Do You Know Larry Krall?

Larry Krall is our featured boating volunteer this month. You know how some people come in and out of your life and it’s always a pleasure when they show up again? That’s how it is with Larry. More than twenty years ago I took a rock climbing class with the OSU Mountaineers. We went to Clifton Gorge and learned the basics of top-roping and then had a graduation trip to Seneca Rocks for multi-pitch lead climbing. Larry was my leader at Seneca and a cheerleader for me at Clifton. Sitting next to him on a ledge at Seneca a rope length off the deck was inspiring both for the view, the exposure and the quiet competence and composure he had for shepherding a neophyte through a hair-raising experience.

The years have passed; jobs, relationships and addresses have come and gone and now Larry has begun weaving himself into the fabric of COP. He works for the city watershed management division and often paddles to work in a sea kayak. He has a long history of teaching first aid, water rescue, lifesaving, tai chi and has been an ODNR watercraft officer. It’s obvious when you meet him that he has a true love for teaching. Teaching is always hard work but there is a line between those who consider it an obligation and those who view it as a privilege. Larry has a true love for teaching and the boating program has welcomed him as the primary driver behind our Kayak I classes - all three of them this year! Many of our students have benefited from meeting the man with the skill, grace and love for paddling and teaching paddling. Here’s hoping that Larry’s around for a long time to come.

Paul McPherson, Yough Stop manager, will be arranging the sometimes-annual Yough Stop work party. There’s plenty to do this year: installing the new plywood floor the Home Depot donated, varnishing shelves, etc. Jim Roeger will be managing the floor installation. Paul will be looking for a few good hands to help with the various projects. This will happen the 10th-12th of November. If you can help, please call Paul at 777-4092.

Ever since I returned home from kayak camp, I’ve talked about it nonstop. Just ask my friends and family. Next time I say something about camp I wouldn’t be surprised if they slapped me. I can’t help it though; I’ve fallen in love with camp, kayaking and the people who boat. Camp has given me kayaking skills, a chance to meet unforgettable people, and self-confidence.

Last summer was the second time I had been to River Sport School of Paddling. River Sport is a camp unlike others. There are no cabins, no beds or bunks. There is only a field where the campers pitch their tents, a bathhouse and a kitchen house.

The routine from day to day doesn’t vary much. After a cold cereal breakfast of Cheerios I would pack my lunch for the day. Then I would gather my boating gear and hop into the van heading to the river. Some of vans are not so nice, they’re packed with smelly, wet bodies and gear and the air conditioning rarely works. Nevertheless the van ride is always so much fun. We take turns sitting in the passenger seat to see who can hit a road sign with left over parts of lunches (it is always biodegradable foods like apple cores, of course). We let the guys take quizzes from teen magazines and we also use this time to talk with each other, which sometimes lead to deep conversations.

Once we arrive at the river, I help everyone take down the many boats from the trailer. It is quite a sight, if you can imagine eighteen colorful kayaks hooked up to the back of the van and watching people get boats off the top of the trailer! I also help clear the paddles out of van. Next it’s time to gear up. I put on my paddling top, and my skirt. Paddling tops are to keep warm and skirts keep the water out of the boat. Helmets are needed so if your boat flips over you do not crack your head open on a rock. I use a lifejacket so if I do come out of my boat I will not get sucked under the water or pinned underneath a rock.

After every one is geared up, it’s finally time to hit the water. One of the best parts of camp is getting to kayak everyday on great water. The river that we paddled almost everyday was the Lower Yough. The Yough has class two, three and four rapids. Rapids are rated on a scale from class one, a little ripple to class six, huge water and waves. Before anyone can see the river, we can hear it rushing over rocks. We carry our boats down to a small sandy beach. Getting into our kayaks, we place skirts around the cockpit, the hole that you sit in, sealing us in for the day.

The first rapid we paddle through never fails to get the adrenaline pumping. There are many massive rocks to avoid and oversized waves that could easily flip anyone over. The rapid after that is one of the biggest parts of the river. I have watched many boaters flip over there, and occasionally one will come up with blood dripping from their face.

When we are not picking our way though rapids, we were hanging out in the calm areas of the river downstream from rocks. These areas are called eddies. Talking and making fun of crazy people in rafts is always fun, seeing that they have no skill what so ever. It is also good to be aware of out of control rafts. They can be very dangerous if they run over a kayak. When we’re not dodging rafts we learn new fancy tricks, and just goof around, splashing and trying to get people out of their boats.

One day out of the routine, we hooked up the trailer of boats and drove about an hour away from camp to a place called Valley Falls in West Virginia. I did not know what to expect there, all I knew that there were waterfalls. When I walked down to the river I saw a fourteen-foot waterfall and was told that this is what we would be doing for the day. I was very nervous, but I wanted to go over the falls just to say I had. I also wanted to get a picture of myself doing it. I got over my fear and just started paddling towards the falls. Then boom, it was over. I had done it! I then carried my boat back over the rocks and went over again!

Besides paddling every day, it is the friends that I made at camp that makes me love it so much. I am connected with the people there in a way that no one else will ever be able to understand. It is very hard for me even to understand myself. Kate, a girl I met last year at camp is my very best friend. Kate and I can tell each other anything. There are not too many friends that you can do that with. I have never had a friend like this before. Sadly, Kate lives in Philadelphia about eight hours away from me. However, we do not let the miles get in the way of our friendship. We stay in touch though e-mails and occasional phone calls. We¹re always planning to meet on weekends to go paddling and we are already thinking of ideas on what to do next summer, maybe we¹ll go on a road trip and paddle every river possible. Different from most of the real world, I feel at camp people do not judge me. To tell you the truth, I only took three showers, wore the same jeans the whole week, never wore makeup, and never did my hair. I couldn’t even get a brush though it! I almost had dreadlocks! Most important of all, I was totally myself. When I go to school there is no way that I would ever be able to do that. I feel so judged by what I am wearing, how my hair looks, and by if I’m saying the right thing at the right time. At River Sport I never had to worry about this; people there liked me for who I am. When I am kayaking I have so much confidence. I think that’s what led to people like me. One can not understand how good it felt to get though Cucumber Rapid, a rapid that is very intimidating, or do my first white water roll. It was like "wow! I did that, and I did it all by myself, I really am good at something." I felt sure of myself and I don’t think people feel that way very often. An instructor at camp, Mike Phund, once said, "After you have been paddling for awhile you don’t really fit in with people. Then you come to River Sport and you fit it finally again." It¹s not that I do not fit in. I have many good friends who do not paddle, but what he said is very true. I now look at life in a different perspective. I see things that I probably would not have picked up on if I had not gone to camp. I see that most people judge others by what they own, what they wear, and how much money they have. I would gladly trade in numerous things that I own to live close to a river with all my friends from camp. I will never in my life forget camp and will never lose touch with all of the great friends I have made there. We are all connected by the river.

I don’t know whether I wrote about Miller’s Folly or not. That’s the problem with getting older. At any rate here is the story. It would have been ’65-67 time frame. I believe that Charlie Pace, Charlie Huhn, John Hamel, and several others were on the trip. I have a picture of this group at the take out of the New River but I am not sure that it is a picture of that exact time.

Earlier that Spring, a group of us, Allan and Jann Ichida, Charlie Huhn, and I built covered boats in the basement of my parents home in Illinois. I met Ralph Freize of Chicagoland Canoe Base. His specialty was building Fiberglas canoes. He was recreating some of the voyageur canoes from the fur trading days. He took molds off a boat brought back to the States by a group from Eastern Penn. We spent the week of Spring Break building the boats, two C-1s and a C-2. That summer we planned to boat the lower New River from Thurmond to Fayette Station. This was the second trip with open canoes that AYH had sponsored. (I have a nice sequence of Charlie Huhn and John sinking as they went through Surprise (Rapids)).

We stopped and scouted almost every rapids and of course the canoes were lined down the edges of many of the rapids. We stopped at the top of Miller’s Folly and the open canoes were being lined down the left-hand shore. The water was fairly shallow at that time of year. The left side of the river looked too shallow for me so I began to the right of the middle. It didn’t get deep enough to cut left past the undercut rock before I found myself being swept broadside into the rock. I leaned away from the rock and was promptly flushed out of me boat and down stream.

The first spray aprons we made were made of baby crib liner. This was a heavy fleece material that weighed a ton. I was swept downstream and pulled myself up on a rock in the middle of the river and yelled to the guys along the bank to watch out for my boat. One team was still upstream and they pointed upstream to the undercut rock. There on occasion I could see the tail of my boat thrashing up and down with the nose still trapped under the rock. I was surprised to see it still there but somewhat relieved to know where it was. I stood on this shallow rock in the middle of the New River watching and waiting for whatever was to happen. It wasn’t too long before the boat shot up, not quite out of the water, and began floating down stream. I shouted frantically to the group downstream that it was coming. Fortunately the boat took the same course that I had taken and it floated right next to me where I grabbed the stern line. I don’t know how far we floated together before I could get the boat to shore.

Later we were recapping the trip. The submerging of Charlie and John, another time when Charlie (all 315 pounds of him) had to jump up and down on the bottom of one of the aluminum canoes to flatten it, or the quote, "You’re not an experienced canoeist until you can swamp, self-rescue, and empty your canoe before the remainder of the party comes through the rapid.", Charlie Huhn. I was kidding Charlie pretty hard when he said something about Miller’s Folly, naming the rapid. A number of Columbus boaters went on to start rafting companies etc. on the New River. I didn’t realize that the name stuck, outside of our group of boaters until a friend from Delaware, Ohio took a raft trip on the New and was told the story of the rapid by someone who knew that the group had come from Ohio. It still boggles my mind.

Recently AYH/COP lost one of its favorite sons, Jerry Wadkowski. Jerry was a zealous canoeist and member who led his life looking and traveling forward. Around fifteen years ago Jerry suffered more troubles than any healthy and strong young man and his family should be asked to endure. Faced with such difficulties, most people would either give up or give in. His family’s love and dedication is the stuff of Disney stories. Since it was real, it is even more unbelievable and inspirational.

I picture Jerry paddling a canoe on a beautiful river full of swells. The sun is over his left shoulder and it is shining yellow through green leaves. His family will meet him later on a nice sand bar.

Wishing the best to Arlene, Michael, Susan and Rob Wadkowski and their families. (Here’s to Sir John Geilgud)
     Julie Schmitt

 
Although Jerry Wadkowski was not known by many current COP members, he helped make AYH very special 15-25 years ago. He was a trip leader, canoe instructor, and friend that I will not forget. His influence and example can still be seen in COP. Thanks, Jerry!
     Doug Miller