I am from Maryland, about fifteen minutes away from my home river, the Potomac. Usually, unless it's in the spring where the river floods, its levels are relatively low and relatively bony. I first heard about Keeners from a fellow Potomac paddler. She said that Keener was a lot of fun and a great way to learn more whitewater. My family and I agreed that this would be a great opportunity to get on some new rapids, so we drove up to Canada.
My Keeners session consists of almost twenty talented whitewater kayakers. I am the youngest one there, and have only been paddling for approximately two years. As mentioned before, the Potomac's rapids are not giant. In fact, they are rather small. So, I was not expecting the monsters of waves and holes to suddenly be splashing me in the face as I ran rapids. Fortunately, I was able to surf some really neat play spots such as Garb, Baby Face, and Push Button. Since I am used to the Potomac's soupy, 95 degree fahrenheit water, the Ottawa's cooler temperatures were heavenly. Also, the Ottawa, unlike the Potomac, is at least five feet deep on most rapids, so I don't have to worry about ramming my head into any particularly nasty rocks.
When my brother first showed me a video of the famous Garburator, I was stoked and have been wanting to surf it since. Thankfully (and unintentionally) I managed to catch the foam pile on Garb when running its home rapid, The Lorne. Some of the other super fun rapids I ran on my first day are Waikiki channel and Norman's, which is my favorite because of its bouncy waves. I can't wait to see what miracles these coming weeks of kayaking on the Ottawa bring!
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