Last Friday, I went up to Kernsville with Scott and two of this buds Eric and Ken, to meet up with Peter and Adam to make a 2-day run down the Kern River. It was to celebrate Scott’s Bachelorhood! Which worked out great for me because I get very uncomfortable in Strip bars. This was a constant source of entertainment for all others on the trip at my expense. What can I say, it makes me uneasy. Anyway, I was delighted to go and Deanne’s folks were very gracious in helping me out with the cost.
We drove up on Friday after work and camped out in Peter and Scott’s RV. In the morning, we headed over to the base camp and got learned up on running the rapids here in Kernsville. The usual primer in why we use a life preserver, a helmet and some best practices when floating down a river (feet forward, keep your eyes open and breathe). We bussed to the launch area about 10am, had another little reminder of humble we need to be on the river and got geared up.
We were going to be 6 big guys with a guide and a student River guide – 8 in all, about 1500 pounds in all with gear and raft. Thankfully we were all ready to pull our weight. We had another conversation with Tom, our guide, and got rolling. It must have been my lucky day as Tom picked me to be lead paddler (front left), which essentially means I get wet first. I expect that he anointed that title on me because of my previous experience – I tend to think it was because I was sporting a mountain man look (scruffy, stinky).
Either way, I was glad to be in front especially with Peter who was more than glad to provide feedback on communicating, keeping our eyes open and generally being a good up front paddler. He is chatty and pretty quick to elevate himself through berating others, which limits him in my humble opinion, but he is extremely physical and kept us all on our toes and in good spirits (generally at the expense of Ryan, nicknamed Scrappy doo).
The first day was mellow, some gradual falls and lots of beautiful wide open river. We made camp by 4pm and got an opportunity to float down a class 1 rapid in just our life vests. Tons of fun! Fun to feel the power of the river nipping at your river shoes – it felt like the bottom of the river was trying suck them off the bottom of your feet!
We settled into appetizers and a delicious dinner of potatoes, green beans and grilled chicken and tri-tip. Followed shortly by a number of beers and topped off with some Bushmills. We dug up some cards and had a good time playing Texas hold’em. About 11pm, I pooped out and headed to my tent. I had forgotten my sleeping bag (Gene = idiot), so I slept on the mat that they had provided in my sweats. My night was basically 3 or 4 one hour naps. It counted for something though and I was glad to have some peace and quiet.
I will finish up the trip a little later today. Pics can be found on my Facebook or Picassa page if you want to see any of them.