Last weekend I went whitewater rafting at the National Whitewater Center outside Charlotte. Aside from being the largest man-made whitewater facility in the world, it also provides miles of mountain biking trails and the largest climbing wall in the Southeast.
Before seeing it in person, I was a bit skeptical about how fun and challenging it would be, but it truly is an impressive place. The whitewater course is entirely contained, with huge pumps moving water from the lower reservoir to the upper one. A conveyor belt carries you from the bottom to the top in the raft. From the top, you have 3 whitewater courses to follow with rapids rated class II - IV. One loop takes 10-15 minutes to complete.
The only downside to the trip was that on the very last run of the day, I parted ways with my wedding ring. Fortunately, I lost the ring in the top reservoir and when the pumps are turned off every night, all of the water drains to the bottom pool. Our rafting guide was skeptical, but after a call to the facility manager, he was able to find it a few days later right where I lost it. Phew. Just in time for our 7th anniversary.
