We performed a leave no trace walk through with the ranger.  SPL and ASPL did the final assembly and acting Chaplain Jack K lead a prayer.  We had our final head count and departed by 9:10 A.M. 

Below is a link of some pictures from the event
http://whitewaterrafting216.shutterfly.com/
 

Thanks,
Sohel Reza
Troop 216
Boy Scouts - The Future Leaders of America