The Four Seasons

I’ve started packing for our annual Hiwassee River trip. Two t-shirts and a bathing suit. I’m 95% done. There, it feels good to get that out of the way.

It’s about that easy. We’ve been doing this one for a while and stay in a big, luxuriously appointed cabin that eliminates the need for camping gear. With most of the preparation out of the way, I can get down to the business of counting the seconds until liftoff, or trying to divert my thoughts from the same.

It’s one of a few of our annual events that remind me of “The Four Seasons.” I probably have mentioned that movie before, since it contains a line that added to my philosophies of life and led to a few watershed decisions. But, that’s not pertinent here.

What is, is that the movie is about a group of friends who regularly vacation together. Each new trek enables this close knit group to catch up with the evolution of each other’s lives and discuss the meanings. They’re all remarkable people and have a hell of a good time and grow closer.

That’s where we part ways. On the Hiwassee trip, we mostly have fun and the deep discussion is secondary.

The genesis of this trip goes back over five years ago. Our paddling group had been up and running for years by then, but we paddled gentle rivers and lakes. Then I got an email from a friend involved with a group in Kentucky who were about to run the Hiwassee, a whitewater river. We were invited.

I posted the invitation on our site, but drew only one response. There was trepidation about paddling whitewater. We went down and paddled two days with the Kentucky group. It was a blast.

The following year, I organized our own trip. That was a landmark event as it planted the seed that later added a whitewater component to our group.

The first few years, the main Hiwassee event was the river and its facets that challenged and thrilled us: Oblique Falls, Funnel Rapid, Devils Shoals, etc. But, as our skills evolved, so did our focus. The cabin time together emerged as another major source of the fun. A highlight now is the evening party and the coveted Busted Paddle Award (for the most spectacular wipeout of the day).

We usually have about a dozen participants. Over half are the regular core and provide the glue that holds it all together. The other slots are filled by people who drift in and out of the event, but they are quickly assimilated. It’s a lot like our annual spring trip which also holds some magic for us.

So, I’m looking forward to this with great anticipation. And, I’ve burned off a few hundred seconds of waiting writing this. Only a few hundred thousand to go.