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Lauren Schaefer, 17, a senior at Clarence High School in Clarence, N.Y., smiles as she blasts through a Class IV rapid on New River Wednesday. Schaefer was there with 12 other seniors in Mike Thomas' Wilderness Wise science class, which has been coming to the river for a decade now. Christopher J. Jackson
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Doug Ludwig instructs seniors from a Wilderness Wise science class at Clarence High School in Clarence, N.Y., to paddle through Class IV rapids on New River Wednesday. Ludwig has guided students from the class’ annual trip for 10 years. Christopher J. Jackson
Class (IV) trip
New York students raft down New River for yearly trip
FAYETTEVILLE — Butterflies swarmed around Caroline Lynett’s stomach as she nervously waited around Adventures on the Gorge. Her wetsuit was on, her life vest was snug and her helmet was snapped.
“Fifteen minutes,” raft guide Doug Ludwig shouted.
Lynette was moments away from her first whitewater rafting experience.
“I’m really nervous,” the senior from Clarence, N.Y., High School said. “Especially since the water level is so high.”
But once she hit the first Class V rapids, her adrenaline replaced her nervousness.
“It’s not what I expected,” she said, smiling below the New River Gorge Bridge. “I didn’t think it would be this intense.”
Lynett, 17, was one of 13 seniors from Mike Thomas’ wilderness wise science class at Clarence High School near Buffalo to raft down the New River Wednesday. Thomas has brought students from his environmental science elective class to the New River for a decade now.
“This place is the best,” Thomas said. “We don’t have anything in New York quite this intense, rafting-wise.”
He brings his students on these trips to instill in them an appreciation for the environment that he can’t convey in the classroom. Discussions and slideshows don’t compare to grabbing an oar and blasting through a 14-foot wave.
“The goal of the program,” he said, “is to introduce students to these outdoor adventure activities in an effort to hopefully foster an attitude of environmental stewardship they otherwise wouldn’t appreciate had they not been out here to experience this stuff first hand.”
Thomas began bringing his students to Class VI, now part of Adventures on the Gorge. Thomas said the reason he comes back to the outfitter is because of its exceptional service.
“The facilities here are second to none,” he said. “The meals, the experience they provide and the quality guides are top-notch.”
Dave Arnold, one of the owners of Adventures on the Gorge, said the conditions the students rafted in on Wednesday were simply amazing.
He said because of all the snow melting the water level was 11 feet with waves as high as 14 feet. He said the conditions mirrored those on the Colorado River.
Arnold added, “This is the highest water level for spring in 35 years.”
Ludwig, a raft guide with Adventures on the Gorge, has guided Thomas’ students on all their trips. He said, “They’re always a great group of kids.”
This was the first of many trips that Thomas’ class will make to the area. They spent Tuesday night caving in Lost World Caverns near Lewisburg.
Paul Kreppel, 17, said the caving experience was amazing.
“It was pretty cool,” he said. “It was a lot of fun — I got really muddy.”
Kreppel, who said he’s been to the New River Gorge Bridge before, said he took the class to go on trips like these.
Thomas said the area just has so much to offer.
“It’s an awesome experience,” he said. “It kind of fits that niche of adventure, ridiculous adrenaline rush and good team-building experience from rafting and going on a real exploration like caving.”
The students will take their final in the Adirondack Mountains in northeastern New York. Thomas said they’ll apply what they’ve learned from their experiences in West Virginia.
Lynett, who’s been to the Adirondacks before, said it’s wonderful place, but this area just has “more fun things.”
E-mail: cjackson@register-herald.com
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