The best thing about being a journalist is that, once in awhile, you get the opportunity to do things, meet people and go to places that wouldn't be available to the average civilian.
When Mike Fox, owner of Niagara Jet Adventures, asked me to be the first newspaperman to shoot the Niagara River rapids all the way from Youngstown the falls basin, I said yes.
This was an adventure, bona fide and for real. A piece of history in the making.
Of course I had my camera with me, and what follows can serve as a glimpse of the thrill ride that should soon be available to everyone.
|
The most modern equipment in the world. A vessel designed for the voyage! |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Between the rapids the incredible natural beauty one encounters is worth the trip alone. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Before us lay the mighty Himalayas, Category 6 whitewater rapids that had previously prevented the Niagara River ascent.
This is where the Whirlpool Jetboats stop. We kept going.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
We plowed through the Devil's Hole rapids, looking forward to the Whirlpool to come.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Waiting in the midst of the mighty rapids, we spied a couple of Whirlpool Jet Boats. We waived and their passengers must have thought it funny that we were there and they couldn’t get there.
All told we did everything the whirlpool does. Everything Hornblower and Maid if the Mist does plus traverse the rapids in between which neither can do.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Breaking through the Himalayas, I realized that no journalist had ever done this before. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
The placid water began again and the falls loomed in the distance. |
|
|
|
|
|
Niagara Jet Tour took in whole River: rapids and Falls
The natural splendor of the mighty Niagara River gorge, the chance to get to do something that no newspaperman had done before and the good company of Mike Fox and his partners and crew made for a great day on the water.
The crews we met onboard the Maid of the Mist and the Hornblower Cruises vessels, stuck in the falls basin, were shocked by what we'd managed to do. But it wasn't really all that much.
Different horses for different courses, they say, and Mike Fox picked his vessel very carefully. Tested out on the waters of the famous "River of No Return" – the Snake River in Idaho – the Niagara Adventure boat made child's play of the Devil's Hole rapids and even the notorious Himalayas of the Whirlpool.
Soon, the exciting journey up from Youngstown to the falls will be available to anyone with the price of a ticket. It is truly an adventure not to be missed.
|
Waters previously reserved for the Maid of the Mist were now ours. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
The Horseshoe Falls from the first boat to go the distance upstream from Youngstown in more than a century. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Another shot of the Falls |
|
|
|
|
|
|
We sighted the Maid of the Mist, seeming like an antique relic of the past. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
The Hornblower Yacht seemed such a tiny thing. We took it in stride.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
The Hornblower catamaran was also out in the basin, her crew surprised to see us.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
We cruised for a bit in the basin and then headed back to Youngstown. Having accomplished the impossible without any difficulty!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|