wce.80d.org

02.22.07

oh boy. it has been another indescribable day. we left at 8am to head to the rangitata river. it felt a little contrived when we were picked up in a bus that said “river from the sky” on the side. i later came to learn why; in maui, rangi means river and tata means sky. the rangitata river was not actually the color of the sky but something so much more brilliant - much more intense than the grey, dull clouds and sheets of rain that blew across our faces all day. despite the rain and the cold and the lack of sun, i couldn’t unhook the smile from my ears. we began in a flat, braided river as jimmie warned us of what we was ahead. my boat, largely composed of river engineers, arrogantly joked that we knew where eddies and secondary currents would take us. and maybe we did. the boat only lost one person and he was an englishman and a drama major. i felt my confidence swell as our river guide warned us of the 300m of class 5 rapids ahead- i knew we wouldn't flip. even as cully floated up over me after our raft submerged under ‘tsunami’, i somehow still knew that we’d conquer that reach. i feel a little ashamed now that i wanted so much to be in control of nature in that setting; knowing what i do about river mechanics, i should know better than to assume that we’d have any control, even in an enormous, inflatable bumper car. and really, it was more luck than cumulative knowledge of river mechanics in the raft.

in those moments as we paddled, floated, and screamed our way through each set of class five rapids, even leopold himself would have forgotten his years of hydraulics. there is something really invigorating about being so connected and aware of a moment. as i jumped off of the first set of cliffs (only 10m this time), i thought of a conversation with nicolas a few months ago; those moments as you fall, then sinking like a bullet into 10C water, then emerging with empty lungs...that makes you feel pretty alive and aware of time. i’ve spent a lot of days on rivers and it usually brings me on some level to that awareness, but never as intensely as the trip today did.

the valley was itself so beautiful despite the rain and the clouds and the IT guy from virginia complaining about being cold. we spent most of the ride through the gorge, but started and ended in the wide, gravel river. for the first time in a while, i wasn’t anxious to be anywhere else and was sincerely disappointed to see the boat launch at the last turn.

after a couple of beers at the take-out, a long discussion with dustin from boise about bio-fuel or bio-diesel or bio-something, i’m now riding back on the bus and the ‘river from the sky’ has an entirely new meaning. i’m a little drunk but wide awake. everyone else passed out long ago despite the terrible music (70s-80s ‘american rock’) except greg, who is looking out the window and appears to be seriously contemplating something. i really need to pee.

oh, and the cat's name that i keep seeing is buster. funny to run into him here.