Storm provides a passing thrill white-water rafting Flooded waterways offer unique ride. Officials stress safety

Ray Heiser was approaching the Dunkin' Donuts in Lehighton when he saw it -- a depression in the Lehigh River so deep it would plunge his raft 15 feet. With eyes wide open, he paddled over.

"Oh, the river was just so sweet today!" said Heiser after scampering out of his raft farther downstream on Friday. "In all my years, this is the best I've ever gotten to run."

While many people throughout the state will undoubtedly spend the weekend pumping water out of their basements and trying to recapture a sense of normalcy after this week's record-setting rainstorm, others will snatch paddles and life vests in search of the white-water rafting trip of their lives.

Just like the surfers who swarm beaches before hurricanes pass, searching for the ever-elusive perfect wave, white-water rafters along the Lehigh River say they've been drawn to the water ever since the skies cleared Wednesday, angling to travel at speeds usually clocked only in Western locales such as the Colorado River.

Ken Powley, owner of Whitewater Challengers, a Carbon County-based raft rental outfit, said that with the Lehigh traveling 20 times faster than normal, his guides are spotting more enthusiasts out for thrills.

"After taking water in their basements for a couple of days," Powley said, "people are realizing the unique opportunity this presents for the area."

State police and parks officials say they are worried that inexperienced boaters will risk their lives this holiday weekend by dusting off the old rubber raft in the attic and taking to the river without a plan.

"If this is a passion in your life and you know what you're doing, sure, it's wonderful," said Ken Lewis, assistant regional manager for the state parks eastern regional office. "But mom, dad and the kids with a Kmart raft shouldn't even think about it."

With the water currently several feet higher than normal, the shifting and bumping effect of rapids, caused by an uneven river bottom, are buried, Powley said. But while the surface is much less bumpy, the rapid speed and elevation means rafters have much less time and space to avoid trees and the tops and sides of bridges, he said.

Already this week, state troopers in Carbon County pulled two sets of inexperienced rafters from the Lehigh after they lost control, police said.

In Schuylkill County, emergency responders plucked three stranded rafters from the Swatara Creek on Wednesday, county emergency management officials said. The joyriders, knocked out of their rafts, called for help with their cell phones while holding on to tree branches.

"You have to be a little crazy to be out here in this water," said Heiser, 56, of Jim Thorpe, a rafter for 13 years. "I wouldn't miss it for anything."

Lewis advises those considering a raft ride this weekend to make sure they've taken lessons, have the proper equipment, notify others of their whereabouts, and not take on more water than they can handle.

At all costs, Lewis advises against riding the dangerous, swollen Delaware River, which is full of debris.

Powley, who circulated a release that promoted the quickness of the Lehigh only a couple of days after the passing of the storm which killed a confirmed 5 people statewide, said no one has accused him of trying to profit from the calamity.

"The time when the powder is perfect for skiing is also when there is the greatest chance for an avalanche, yet you always hear ski areas promoting themselves," Powley said. "This is one of the few things that have gotten better because of the storm."

 

 

 

 

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