A couple of friends of mine were wanting to kayak the Colorado River for a new adventure. We were tired of kayaking along the coast of Texas and decided we were going to try to whitewater for a change.

Having never done this, we rented some river kayaks and set out to Pecan Park. We chose this place to learn because of the numerous tree trunks you have to dodge around each bend. Not to mention the two 15-foot dams where we practiced dropping in.

Well, as we arrived we checked everything out and prepared to settle in for the next day. That night as we were sleeping Tropical Storm Allison came rolling in. (That same storm dropped 36 inches of rain in 3 days.)

As we set out down the San Marcos River, a couple people warned us that the river was running a little on the strong side. Being 22, that only got our blood pumping faster. About three hours and one mile into the trip (Remember that dam I was talking about? We had so much fun going down it that we did it for about two hours.), we could see a highway overpass about two thousand feet away. The bottom of the overpass was about 15 feet off the water. We were in a line of 5 kayakers spread out about 30 feet apart.

The next thing we new, a wall of water came rushing in behind us. The river rose so fast that the first two kayakers went under the bridge and the remaining three including myself went over the top of it. As we went over the top you could see cars lined up waiting for the water to recede so they could cross.

Well, keep in mind that none of us had ever been in whitewater, so the trip only lasted about 2 more miles. We ended up on the banks behind a chemical plant out in the middle of nowhere. Everyone was accounted for, but we lost four kayaks.

After laughing off the upcoming expense of four kayaks, we wandered up to the chemical plant and explained our situation. The on-site foreman was a fellow kayaker himself and ended up giving us a ride back to town after his shift.

We did eventually kayak the Colorado. Unforunatley we only did the part in Texas. We have have plans to do the Grand Canyon in 2007 after we have had a lot more practice. My hat is off to all those guys doing it on ESPN.

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