The day started off fairly normal.
Wake up, shower, coffee, etc. We do not move very fast as a family. I know
those of you who deal with us normally are not surprised to hear this. We are
nowhere near efficient. I realize that setting a departure time is futile with
this group. Someday I'll learn to reset my expectations. Anyway, we got chatting with the owner of the campgrounds and it turned out that she is from Pittsfield, MA. She was so happy to that people from 'back home' were out here staying at their campground. Cathy was a super host and made our stay very enjoyable.
Today we scheduled a day of rock
climbing and white water rafting. Check-in time is 8:30, guess when we got
there?!?! Yep, 8:45 and we were not even ready. After some scrambling to pull
our gear together and put on sunscreen, we finally headed out for a morning of
rock climbing. We were matched up with a mother and daughter from Illinois, who
waited patiently as we organized ourselves. Together the 7 of us put on our
helmets and climbing harnesses. After a very brief introduction we were all
ready to start climbing up a 30 foot section of rock. The most useful piece of
instruction they gave us was that climbing is actually done with the legs, not
the arms. I found this helpful since I was a little concerned about how I was
going to pull myself up those rocks. Once I realized it was mostly with the legs, I no longer worried.
They didn’t have enough climbing shoes for
everyone, so we had to swap around a little, but nobody seemed to mind. They
set up two ropes, one slightly harder than the other, and taught the adults and
Ally how to belay (support) the climber. The job of the person on the ground
was to pull in the slack each time the climber made progression up the rock,
thus keeping the rope out of the way. The climber had to have complete faith in
the person on the ground and trust that the person was belaying properly.
Going up was definitely the difficult
part. Finding the right foot and hand holds was more of a challenge than
expected on what they called “beginner rocks”. The incline was very steep. We
all agreed that the climbing shoes make a huge difference regarding traction on
the rocks. All that was needed was the smallest of footholds to help move you
either laterally or horizontally along the rock. Mark and Matt started on the
slightly easier section while Ally, Brooke & I tackled the tougher section.
Brooke went first and through determination made her way to the top. She
carefully picked her way along the rock face until she found sections that she
trusted. Ally and I looked on and we were able to pick a path based on Brooke’s
challenges. Ally went next and she managed to scamper up the rock with what appeared
to be very little effort. Then I followed and of course made it a “challenge”
because I can’t do anything slowly.
Meanwhile, Matt was working hard
over on his rope. I noticed that Matt was trying desperately to use his arms
rather than legs to get him moving up the rock. The instructor did specifically
say that men tend to use their upper bodies more than the women do on a climb.
It takes a while to learn the technique and Matt fell into the ‘typical’ bin.
When it was Mark’s turn the instructor asked me to belay for him because he had
to help the kids get setup for their next climb. Here’s where the trust part comes
in ;-) I was happy to help and Mark
worked his way up the climb with no problem.
Now, once you’re up you then have
to come down the same way you went up. But here the technique is so different.
You literally just lean back, like you are going to sit in a chair, and walk
your feet down the rock. This is where you need to have complete faith in the
person who is belaying for you. The kids all had trouble really leaning back
like that initially. Brooke and Matt figured out the hard way that if you get
too close to the rock it is very sharp and you end up with cuts on your legs.
Both suffered this effect during their descents. Ally on the other hand figured
out the fun in leaning back and walking down the rock. She even developed a
little hop along the way. The descent was definitely my preference as well. I
liked the feeling of going down.
Once the morning climb was over we
headed back to the AVA (Arkansas Valley Adventures) head camp for lunch. It is nice to have lunch there for you and you don’t need to think about it more than
choosing a deli meat and the type of chips you want. So, the girls from Illinois and us hung out
with our guides and enjoyed our noontime meal. I forgot to mention that the weather for
the morning climb was just over 80 degrees and very sunny. Before we left for
the climb we had applied sunscreen since you are more likely to get burned at
the higher elevations.
After lunch, we changed into our
bathing suits and applied more sunscreen to prepare for the rafting ride. The ride was schedule do take place on the Brown River. This river winds its way through some of
the tallest peaks in Colorado. Since the spring and summer here have been so
devoid of rain, the rivers have been running at low levels, until this week.
The days prior to our arrival had seen enough rainfall to almost double the
volume of water. The river was still a little on the shallow side, but the trip
was “sure to be more fun” says the guides. Also, since the temps were so
warm they recommended against wet suits. They had splash jackets which were
like high end rain coats. Anyone could take a splash jacked if interested.. Some of the rafters decided to take the splash jackets and others opted
out. We took one for each of us just in case. Last year the kids got a little
cold on the rafting trip and even though it was so warm out, there was still a 60% predicted chance of rain.
We started out for the raft trip roughly
at 1:30. It was a 30 minute bus ride to the drop-in site. On the bus ride you
learn all about the do’s and do not’s of the river tour. This is always an
entertaining piece of the trip. As we were headed up the mountain to the river
entry site it appeared as though we were driving right into the dark clouds. Once
we arrived at the river, the guides sorted out the families and we ended up in
our own boat with a first year guide. I guess they thought it would be easier
for her to have the little guys. We were hoping to share a boat with our
friends from the morning climb, but that wasn’t the case. They loaded up the
six boats and we headed out onto the river. The length of the ride is 8 miles
through mostly class II and III rapids. Now here’s where the story gets good….
I noticed our guide was struggling
a little with our boat. We kept turning around in circles. This probably was a
combination of lack of weight combined with unsynchronized paddling. She kept a
positive attitude the whole time; it would have driven me nuts. Anyway, about a
mile+ down the river we hit the first set of class III rapids. The water was
warm and the rocks were just barely covered which made it even more challenging
for the guides. See, in the lower waters she can use the exposed rocks to
bounce the boat off of and back into the rapids. But, the water level of the
river today caused the boats to get hung up on rocks more often which added
other challenges for these guides. Not only was this river filled with big
rocks, but it was also very narrow which made it tough to pull over and wait
for the group to gather.
While we pressed on the sky kept
getting darker and darker. After the next set of smaller rapids we pulled the
boat over to get the splash jackets on because the temperature had already
clearly dropped and the rains were starting. In the distance you can hear the
rumbling of thunder. Just like our guide last summer, Kerri explained to us
that we are actually safer on the river during a thunder and lightning storm
because there are many taller objects on both sides for the lightning to
strike. I guess that is supposed to make us feel better!?!?
She maintained her optimistic
manner and continued to navigate us through the river. The storm increased in
intensity with pouring rain and visible lightning strikes. As the rain
intensified we noticed that it was starting to sting as it made contact with
the skin. I thought it was just raining hard, but it turned out to be hail
stones! Hail stones a little smaller than pencil erasers. This storm was big.
The thunder and lightning was roaring above us and the river was turning brown
(it started out crystal clear). The drenching rain was bringing silt and
sediment off the hillsides into the river. The boat was littered with pine
needles on the bottom. They were coming up through the drainage holes. The
rapids were looking angrier and angrier as we traveled along. I kept saying
along the way “looks like it’s getting lighter” and each time I said the rain
would pour harder. I was trying to be positive J
At this point we are only halfway
through the 8 mile trip and Brooke is still smiling. The kids are cold, but not
quite miserable. I was hoping for a quick ending to this trip since the water
was moving so fast and the guides were clearly cold too. The rain/sleet still
hasn’t let up at all and we are nearing one of the trickier class III sections.
As we approach we look ahead to the bend in the river. ALL boats, other
companies included, have pulled over to the shores to evaluate. Looking ahead
we saw a flash flood coming down off the mountain side. The waters were so high
that the trees near the river’s edge looked to be the size of saplings. Our
guide explained that right where the waters from the mountain side were pouring
into the river is the line we are supposed to take to move further down river.
It was a little daunting to look at the flood and to think that they are
actually considering taking the boats through there. I also want to point out
that at this time the smiles were gone from all our faces and everyone was
pretty darn cold. Mark didn’t have a jacket because we ended up with 4 kid
sizes and one adult. The kids were shivering and there was nothing we could do
to help them.
The guides all gathered to discuss
the options. One walked downstream a bit to see if we could portage the boats.
Once they decided on a location about ¼ mile downstream they started unloading
all the rafts. The bank up from the river was very steep and covered with loose
gravel and stones. The footings were tough so the guides threw a rope down to
another guide on the bank. They used the rope to guide the masses up the hill to
the waiting group at the top.
Once all the people were up the hill, the guides
started pulling the boats up the hill. This was a big job getting these rafts
up this hill so Mark and some of the other men helped out. We were fortunate
that at the top of the hill was a decommissioned railroad. It not only provided
us with a cleared area to walk through, but it also provided us with a means to
easily move the boats from the take out spot to the put in spot down river. The
boats are big and heavy so two people from an all adult boat helped Mark and I
move our boat down the way. Brooke also lent a hand, but the other two were
just way to cold at this point. Most people were at various stages of cold and
some were shaking so miserably that they couldn’t even wrap their hands around
the handles. Mark, myself and two other people hopped in to help move the other
boats. I am so glad we took splash jackets. They definitely helped a little.
Just before we cleared out of the
area we were in, I heard a crunching noise at the top of the hill above us.
When I looked up I saw a rock roughly the size of two bowling balls tumbling
down the hill and taking a whole bunch of other, smaller rocks with it. We were
very fortunate that this happened far enough away that nobody was in any danger.
But, the realization hits you that getting back into the boats on the water
might be a safer spot. We hurried the group along to the put in area.
The guides, with the help of some
rafters, got all the boats back down to the river. Once again, this section of
bank was really no better than the one where we got out of the water. The big
difference here is that the mud along the bank was like quicksand so now we had
the extra challenge of loading boats without getting people stuck. Everyone
worked together to get the boats loaded back up and we pushed off, heading for
the end. We had a couple more sets of rapids up ahead, but the rain and sleet
has let up and now it’s just drizzling. The thunder and lightning are moving
off and the air was feeling warmer. Not sure if that’s because we were so
miserable during the storm or it actually got warmer. Either way, the violent
shivering seemed to be subsiding and we were about 2 miles from the end. I have
to give our guide Kerri some credit, she managed to keep a positive outlook
throughout the whole experience even though she was freezing cold herself.
As we were nearing the last set of
rapids a woman in the raft in front of us screams and you see the whole group
of them shuffle around. The guide moved his way up to the front of the boat
where he was obviously trying to grab something that kept eluding his attempts.
Finally, he stands up with a 2-foot river snake in his hand. At that point, he
unceremoniously tosses it back into the river from which it came. I am soooo
glad that wasn’t in our boat. I think I would have jumped into the river before
he caught it!
We finally see it, the end of the
line. As it turns out, it is now sunny and much clearer, but the temperature is
not a whole lot warmer. We get out of our raft and head to the bus that will
now take us back to the AVA meeting spot. The ride is longer on the way back
since the river runs away from the headquarters. We are all very wet, cold,
dirty and tired, but at least everyone is safe and unharmed.
Back at the store they gave us
some hot chocolate and tea while people hurried to get out of their river
clothes. Our campground is only 8 miles up the road, but we are so cold that
changing was the foremost thing on my mind. My hands were barely moving. I
couldn’t zipper or snap anything; we were cold. Credit to my kids, they all
still would like to go rafting again, just not anytime soon.
Back at the campgrounds we commandeered
all the showers and put in our $1.25 for 7 minutes of pure delight. Once we were
clean and somewhat warm, we put in a load of dirty river clothes and headed off
to our new accommodations. See, the cabin we stayed in last night was already
rented out so they moved us to a Yurt. A Yurt is a designed after a tee-pee in
a way. It is cylindrical in shape and then gently tapers to a sunroof point. Like
the cabin, it had a full size bed and a set of bunks. The girls shared the
bottom bed and Matt had the top. This was a much more spacious room though and
we were able to bring all our stuff in rather than leave it in the car.
After setting up the room we
headed to downtown Buena Vista, a tucked in a valley between the Ivy League
mountains, where we had dinner at a wonderful restaurant called the Eddyline.
It was my first steak dinner in the west and it was wonderful! Of course, Mark
and I sampled the local beer as well. It was really nice to sit there in the restaurant and relax. I felt like we had been running on overdrive most of the day.
After dinner we headed back to the Yurt
where the kids and I fell into bed while Mark went and got the laundry. The day
was absolutely exhausting, but nobody was unhappy; just tired.
Let’s recap: What made this day
different?
- Staying in a Yurt
- rock climbing
- rafting in a hail storm
- being within 50 yards of a flash flood
- walking our rafts down a railroad track
- seeing a snake in a raft
- finding out our host was from Pittsfield, MA
- learning that Nate Soldier, Patriot Lineman, is from Buena Vista, CO (they are very proud of this fact)
- Staying in a Yurt
- rock climbing
- rafting in a hail storm
- being within 50 yards of a flash flood
- walking our rafts down a railroad track
- seeing a snake in a raft
- finding out our host was from Pittsfield, MA
- learning that Nate Soldier, Patriot Lineman, is from Buena Vista, CO (they are very proud of this fact)
Wow
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