Lauren Burress writes in from the Upper Ocoee

April 27, 2005

Dear Eric,

I ran the Upper Ocoee this weekend with my paddling
buddies from Louisville. Jason, John, and Matt. My favorite rapid was
Alien Boof I was afraid at the top but after reaching the bottom it didn’t
seem that bad at all. Dad wouldn’t let me carry back up and do it again
he said to save my energy for the Olympic Course. Dad didn’t know that
I was saving my energy so I could walk around the Olympic course, ha ha
maybe I will run it next time. After I finished the Upper I of course
had to paddle the Middle Ocoee. I have been running the main lines the
last three runs on the middle Ocoee and everything has been going great
right up until my last run through Double Suck. I bet you can’t guess
what happened. When I thought I was going to punch right through the second
hole at double suck. you guessed it I know what the word suck in Double
Suck stands for now. I spent a good forty seconds in that hole before
I was able to work to one of the sides. Dad was glad to see me swim he
said he was starting to look bad doing all the swimming. After the swim
we paddled to Goforth and took lunch. Mom told me I could get out if I
wanted. I said I wanted to continue so I could do some surfing in Hell
Hole. We both worked on being in control while playing in the hole. After
our visit to Rock Island we decided to rename Hell Hole to Warm Wave since
it seems more like a wave than a hole. Dad and I continue to work on our
cartwheels and our play boating skills. Hope you guys are having fun.

Lauren Burress