After weeks of rain, summer has finally arrived. The water in the Lehigh river is chilly after all the showers and grey skies. We guides at Whitewater Challengers are happy to have enough water to keep the rafts floating. There is not much worse than a day of dragging rafts down the river bed. When I tell guests, "If you don't go over there now, you're going to have a long walk," I mean it! Especially when the grounded raft is heavy with the weight of full grown men... They can drag their own raft. Funny thing is, these macho guys usually get stuck when they are splashing other rafts and not paying attention to the guides who are pointing like traffic cops for the yahoos to go to the RIGHT of the island. They go left, they get stuck. Natural selection?

Well, today I had a day off from guiding. I went to work on a writing project about the perfect residence for a kayaker. Two friends of mine, a kayaking couple, live in a cabin recognized as a historical landmark. The old-time crafted cabin sits just above Stoddartsville Falls. Whenever the water levels rise, you can find Greg in his back yard, dropping down the 20 foot waterfall. Mike Bailey, photographer for the project, and I visited Stoddartsville today to prep for the big photo shoot and collaborate for upcoming projects in the kayaking world. We are looking forward to meeting up with Jenny and Greg, the cabin's residents, and their sweet chocolate lab Kayla, for a day at the Stodd when the water runs high. Love the bluebird skies, love the rain... it makes these rivers run big!