Over the long easter weekend, friends and I went to Zoar Valley in Gowanda (like 20mins away from Buffalo, NY) to go rafting in rapids. This was going to be much more excited than our last rafting trip which was all flat and calm water, however not a white water ottawa river rafting experience yet –a little preview of what’s to come.

We drove up saturday early at 6:30am and arrived there at 10:00am (no traffic or delay at the border!). We all dressed up in our wetsuits and life jackets. I over-dressed thinking it will be freezing but somehow and luckily the sun came out and it went up to 20 degrees!

The water levels were high so the guides took us on a different route than usual (this meant less rapids… and short run) The scenery was great to see the rock settlement and the trees. On the other hand, the water looked like Chocolate milk.

Having a guide is excellent. He told us exactly when to raft, which side and when to relax. This wasn’t like last time when we struggle to move (or kept hitting rocks because of low tide)… The current was pushing us along and we didn’t even need to work that hard.

We hit two rapids area. The first one was longer about 5 minutes and it was exciting. No one fell off but we did get WET. The boat also started to fill up with the water and Chris would designated to pour it out with a bucket.

The second rapid was a level III and it was BIG, bigger than before but quick. It was calm waters before and after that. We had a resting period as well altho not needed in my opinion since I think we were only in the water for 30 mins.

 

The overall run was suppose to be 3 hours but we were cut short… I think it because of the high water levels and the speed of the current. Regardless, it was a lot of fun and we had great weather (not too cold or raining).

Next up, Ottawa Rivers for crazy rapids and more Level III!