The River Rafting Expedition.. Doesn't sound like fun haan? Read this..

23rd June 2007:

As the clock struck 5 in the morning, Krishna knocked on our door. It was time to start .. to start to our destination for the day.. the King's Canyon - Zephyr White Water River Rafting expedition. We all gathered at West Covina .. all 11 of us.. infact we were joined by 2 more in some more time.. a little excited, a little nervous and a lot sleepy .. and we had three beauties to carry us.. the bloody red Chevy Uplander 7 seater, the black beauty Pontiac Grand Prix and the red 'Riding Hood' Ford Mustang (the two guys that joined us last).

We started our journey at around 6:15AM.. ya it was late to start as we had to reach our destination before 12PM....... It was a solid 6 hrs drive ..pheeeww.. So the cars were travelling at an average of 85 mph oooohh 136 kmph never felt it was that fast.. Uplander was no where in sight but Pontiac and Mustang were in full competition.. Oh Btw did i tell you that the speed limit is 70 on the interstate but all the cars generally go at a much higher speed so it was very normal but these guys were trying to change lanes occaisionally (no no not like in India tho.. not remotely possible at such high speeds) and thats when a police car chased the Pontiac and we stopped. The Police officer very coolly came to us and said "Hey Guys .. Hows it going??" As if he was there to tender to some service request.hehe.. But then he told us that the Aircraft had paced us and we were doing 85 mph so he would have to give us a Speeding ticket (Believe an aircraft to trace us and pace our speed too.. so cool ..) He also asked if the Mustang was with us as it also would have got a speeding ticket but it got away as he had to stop us. So Mr Robert got a speeding ticket and now he'll probably have to enroll himself into some community service.. :) Oh .. even the Mustang got a speeding ticket at last as the Police car caught up with these guys while they had stopped to have some snacks at mid way.. We even clicked some photos but from far away.. not daring to venture too close..

After about 4 hrs into the journey and innumerous naps, we reached the base of the mountain. Now we had to go another 2 hrs up the mountain to the base of the river rafting site. Needless to say that the view was awesome. We even saw a lake and people water skiing and steamboating in it.. The sun was at its brightest best and hottest best too .. All of us very totally awake except some who preferred to sleep to douse the mountain sickness.. After about 2 hrs of twists and turns (moreso because we lost our way) oooh la la we were there .. at dot 12:00PM.. Ate bread jam, changed to shorts and a t-shirt and took off for some instructions before we finally boarded the Zephyr bus which would take us on a trail where at a time only 1 bus can travel to deep in the forests and high on the mountain .. basically the starting point of the adventure!! We split up into 2 groups one of 6 and other of 7. Me, Vamsi, Kaladhar, Justin, Arun and Subro made up the 6. Oh forgot to tell you about the guides.. we were assigned 2 guides one was Thad (an old guy who looked in command) and the other a cute Josey for the 2 boats.. We decided to go with experience. Hehe u never know .. an adventure has its risks mannn!! After some initial lessons with lifejackets and paddlers we set out. The sun was now at its mast hitting us with its pin needle rays.. But on the other hand the river was just the opposite.. sluggish with its chilled water..

The First intermediate destination was called 'Bump City'. Our raft hit many stones oops i mean rocks and it was a bumpy ride .. we getting instantly wet with the splashing water.. And ya the other boat (with our 7 heroes) got stuck on the rocks .. took Josey a lot of effort and time to get it out ( i still pity Josey :) Needless to say even we got stuck a couple of time but when we chose experience over beauty, we knew we had made the right choice :) :) The ride lasted approx 4 hrs which took us through numerous rapids and obviously twists and turns through the mountains which offered us sights to behold.. we even swam with our life jackets on .. but it was very difficult to pull these huge people on board .. especially Justin hehehe.. And ya the highlight was our teching Thad a little Hindi.. Aage (Forward), Peeche(Backwards) and Ruko (Stop). He was exhilerated when he used 'Ruko' while all were indulging in some water splashing sports and everyone stopped. so he knew that we had taught him the right words.. and ya he was even fond of Indian food .. he could only name 'Naan' though. hehehe

Now after we reached the base, it was already 5:30pm. After some snacks and drinks, we had to decide where to put up our tents for the night. And we had to decide fast coz all the places were already being taken, so after some inquiry, we reached a river side which was ideal for camping. Did anyine ask why?? .. coz Restrooms were very nearby ..heheh.. We put up our tents there (3 in number), installed the stove and took out the eatables n stuff. As it started to get darker, view started to become even more ....aaarghh i never get the right word when i wat to .. so u guys can understand.. We hadn't taken out time till now to savour the view that was right in front but now we were suddenly aware of its magnanimity. Imagine the gushing sounds of the river, the moonlit night, millions of stars sparkling above your head and dense forest right behind.. A moment that holds your breath, one that you cant forget.. aint it ??

24th June 2007:

Neways what happened that night is something very forgetable as we were dead tired and we slept like logs .. i cant imagine we slept on the floors of the Jungle!! (with only one layer of comfortor separating us hehe) . The morning was very sweet as well.. As the sun rode up the hills, we took bath in the cold water of the rivers, played around in the water .. dint last much tho coz it was reallllllly cold!! And then we started our journey back... The journey is such a pain mann... Spoils all the fun aint it .. So 6 more hours and we reached home with 1) so many moments that we would cherish all our lives 2) feelings that make us nostalgic and abets us to take the sinful journey again and 3) a very sore bum too :) :)

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