Thursday, May 28, 2009

White Water Rafting in South Fork of American River


This Memorial Day weekend, I joined Absolute Adventure for a camping/white water rafting trip. The day before, thirteen attendees met for a short hike under Foresthill bridge, the highest bridge in California. Then we went to Mother Lode River Center to spend the night, in preparation for a early start on paddling day.

I waked up at around 7am in Mother Lode River Center's camp site. We were up late the night before drinking beer, eating s'mores, playing "Two Truths and a Lie" and generally having a good time round the camp fire. Unfortunately, I don't usually sleep well while camping and this trip was no different. Carrisa had just woke up and was starting breakfast. She told me I was early, so I went back to my tent and took a nap. I woke up again at 8am, just in time for a hot breakfast of bagel, bacon and eggs.

I had rafted in 2005 at Cache Canyon with White Water Adventures. Cache Canyon supposed to be a class II-III river, but its worst rapid was a class II 1/2. It was so safe, guides were not needed. I had a lot of fun on that trip, and I wondered why it took me a couple of years to get back into the activity.

After breakfast, we met our friendly raft/river guides. Since we had a little time to kill, we toured Mother Lodge's organic garden, learned to make lynards with duct tape, before boarding the ECO bus (runs on recycled vegetable oil!) and took a 45min ride to the put-in point. On the bus, we were given a safety briefing. The basics were similar on all rivers: keep your feet away from the bottom of the river, float feet pointing down river etc. There were also some new instructions, like getting rescue by the throw bag and getting directions from the river guide after falling into the river. The South Fork of American River have several class 3 rapids, so more precautions were needed.

We were on the one day double run trip. Our put in point was at a park. Everyone was encourage to use the facilities, since once the rafting begin, the only place to "go" was in the river. We were then given life vest and paddles. Safety instructions were repeated and simple paddle commands were taught and it's time to paddle!

In the morning, I paddled on the right hand side of the raft, second row from the front. The first major rapid we hit was called "Meat Grinder". It was a rather technical rapid to cross, requiring the raft to move forward, turned and back-paddle.

The river water was still very cold on Memorial Day weekend (most of the water in this river was from snow melt) and I got a good splash even though I was seated in the second row. Any lingering sleepiness was immediately gone!

The rapids kept coming and with a river guide doing the steering, all we needed to do was followed his instructions. It was at this time I realized even professional guides got into some of the trouble I had gotten into on Cache Creek.

I had missed time some turns and had to let the raft go through some rapids uncontrolled, letting the white water pushed the raft along. Karl, our guide, did the same thing. He called it "zen boating":)

I had my raft stuck on rocks and had to jump out of the craft to push it and free it. It happened to us on this trip too. Our raft was stuck on one rapid too, and poor Karl had to jump into the river to push the raft and free it.

The biggest rapid we hit on the morning run was call "Troublemaker". We went into the rapid the right way, but was unable to execute the turn cleanly. We ended up going down the second part of the rapid sideways. While I felt the raft was fairly stable on this rapid, others in our boat thought we were going to flip.

We saw another raft full of private rafters came through Troublemaker. They were not as lucky as us. A couple of rafters fell off the raft as they went through the drop in Troublemaker. We paddled to help one guy to shore, but their boat was speeding down the rapid. We had no room in the raft and had to leave the paddler by the river shore. I wondered how he got home.

After Troublemaker, we were went back to Mother Lode's camp and break for lunch. We assembled sandwiches from marinated artichoke hearts, sun dried tomatoes, selection of cheese and deli meat. Scot, the owner, gave us a talk on environment issues. He talked about plans to build Auburn dam, and how it would turn all the river we rafted in the morning into a lake. He was clearly passionate about environmental issues, but was not pushy about his view point. He just people to be informed about environmental issues and write to their congress person to voice their concern or support.

After lunch, we went back into the river. I switched seats with Bill on the raft and was rowing on the left in the first row. Bill was sick of being splashed by all the cold river water, while I was looking forward to more splashing! I put on a spray jacket, but no wet suit, since the weather was somewhat hot and I rather had an occasional cold spray of water than be hot on flat water.

The two bigger rapids on this stretch of the river were Satan's Cesspool and Hospital Bar. Satan's Cesspool had a sharp drop entering the rapid, and then a sharp turn. We hit the rapid expertly and ran through without much difficulty. Hospital Bar was the last major rapid. By the time we hit this rapid, our boat was paddling very well together and made all the right moves. Again, we ride through the rapid without any difficulty.

After Hospital Bar, the river flatten out. Memorial Day was fairly early in the rafting season and there was lots of flat water between Hospital Bar and the pull out point. To save us the paddling effort and to make some quick bucks, some townies on jet ski came and gave us a tow. Thes jet ski were quite powerful! I estimated about 20 rafts from Mother Lode and another river company were towed about a mile or so to the pull out point by a single jet ski.

After pulling out, we rode the ECO bus back to camp. Everyone was tired, but hyper after a good rafting trip.

The detail rapid description for South Fork of the American River can be found here. A map view can be seen here.

Photos from my trip can be fseenhere.

Back at camp, Carrisa had just started dinner. The rafters took a quick shower and spent the rest of the time playing volleyball. After dinner, we drank beer and played a little frisbee.

During the rafting trip, Karl, our river guide, told us about the local night life hot spot. Coloma Club, or as Karl affectionately called it, the "CC". We decided to check the place out.

The CC's clientele was a strange mixed of people: locals, river guides and rafters from nearby cities: Sacramento and San Francisco Bay Area. It was Karaoke night, and some of the ladies in our group took the stage singing! We danced, sang and really let our hair down.

At about midnight, I started feeling a little tired. I took off back to camp, sat by the camp fire and ate more s'mores, before heading back to my tent for a well-deserved rest.

White water rafting was a lot of fun and I planned to do more river runs.

Sunday, May 17, 2009

Stand Up Paddling and Cafe Brasil

I first saw stand up paddling in 2008 Santa Cruz Kayak Surf festival. It was a strange sight. Out in the ocean, far away from shore, were these people standing and paddling. They look really stable and were even able to ride waves!

Well, as some of you know, I am a self-proclaimed paddle junkie. So, when I saw stand up padding lessons offered by UCSC recreation, I jumped at the opportunity.

The meeting time for the lesson was 9am at UCSC East Field House, which was a welcoming change from the earlier starting time for kayaking trips. There I met who I taught was the instructor, Conner. When I first saw Conner, I laughed. He had the the stereotypical surfer dude look. Long blond hair, shoe less, shirt less and laid back attitude. Turned out he was the surfing instructor for UCSC, but stand up paddling lessons were being outsource to Surftech.

This was the first time UCSC offered stand up paddling lessons and Conner himself had not done stand up paddling, so everyone was new to the sports and nobody knew what to expect. The Recreation department suggested everyone wore a wet suit while padding, so all of us loaned suits from the UCSC recreation department. Then, Conner drove us in a department van to Santa Cruz harbor. There was where our lessons were to be conducted.

10mins after we arrived, Rob from Surftech showed up in a van filled with surf board and paddle. He then proceed to pull out about 20 surf board and handing out paddles to everyone.

It was a really hot day, and based on conversation Rob, we were not expected to fall into the water too much, I decided not to wear my wet suit. Apparently, everyone else in the class reached the same decision.

We carried the surf board down the boat launch ramp, then dropped the board in the water. With someone holding on to the board, I slided stomach down onto the board. Once I felt stable, I came up to kneeling position and started paddling away from the ramp to make room for other surfers.

After launching everyone, Rob told us to stand up gently. The board was surprisingly stable in the protected water of the harbor, and I did not have too much difficult standing up. Then, Rob suggested we swaying our hip from side to side to loosen it up. According to him, to will help us get "sea legs", so that we can react to waves and better keep our balance. Obviously, I did not understand the last part. As I started swaying, I fell into water.

It was actually a bit of effort to swim back to my board, since when I fell, I kicked the board away from myself. Once I reach the board, getting back on was quite easy. I was able to reach reach across the board and pull myself stomach first onto the board. Like I said, surprisingly stable, much more stable than a kayak.

We went round the harbor once, then Rob asked if anyone had questions. When nobody said anything, he decided we were ready to paddle in open sea!

The class started paddling out the mouth of the harbor into the bay. We were quite a sight, since there were several college co-ed among us, wearing bikini. A boat passed us on its way into the ocean, and I could hear the couple on the boat talking.

"Henry, this must be your lucky day!" the lady said. "There are girls in bikinis inside the harbor!"

At this time we were near the mouth of the harbor. Another boat sped by, and the wake of the boat caused me to fall a second time:( Luckily outside harbor, water was not as dirty.

Our class paddled to the beach to the right of the harbor (when facing land). We quite a distance away from the beach, so there was not much swell. The weather was getting really hot. Everyone began to lie down on their board and rest, tanning and enjoying the sun.

Conner, the surf instructor, began riding some waves. Obviously, he was able to get the hang of riding wave on stand up paddling board quickly. I saw him ride a few waves and that looked really fun!

Fascinated, I decided to join in. Having not surf before, I was unable to judge the wave. I had paddle in front of a wave, waiting for the wave to catch up. At first, I felt nothing, then a sudden surge which I was unprepared for. My stance on the board was totally wrong for riding wave. My body was perpendicular to the board, with feet on the sides! The board quickly sped up, and like someone had pull a carpet from under my feet, I fell backwards into the sea. The board was washed ashore, with me swimming behind to catch up.

I retrieved the board on the beach, collected my breath and tried paddling out. But the waves in the surf zone was quite strong. I was not having much success leaving the beach :( I would paddle a few feet and be washed back ashore by the waves. Sensing I am in a difficult spot, Conner came to the rescue! He told me to walk the board by my side as far as possible into the ocean, while going directly into the wave front. Then at the point when water was chest high, we "jumped" over a wave front. At this time, he had me kneel down on the board and started paddling back into the ocean, out of the surf zone.

I was a little tired from battling the wave coming out, so decided to rest a little more. The rest of the group decided they had enough sun and started heading back to the harbor. Most people were paddling sitting down or kneeling. I tried paddling standing up, but my legs were tired from all the balancing. Also, my attention was occupied by keeping stable and I could not put as much energy into each paddle stroke. I resorted to paddling most of the way kneeling down too.

After I had paddled into mouth of harbor, I stood up and paddled back to ramp. As I was kneeling down and tried to slide over to land, I was feeling effects of the wave and lost my balance again. Rob reach over with paddle and help me regain stability. I guessed this was a tiring sport!

We helped Rob pulled all the board out of the water and into his van. Then we rode the van back to UCSC.

Overall stand up paddling was a rather fun experience. However, I think I need to do more flat water training before going to sea again. Hopefully, I will be able to do surfing sometime in the future:)

After we got back to campus, I checked the time. It was about 1pm. I decided to try my luck and have lunch at Cafe Brasil, a restaurant which was highly recommended on Yelp, served Brazilian food, immensely popular and had really short hours. This was my third attempt to try this restaurant.

As usual, there were long lines out the door. I decided to get food to go. I knew from reading Yelp review people raved about the Acai bowl. But having spent much of the morning on water, I had also wanted a hot lunch. Therefore, I ordered an Acai bowl junior and the Muqueca, as recommended by the super hot server.

The Acai bowl had granola topping with almonds, over a slush of ice and pureed acai. The Slush was filled with strawberries and banana slices. Sweetness from strawberries and banana matched well with the slight acidity from the acai berries. I could eat this for breakfast everyday!

The hot entree came with a side of a simple green salad with slice hearts of palm. The flavor from hearts of palm was quite unique. It had a little texture with a "fresh spring" like flavor. The salad was served with a balsamic vinegrette.

Muqueca was a seafood dish. Fish and shrimp were cooked in tomato sauce, with a touch of coconut milk. The dish came with side of rice and farofa. The fish and shrimp were nice and firm. The background taste of the tomato sauce with coconut milk was refreshing. I associate the coconut milk flavor curry, accompanied with either heat or lots of spices. Here, the coconut flavor was light and refreshing.

Farofa looked like a pile of sand! (It is actually toasted manioc flour. I checked on the web and no, I don't know what is manioc flour). It tasted like bread crumbs and I didn't care for it.

You can read more review of Cafe Brasil on Yelp.

All in all, a good paddling and food day, with college co-ed in bikini as a bonus. I need to come back to Santa Cruz more often:)