Croc,
We finally have a rainy season, and the whitewater season has begun. Took a few days off at the end of last week and drove up to the Cordillera mountains; a long haul, but they've had a good deal more rain than we have down here. Got into the water on Friday, on a new river in one of the remoter corners of the mountains. Started off in the middle of a small town, river looked very innocent. Headed for a bridge maybe 12km downstream, 3 of us, the usual exploring group. Turned out to be possibly the toughest bit of water we've found in this country so far (one other contender), but really wonderful paddling. Beautiful country; first half ran through centuries-old rice terraces, second through virgin montane forest. Clear water, steep, very technical, rocky. Lots of drops, many higher than a kayak is long, plenty of air time, some wild grade 4-4+ chutes, dropping 4-5 meters over a 20 meter distance. Lots of bouncing around, finished pretty well exhausted, but with big smiles all over. Walked around a couple, as there was scant possibility of rescue in some, and it pays to be conservative on first descents. One I walked around was funny - it didn't look bad at all. Narrow, 2-3 meter chute, maybe 60 degree angle, but pretty straightforward. Chip Childers, our professional river guide, who is far more experienced than Greg (my partner in the tour business) and I, got out, looked, and waved Greg through, pretty nonchalantly. Greg was trying out a new whitewater inflatable (actually a nice boat, though I wonder how long it will last); he went down the chute, out of my view, and the next thing I saw was the boat, minus Greg, soaring skyward. He emerged a moment later, looking shaken. I suggested that Chip try it next; he went down, next thing I saw was the front end of his boat shooting up, then the back end, full cartwheel, then he comes out in the pool, still in the boat but having rolled twice. At that point I pulled the boat over the rock and did it the easy way; the advantage of going last. Just a funky hydraulic, kicking the back end down and the front end up at the same time.
Rained like hell that night; we drove down to the Chico river, an old friend. Didn't look so friendly; carrying a lot of silt and way high, really big water. We had some rafting guests from Manila up, so Chip took the raft; Greg and I paddled kayaks. Great fun, we don't get a lot of big water like that here. Hardly any rocks in sight, huge waves, big deep holes. Felt like a wood chip in the little Dagger, but thoroughly enjoyed, except for a nasty minute on a 90 degree turn with a big undercut rock. In normal flow it's pretty easy to avoid, but with this much water the rock was like a magnet. The raft went into it, they had to pull a highside to get out; I went into it, got smacked down, rolled, got smacked down again, and ended up swimming. Could have rolled out of it if I'd been on the other side, but my left-side roll is lousy (practice obviously needed). I got spat out upstream from the rock, the boat downstream, where the rafties retrieved it. Unfortunately, the rock is big, and I had a bit of a barefoot hike through rice terraces to get around it. One of the funnier sights of the day was the face of an ancient tattooed Igorot woman, who looked up from weeding her field to see a 6 foot white guy in wetsuit, sprayskirt, PFD, and helmet, carrying a paddle, walking along her dike. Paddlers are rare animals here; I think she's still wondering what planet I came from. Took Sunday off; the paddling muscles were rusty and a bit sore, visited some old friends. Joey (my son, 9) went with the raft on a fairly memorable trip; they flipped once and he got bounced out once; had a good swim in some big water. He didn't mind; he's a river boy from the beginning, and has done his share of rafting. I don't think I would have been so blase about it, and the Manila folk were astounded.
Got home this afternoon and discovered that it's been raining hard the whole time we were gone. Will check out the local rivers this weekend; I'm pretty sure what I'll find, as the monsoon is here at last. Won't have to go so far for river action for a while, I think, though it won't be quite as spectacular. We do have a creek in the neighborhood that kicks up some heinous rapids, though, and there are two new ones still to be explored. And the weekend after next there will be another long trip to one of my favorite rivers...
Happy days are here again. I feel a whole new man; I wonder how I ever survive a dry season.
Steve |
