Cheat

The bad news was for the third weekend in a month mother nature did not provide enough rain to raft The Big Sandy and we had to fall back to the Cheat.

The good news was mother nature did not provide enough rain to raise the Cheat level above the max for Duckies.

While not at 'The Beast of the East' level, it sure looked that way to six of us who did the Cheat in duckies - Joe Snow, his daughter Jess (Joe, did your wife know your daughter was going to do the Cheat and Big Nasty in a duckie?), three others we did not know and me, Kurt. And while Big Nasty was not up to its raft 'chew you up and spit you out' level (see photo from 2004) it sure provided a wild ride and challenge to those who were low to the water and personal in a duckie.

After swimming (not my choice)at Big Nasty last year at Beast level (6' at put in) in a small 4 person wildside raft, I wanted another shot at it. However when we decided to take duckies instead of rafts I wasn't so sure it was still such a good idea. But with great coaching from the guides and having a great line (more luck than skill), I hit Big Nasty perfectly and punched through it - what a thrill!

The score is now Big Nasty 1 to Kurt 2. The Cheat was the first river I ran in a raft back in 1971 when there were no helmets and no guides in the raft. No swimming that day, however while it rained, the Cheat wasn't at full Beast level and we were in larger 6-8 person rafts. I still want another shot at Big Nasty at Beast level in a small raft.