pretrip warmup: ohiopyle and the cheat canyon

This weekend will continue a string of weekends spent outside of buildings. I don't think I've spent a weekend in a town or inside a building in the last month and a half. While most see the outdoors as a transitional way to get from building to building, I see it as my escape from man made cover. This weekend is shaping up to be quite an adrenaline-filled endeavor, with climbing at Ohiopyle State Park (a new, recently developed area in the Laurel Highlands of PA), as well as a rafting trip down the Cheat Canyon. For those who aren't familiar with the Cheat, it's considered the beast of the east amongst the paddler crowd. Here's some old school (circa 2003) footage from people getting eaten by Big Nasty. I've never found my whitewater zone and tend to freak out in strong rapids, making this weekend a test of fortitude. I've paddled the Klamath river in northern California, with mostly class III and a minor IV thrown in for good fun. The Cheat involves several class V rapids (the highest rating for a white water hydraulic), which I'm scared shitless of. Should be a good time! We'll provide some footage after this weekend's outing, pending we survive. Cheers mates.