As we drove up the mountains, we saw the Kern River, now a gushing, rushing, raging river crashing down over the rocks, now a calmer, gentler bubbling brook, sparkling in the early morning sun...looking so fresh, so crisp, so beautiful...
Along the way we saw people camping alongside the river, trying to get away from it all, trying to connect with this gorgeous manifestation of Nature itself....much as ourselves, as we made the three hour journey to partake in the adventure of-white water rafting.
Finally, we arrived at Lake Isabella, a beautiful, vast expanse of blue, blue water, looking all the more gorgeous in the early morning sun. We continued to drive towards the point where we were to begin the trip down the river Kern.
When we signed in, got our gear (life jacket, paddle and pep talk by the guide), we were more than ready to start! Now - a little background on our co-rafters: One big gang, consisting of two families were to raft with us. We had to be divided into two rafts and within 3 seconds, the sub-groups were decided...our raft had the both of us, and all the men, and the boys...and the other raft...well, the other raft had the-girls...there was NO WAY the BOYS wanted to go rafting with the GIRLS....!!!
So, off we were to a roaring start.....we made the trip downstream, over the rapids, the view along the way absolutely breath-taking, the day absolutely perfect...we followed the guide's calls...we paddled forward, we paddled backward, we plowed through the rapids, bouncing, splashing, and dancing on the white, white water.....what fun!!!!!!
And then......then we did the "Powerhouse"....a stretch of steep river descent.....claimed to be the steepest river descent in the country....30 feet of sheer rapids...could we do it? Were we upto it? Well....we were about to find out...
Off we started...hearts pounding, paddles paddling...and then, we came to the rapids...
Of course, I fell into the river in the rapids...I had to....(Was I the Rat that deserted the sinking ship? Sinking Raft?) and my knight in shining armor almost fell trying to rescue me....and in the process, the raft lost balance and our GUIDE fell in the river (not a good sign).....then another chap fell, and the guide's paddle hit him on the nose....in the mean time I am desperately trying to get back into the raft.....someone else on the raft lost a sandal, someone else lost a paddle...my "knight" desperately trying to stay ON the raft...lots of screaming..."I LOST MY SANDAL"......"I LOST MY PADDLE!!!!"......"HELP!!!"......and in the general pandemonium that ensued...the guide-less raft (remember the guide is in the river) drifted towards the edge of the river where the trees with their overhanging branches are....and suddenly (by this time all of the jantha has managed to scramble back on the raft) we are faced by scores and scores of tree branches....so again, more screaming "DUCK!!"...."DUCK!"...."DUCK!"..........finally, we manage to steer the raft away from the branches....and manage the rest of the rapids.....float downstream and collect the sandal and the paddle........WHAT FUN!!!
And then we learnt that the GIRLS' raft had experienced no difficulty whatso-ever, they had managed a professional trip down the rapids...but somehow... I think that we had had more fun...
Three cheers to the Kern River and my first white-water-rafting experience!!
Along the way we saw people camping alongside the river, trying to get away from it all, trying to connect with this gorgeous manifestation of Nature itself....much as ourselves, as we made the three hour journey to partake in the adventure of-white water rafting.
Finally, we arrived at Lake Isabella, a beautiful, vast expanse of blue, blue water, looking all the more gorgeous in the early morning sun. We continued to drive towards the point where we were to begin the trip down the river Kern.
When we signed in, got our gear (life jacket, paddle and pep talk by the guide), we were more than ready to start! Now - a little background on our co-rafters: One big gang, consisting of two families were to raft with us. We had to be divided into two rafts and within 3 seconds, the sub-groups were decided...our raft had the both of us, and all the men, and the boys...and the other raft...well, the other raft had the-girls...there was NO WAY the BOYS wanted to go rafting with the GIRLS....!!!
So, off we were to a roaring start.....we made the trip downstream, over the rapids, the view along the way absolutely breath-taking, the day absolutely perfect...we followed the guide's calls...we paddled forward, we paddled backward, we plowed through the rapids, bouncing, splashing, and dancing on the white, white water.....what fun!!!!!!
And then......then we did the "Powerhouse"....a stretch of steep river descent.....claimed to be the steepest river descent in the country....30 feet of sheer rapids...could we do it? Were we upto it? Well....we were about to find out...
Off we started...hearts pounding, paddles paddling...and then, we came to the rapids...
Of course, I fell into the river in the rapids...I had to....(Was I the Rat that deserted the sinking ship? Sinking Raft?) and my knight in shining armor almost fell trying to rescue me....and in the process, the raft lost balance and our GUIDE fell in the river (not a good sign).....then another chap fell, and the guide's paddle hit him on the nose....in the mean time I am desperately trying to get back into the raft.....someone else on the raft lost a sandal, someone else lost a paddle...my "knight" desperately trying to stay ON the raft...lots of screaming..."I LOST MY SANDAL"......"I LOST MY PADDLE!!!!"......"HELP!!!"......and in the general pandemonium that ensued...the guide-less raft (remember the guide is in the river) drifted towards the edge of the river where the trees with their overhanging branches are....and suddenly (by this time all of the jantha has managed to scramble back on the raft) we are faced by scores and scores of tree branches....so again, more screaming "DUCK!!"...."DUCK!"...."DUCK!"..........finally, we manage to steer the raft away from the branches....and manage the rest of the rapids.....float downstream and collect the sandal and the paddle........WHAT FUN!!!
And then we learnt that the GIRLS' raft had experienced no difficulty whatso-ever, they had managed a professional trip down the rapids...but somehow... I think that we had had more fun...
Three cheers to the Kern River and my first white-water-rafting experience!!
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