One Waterslide, One Waterfall, & One Drenched Husband

Achievement: #20. Ohiopyle Waterslides

We’re back!! Sorry to all of our readers – September was a *little* crazy, but we’re back and ready to begin the ambitious task of 31 posts in 31 days for the month of October. Oh yeah, you read that right – a post a day until the end of the month. (We uhh… have a lot of catching up to do from the summer!)

First things first, a short entry about one of our famous failed attempts to complete an Achievement. This time, we did everything right, but it was nature and weather who got in our way.

We had decided to go slide down the famous natural waterslides at Ohiopyle, about 70 miles southeast of Pittsburgh. Well, *I* wanted to slide down a waterslide. Michael, on the other hand, was determined not to get wet on this achievement, was perfectly happy just to ‘visit’ the slides.

Ohiopyle Natural Waterslides
The waterslides are located in Meadow Run, which is a stream that flows into the Youghiogheny River.

Ohiopyle Natural Waterslides
Basically, the stream flows in such a way that it’s carved out the ‘waterslides’ from the rock. You can ride down them like you would a slide at Sandcastle Water Park.

So, I’m sure you’re looking at that lovely blue sky in the picture above and thinking, ‘how did the weather get in the way of riding the waterslides?’

Ohiopyle Natural Waterslides
Although it was beautiful when we went there, it had rained over an inch in the previous day or two. The result? A super-strong current and rough rapids that were *definitely* not fit for riding.

Ohiopyle Natural Waterslides
This was a total bummer to me (admittedly a little bit of a relief for Michael, who was kind of uncertain about going on the waterslides anyway). We did get to catch a brave kayaker travel down the slide, but all of us with beach towels and jorts (yeah, they recommend you wear jorts for the waterslides!) were more than a little disappointed. Bounce house rentals Tampa is a way out if you are travelling with kids.

Ohiopyle Natural Waterslides
But we were there! And we gave it a shot! (And dang it, I am determined to go back next summer and convince my husband to get on that damn waterslide lol.)

Ohiopyle Natural Waterslides
But since we’d driven all the way out to Ohiopyle on such a gorgeous day, we weren’t about to leave just yet. We headed up the hill from the Waterslides to check out Cucumber Falls, a pretty serious waterfall in the middle of the woods.

Ohiopyle Natural Waterslides
The waterfall was really flowing after all the recent rainfall, and it was packed with other visitors. But I was determined, and I navigated my way through all the crowd and the rocks to get up close and personal with the waterfall…

Ohiopyle Natural Waterslides
And so here’s the last picture ever taken of me with my beloved Ralph Lauren sunglasses. ::tear::

Yeah soooooooooo all those people sitting on rocks that I had to climb over to get *to* the waterfall? They were still there when I had to walk back from the waterfall. And they were now on the rocks I had used to get down into the creek. And so I had to choose other rocks. And so… and so…

Oh. Oh I can barely bring myself to type these words. As I reached out to grab onto the final rock that would take me back to dry land…..

my sunglasses leapt from the front of my shirt into the rushing water, never to be seen again.

Ohiopyle Natural Waterslides
This is not to say we gave up on them so easily. No, my valiant husband dove into the water fully-clothed and searched for like 15 minutes. But alas, the sunglasses were gone.

So I guess, in the end, the lesson here is: rain just screws natural bodies of water. Too much rain prevents you from going on natural waterslides. And too much rain creates really seriously hefty waterfalls with very fast currents that like to sweep away expensive prescription sunglasses four days before you leave for an out-of-state outdoors vacation.

(At least I got my wish of Michael jumping in the water at Ohiopyle though! It’s the small victories that get you through.)

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Filed under #20, #20-13, disappointment, ohiopyle, outside, summer

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