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Published: December 8th 2015
Cucumber Slides
Riding the Cucumber Slides (not me, I have the camera)Ohiopyle
Today, I explored Ohiopyle. This town and
state park center on a gorge of the Youghiogheny River. The area’s main claim to fame is whitewater rafting, but it has plenty of other ways to get wet and have fun. I used it as a warm-up for the Upper Yough, but it could easily be a destination by itself.
I spent last night at the park camping area. It’s a very popular camping spot on a ridge overlooking the gorge. The drive up from the river is steep and hair-raising. I stayed at a carry-in site away from the roadway, which meant that it was quieter than most. The brochure did not mention that most of the carrying had to be done uphill, though!
The quiet has a painful limitation, however. The Youghiogheny River is paralleled by an active freight railroad in this area. Said railroad crosses the main highway in town, and does so at grade. The train engineers are required to sound their horns before the crossing to warn drivers. The gorge echoes and amplifies the noise throughout the area, at all times of day and night. It woke me up twice. The local residents
Ohiopyle Falls
Ohiopyle Falls in high water. I talked to claimed people get used to the sound eventually.
First up, I headed to downtown Ohiopyle for breakfast. The town
grew up around a waterfall on the river, which used to power a mill. It’s now surrounded by Ohiopyle State Park. These days, everyone who lives here appears to work in water sports, hunting, mountain biking, or supplying all of the above. I got my breakfast at one of the town's hidden jewels, the Falls Market. This classic general store with a little bit of everything holds a restaurant in the back; it serves filling food for surprisingly low cost.
After filling up on eggs and toast, I headed across the street to
Ohiopyle Falls. The Youghiogheny River falls over a ten foot cliff. It is much wider than it is tall, making it look less impressive than it otherwise would. Normally, the flow doesn’t vary much due to a flood control dam upstream. Thanks to all the rain recently, this time it was quite different. The water release is much higher than normal, improving the look of the waterfall. It gave off tons of mist, producing a rainbow.
Lower Yough Rafting
Eventually, I headed
for the main reason this park exists,
rafting the gorge. The
Lower Yough consists mainly of class III rapids with a few Class IV to keep things interesting. This was the first river to be commercially rafted in the Northeast. It provides decent thrills for relatively low risk, so this trip is incredibly popular. So popular, in fact, that a visit can feel more like an aquatic theme park than a wilderness experience. I used it to warm up for my adventure on the upper Yough.
Finding the meeting place was harder than it first appeared. The rafting put-in is directly below the waterfall. Across from the put-in are two streets where every raft company in town has a shop. It seemed obvious that trips would meet at the respective shops, but not here. The downtown area does not have nearly enough parking for everyone that comes to raft. The park fixed this by constructing a huge parking lot a good half-mile away.
All trips meet at this parking lot. A series of wooden shacks surround the big expanse of tar. After finding the right one and signing the paperwork, we put on gear. Everyone then got on and old bus
Cucumber Slides in low water
What the slides normally looks like, from October last year for a ride back to the put-in, the same place I was at less than an hour ago. Now, however, it was a zoo, with people, rafts, and gear everywhere. It felt like an elementary school trip in many ways, including arriving on an old yellow school bus!
Rafters normally have a choice of doing the river guided or unguided. The former means a guide is in the boat. The latter means attempting to follow behind a guided boat. Raft companies promote this option as more adventurous; I see it as a great way to fall in. Today, every boat was guided due to the high water level. In fact, it was close to the level where the river closes entirely for safety reasons.
Once on the water, rapids started immediately. The first section contained seven short rocky rapids back to back. All of them are rock gardens of one form or another. Normally they are quite forgiving but at this level they were a nasty taste of what was to come. We got through cleanly, although people behind us fell in.
These rapids are collectively called the Loop. They occur in a tight looping curve. At
Cucumber inner tube
When sliding gets dull, people (not me) try this the end, we passed underneath the same railroad that passes through downtown Ohiopyle. The bridge was much higher, showing the river gradient. It’s possible to hike a quarter mile from here back to the put in. Many kayakers will do this, put right back in, and then repeat the process until the sun sets.
After the Loop we encountered a half-mile of calm water. Normally, the only way through is to paddle. For us, the higher water level meant that the current pushed us along. It ended at the most infamous rapid in the park, Dimple. The only way through passes right next to an
undercut rock. If someone falls out early in the rapid, there is a chance they will be trapped and drown. There are many signs above the rapid warning of the hazard. Thankfully, we got through clean.
Further down we faced River's End. I told my guide I needed practice for the Upper Yough, and this was one place where I got it. In this rapid, the river appeared to head straight for a large triangle-shaped rock and vanish. In reality, it makes a sharp left turn through a narrow slot followed by an equally
Cucumber Falls
The park's tallest waterfall in high water sharp turn to the right.
At this level, the water washed up on the rock. The practice move is to follow that water with the raft: push directly onto the rock forward, turn, and then fall off. It requires quick moves to stay upright. The raft in front of us tried it, misjudged, and promptly flipped. A mass of equipment, swimming rafters, and a now-empty boat rushed though the rocks downstream. This type of accident is humorous to talk about later, but scary as hell while in progress.
Afterwards, it was our turn. Our raft now had to get though the slot and then catch up to the people ahead to rescue them. We made it through clean but did not reach anyone before the end of the rapid. We did pick up quite a bit of equipment though. As it turns out, I needed to remain calm in a frantic situation during this rapid, which was far better practice than any clever maneuver.
Near the end, we encountered an infamous rapid called Killer Falls. Raft guides are very superstitious about this one, and the best ones run it backwards to bring luck from the river gods (In reality, the rapid is a one inch drop that is a class 2 at best :> ).
One rafter's trip on the Lower Yough, from a GoPro.
What happens at Dimple on a regular basis. Remember that the big rock is undercut! Future rafters should probably skip this...
Cucumber Slides
After my trip, I wanted more water fun, so I went to one of the park’s best play spots, the
Cucumber Slides. Here, Meadow Run flows over gently sloping sandstone. Sandstone erodes easily, so the stream has carved a smooth channel in the rock. When the water level is right, this channel becomes a natural waterslide. Unfortunately, as the level rises the water becomes rougher and riders bang into the sides of the channel. Today the water level was near the upper limit of safety.
Despite the danger, I joined the people already sliding. I convinced myself it was swimming practice. In reality, the slide does share much in common with a whitewater swim: staying calm, keeping my mouth closed, feet up and close together, and trying to ignore the cold water and rock flying inches from my head.
Needless to say, sliding was much harder than it looked from the sidelines! The water moved fast enough it almost knocked me over while I was setting up at the top of the slide. It was cold too. Once I launched, I had fifteen seconds of exhilaration and terror to the bottom. One of the toughest parts occurs then, swimming to the side before a foot high falls below the landing pool. The pool also contains a shallow pothole that is pretty rough when hit.
After every ride, I thought I’d never want another one. After resting for a few minutes, inevitably I climbed back up and dropped in. Like white water rafting, the adrenaline becomes quite addictive. I finally stopped for good after I hit the pothole, had my breath knocked out, and decided I was tired enough I was risking injury.
After rafting and sliding I was exhausted, hot, sweaty, and very wet. Thanks to family beach trips growing up, this combination produces a craving for ice cream. I found it at the aforementioned Falls Market. Their ice cream comes from a local company, and it is very good.
After ice cream, I saw another popular park highlight,
Cucumber Falls. A short trail from the parking lot leads to a wide cliff with water falling over. The more water the wider the falls, and this one was roaring. The trail then dropped down the side of the cliff into a huge bowl. The waterfall falls away from the cliff into the bowl as a wide curtain. Sadly, a number of trees in the bowl obscure the view of the falls.
Cucumber Falls is a classic example of a
hanging valley waterfall. Thousands of years ago, the stream flowed directly into the river. The river eroded the underlying rock faster than the stream could, so a drop appeared between the stream ravine and the river, the hanging valley. The waterfall then cuts backwards through the valley upstream. The falls is actually visible during the raft trip if people know where to look for it.
Dinner tonight was at one of Ohiopyle’s classic whitewater hangout spots, the
Falls Pub, which is not to be confused with the Falls Market. A classic bar, it serves burgers and beer until late at night. Unlike many bars, this one has diagrams of rapids on the walls and pictures of particularly dramatic ones behind the bar. The story of the flip in River's End had already made the rounds, and people at the bar were discussing it eagerly. Some of the people had run the Upper Yough, and I pumped them for information (the main piece of advice: relax and obey your guide). Proving what a small town Ohiopyle can be, on the way out, I encountered my guide from my river trip that morning.
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Dancing Dave
David Hooper
White water
Really pleased you took the plunge Ezra. Some things you have to. Reminds me of attempting to canoe a river in flood. Little pool to enter, down a metre drop, immediately going sideways, thrown out, Denise and I like torpedoes for the next 200 metres before we could slow down to get our canoe back. The strangest thing is we went over rocks like in a hovercraft...missing overhanging branches...just. I could feel you sliding down those natural waterslides...and isn't it insane...because of the speeding way water cushions you...it's probably hard to get injured.