After a restful night, Day 1 of my Yosemite adventure officially began. I woke up energized and prepared for our white water rafting activity. I ate a hearty breakfast at Yosemite Bug- it was a big foot size buckwheat pancake with fruits on the side. I only ate 1/4 of the pancake because it was just too huge and it didn’t taste like IHOP pancake. The sun was shining and the weather was cool. Our shuttle picked us up at the hostel and off we went to the raft site. 

Before I tell you the incredible experience I had with white water rafting here’s a bit of background about me and the activity. There’s none. I don’t have any prior experience with white water rafting. I could have, back in the Philippines but nobody wanted to go with me. My brother blogged about his rafting experience there and smugly I can say that mine was better. Going down that mountain overlooking the river, a lot of my group members were oohh- and ahhing the strength of the rapids. Some are getting nervous but nobody backed out. Me though, I was highly excited.

WHITE WATER RAFTING

We employed the service of American River Recreation for our white water rafting activity. ARR provided the shuttle to the raft site, the gear for rafting and lunch pack. So we only needed to be dressed in swimsuit or quick drying clothes and old tennis shoes/trek sandals. The snow was still melting from the mountains so the water was truly cold, icy even. The company had us dressed in wetsuit, a windbreaker, life vest, and a helmet.all suit up!

We were at the rafting site approximately 945am and the company people had to inflate the boats and secure some safety lines. That took almost another 30-40 minutes. We were getting antsy. We also saw other rafters cruising along the river. Before we rafted, the boatman lectured about gear and safety. He also acquainted us with certain paddling instructions. Actually one didn’t need to have a rafting experience to do this activity. However a one-time experience with dragon boat racing made me paddle efficiently. I listened intently on the safety lecture praying I won’t be needing it. Some safety tips that stayed with me were:

“ When you fall off the boat, grab onto the safety lines on the side of the boat.”

“If the fall is a distance from the boat, try to float, keep your legs up, and cover your nose until rescue comes. Float with your feet in front to the direction of the current. This will protect your head from crashing into the rocks.”

“If the boat capsize, don’t panic and make sure to get out of the bottom of the boat fast.”

It was a whole day affair and boy did I enjoy it so much! We rafted down the 18 miles of Merced river tackling class 3 and 4 rapids. We manned a 6-man raft and each raft had its boat guide. Our boatman was the lecturer and I thought that he’s good, he won’t let us fall. I sat at the back near our boat guide because I figured if I fall he will be able to save me quickly. There were 5 boats and 6 people in each boat. Our boat was the last one. When we hit the water, it was so darn icy cold! Even donning a wetsuit and a windbreaker, we were cold from the water. I thought my feet were going to get frostbite. I felt them going numb after a few hours.

The first few distance we hit a class 3 and class 4 rapids immediately. It was scary. The white water can just be so menacing that I couldn’t help but pray for safety every time we hit the rapids. I didn’t know I’ll be using it until our group fell off the boat when we hit a water gouge. When I fell what immediately came to my mind is to float. Then I saw that I was near the boat so I switched tactics  and swam and grab tightly to the safety line of the boat. Our boatman, who didn’t fell off (thank God), hauled me off the water so fast. 2 of my team though got washed away farther and we had to throw a rope to bring them back in. We were ok but I got nervous every rapid we hit.

But our fall couldn’t compare what happened to the other boat. Another boat capsized and one of the members went into a class 4 rapid and he was being hit by the waves so hard that I thought he was going to die. Our boat was actually paddling hard (since we were the last one) to save him. We were able to when we got into calmer water. But all in all nobody got hurt.

The whole 18 miles had intervals of class 3 and 4 rapids. But there was a long stretch where the river was calm and our boatman, Tom,  tried to alleviate the boredom by pointing out flowers/rocks in the surrounding area. We lunched in an island and got back in the water after 30 minutes. I didn’t feel thirsty or hungry because this activity was pure adrenaline-rush. And I think I got full from gobbling too much water from the river every time we hit the rapid. LOL! However I did feel the urge to pee though. We finished the trip at around 4pm and got back to the lodging battered, tired, but well-satisfied. :)

we survived!

I was able to view our pictures when I got home. I didn’t know the company has people all over the river and they had taken a lot of pictures of us. There’s a fee for these pictures but I cheated my way out of it though I couldn’t remove the title “picture this”. Do look at my pictures on these highly exciting white water rafting adventure.

Related posts:

  1. A weekend at Yosemite part 1
  2. A weekend at Yosemite part 3
  3. A President’s Day Weekend in Washington DC part 1
  4. A President’s Day Weekend in Washington DC part 2
  5. A President’s Day Weekend in Washington DC part 3