Sunday, March 9, 2014

Lower Yough River (Paddling Part 2)

First ever "real job" was workin' for 'US Steel' back in the mid '70's - at the time the 'Vietnam War' had just ended - just out of High School and was hired along with a whole slew of returning 'vets' - good guys all (for the most part) - however, having been raised by a generation of WWII vets, who literally saw "hell on earth" - and never mentioned it - ever! - was quick to pick up on any bullshit...

... amongst others, crewed with two older guys,  Mike D and Mike S - buddies - mainly kept to themselves - no "war stories" - but you could pick up the "vibes" from these two - both fit as hell - Mike D in particular - short, but built like a fireplug - they had two other badass buddies they spoke of who worked elsewhere that they hung out with every weekend...

... most every Monday morning, they're back at work reelin' from a great weekend ridin' motorcycles or whitewater rafting up at 'Ohiopyle State Park' -  "Bottle of Wine!"... "Rivers End!!"... "Dimple!!!"... Double Hydraulics my baby!!!!" (says they) - "man!... sounds like fun!!... and I live right there!!!" (thinks I)...

... suffice to say, tried to weed my way into that small group, alas, to no avail - those guys are from another universe as far as it concerned a young punk like me...

... so me and my buddy 'Vince' head down to 'Ralph's Army Surplus' (still there) in 'Monroeville PA' - "We'll take that rubber raft ya' got there hangin' from the ceiling!!!!"...

... an old US Army issue canvas/rubber coated (or maybe the opposite - don't remember) raft - two air chambers - brass air valves (stuck shut like being welded when wet) - but tons of fun - all friends included, we each individually probably nearly died at least once in the ensuing years having fun running the 'Lower Yough' at all water levels - didn't post a gauge back then and no internet to check- if the "Danger High Water" sign was stuck in the lawn at the put-in when we got there, we checked to see that everyone at least had a life jacket (eventually you could call the park office to get a river level)...

... so the years kept comin', and now with some 'family' experience 'ta boot  - gotta' upgrade for safety sake...

... so bought this 'Campways Pioneer 13' rubber raft - 850 denier 'Hypalon' fabric as I recall - four chambers (two tubes/two thwarts) - rockered bow and stern - a "real" river raft - 'Campways' was a major manufacturer back in the day - eventually bought out by 'Riken' - just slightly before the day days of "self bailing" (laced) inflatable floors, so ya' had to bail it when swamped.... that's a very young 'buddy Matt' pictured...

... picked it up from 'Blackadar Boating' located in Salmon, Idaho...

... two of the "boys' about to drop into a 'set'...

... nice 'hole' commin' up - finally retired that thing after  nearly twenty years - blew out a section of the glued seam - repaired it - but didn't wish to further trust it "out in the middle of nowhere" - you could long since have rented them, anyway...

... besides, we had long gotten into paddling other "craft" - always preferred open canoes, however - mainly for the joy of paddling those things - also, not as confining as a decked boat... 

... also, never saw any pictures of 'Indians' paddling Kayaks (other than Eskimos) - but maybe not - forgot about this guy - meant ancient 'Indians' - that's 'Rivers End' rapid at a good water level...

... same rapid - back in March of '91 - the rafting companies were out training prospective 'river guides' this day - here's a group sliding off of 'Wall Rock' - that frothy 'pillow' they are hoping to avoid is 'snaggletooth' - pretty nasty at lower levels - we completely ripped the floor out of a buddies rubber boat on that thing once...

... speaking of 'river guides' - this gal was pretty good - never knew her name - would run in to her about every trip - she was very good in that inflatable canoe - and that 'Black Lab' of hers always had a ball riding in the front of the boat...

... here was a real wildman in his "prime" - "fearless" Bill Fiesta - he's probably intentionally swam every rapid on the river - definitely all the big ones - numerous times...

... was always a bit "nerve-wracking" getting him anywhere near 'Dimple Rock' (pictured) - scene of hundreds of flipped boats as well as several drownings - the guided trips would always position a 'river guide' on point on the rock to assist any and all boaters who "screwed up" - Bill always had to hike back up shoreline to begin his long swim just above - was always hilarious to witness the reaction of the "shocked" point guy as Bill was swept into the "torrent" - then slamming and bouncing off the face of the rock and continuing out across the river - more than one looked over at us, witnessing the "spectacle", and shouted "What the f*ks"wrong with that guy!!??" - he was always solid, though - the bigger the water the better for him...

... he could fly, too...

... another good "waterman" - Howie - that's a scratch in the print...

... here he's gettin' ready to execute his patented 'triple lindy'...

... rained "buckets" all day long this day - that's Randy Heinbaugh modeling the latest in 'Hefty-Bag' rainware...

... we also snatched up a "hoard" of lost paddles this day as well - once past the 'Bruner Run Takeout' - end of the trip for the guided tours - they usually littered the river between there and 'C'ville' - think that they charged the "renters" $25 each for losin' those things back then...

... so we "always" returned them...

... anyway, for several years we eventually had wanted to film some 'Lower Yough' paddling - (defined by the way as follows: Upper or "Top-Yough = Friendsville Md. section, Middle Yough = Confluence to Ohiopyle, Lower Yough = Ohiopyle to Camp Carmel/Indian Creek, Bottom Yough = Camp Carmel to Connellsville, Lower Bottom Yough = Connellsville to McKeesport)...

... a project which had literally been on the "drawing board"...

... was primarily "shooting" 16mm motion picture film at the time - very expensive with the processing/timing and all - didn't have the luxury of being able to "let the camera roll" as in video - and no way would have the time to go back and re-do any shots - had to get it right the first time...

... so we drew up a series of 'storyboards' - a few pictured above...

... by the time we got around to the project, however, we were well into shooting video - photographed the whole thing on 'miniDV' digital tape using a 'Canon GL2' digital camera - that's Matt above checking out the 'Equinox' underwater housing for the 'GL2' - we still pretty much stuck to the "script" - and wound up shooting around a 1.5:1 shooting ratio - the same we had budgeted for film photography! - not bad - and that's considering longer "takes" than planned that the video tape afforded us!!...

... here's some "box art" from the finished product - Matt did all the paddling and did a good job - he's an expert boater - didn't turn out too bad - nothing "GNARLY" by todays standards - but definitely some "Soul" - the only thing we would change? > had just purchased some new 'Warner' fiberglass paddles for the "shoot" - had gotten to the put-in at 5am to beat, as well as get well ahead of, the 7am rush of boaters (a solo trip, right?) - had forgot to load the paddles!! - Sh*t!!! - we always carry a spare - aluminum shaft with straight plastic blade -  remembered those - so had to use 'em - another bit of bad luck that turned good - just as we paddled thru 'Railroad Rapid' I popped a thighstrap D-ring on the boat I was paddling - didn't have a repair kit - could have continued - but decided to end the day there - was able to get some decent high-angle footage, however, that we hadn't planned on from atop the nearby YRT trestle as a result - returned the following week to finish...

... years ago the "rafting companies" would take out below the 'B&O Railroad' (now 'Chessie System') trestle, accessed from the old abandoned railroad grade along 'Indian Creek' - until the railroad made them stop for safety issues - here's a shot of that trestle from river level - some pretty good workmanship...

... with 'muscle girl Sarah' for scale...

... here as well, cruising the long journey to the eventual take-out at South Connellsville...

1 comment:

  1. Bill Fiesta for Connellsville Mayor! Undisputed king of the river! Looking forward to hot summer days and lounging at our private resort"

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