Stupidity on the Main Payette

Woman saved by a cat boater on the Main Payette

A woman nearly drowned on the Main Payette on Sunday (8/2/09) due to complete stupidity. The unidentified woman, approximately 55 years of age and 220 pounds, was paddling in a tandem inflatable kayak with a male, approximately 25 years of age. The woman, appropriately nicknamed “Triple D” by other boaters, was wearing a helmet but no life jacket for the majority of the float. Upon entering the rapid known as “AMF” the couple was dumped from their IK, which sent both of them into the river. The woman was submerged, while her partner stayed afloat in his rented life jacket. The woman struggled to stay afloat and was saved by what bystanders can only assume to be her bosoms. A nearby cat boater ferried upstream to aid the woman in staying afloat and ferried both swimmers to more shallow water. Upon her arrival to more shallow water, the woman claimed to have forgotten her life jacket on shore after pumping up the IK with more air. The rescuer sternly responded to the woman’s forgetfulness of leaving her lifejacket on the shore by stating it is an easy hike to the road and informed her that she should never be on the river without a lifejacket ever again.

With a note of seriousness, it is stupidity such as this that keeps the river from being far from safe. Though considered a great river to learn to run rapids, the Main is not a fool proof river, and no one is invincible. I have a particularly difficult time asking folks to put on life jackets or encourage them to wear an extra that’s sitting in my car, mostly because I’m not sure they will listen (and because they haven’t listened in the past). The fact of the matter is that in the end I am responsible for their stupidity. I wish I had talked to the aforementioned woman prior to seeing her run Mixmaster or AMF and told her to get the hell out of the river and walk to the road. I certainly wasn’t happy about picking her out of the water and lecturing her AFTER she swam. Part of problem was that some of the boats on the river with us were not wearing their vests during the calm stretches. I suppose I should have asked them to put their jackets on as well for the sheer fact that most people on the river probably never saw the few in our group put their jackets on when the rapids came. The last thing we need is law enforcement on the river enforcing life jackets, proper gear, or appropriate whitewater vehicles. As safe boaters, we need to attempt to instill our safety precautions to anyone who may or may not listen.

On the loss of a friend

My friend, Patrick, provided the following words today. They are perfect for this time. For those unaware of Sunday's events, see my facebook page.

Thoreau's words:

“On the death of a friend, we should consider that the fates through confidence have devolved on us the task of a double living, that we have henceforth to fulfill the promise of our friend's life also, in our own, to the world.”

Ouch

My mouth is on fire. I went to my favorite Thai place to grab lunch on my way home today. I ordered Pad Prig King (chicken) and ordered it a 2/5 on the spicy level. 2/5 is good enough for me over there - I like to taste my food and not just the spiciness. Anyway, I'm kind of a cheapskate when it comes to tipping if I'm not eating there. I didn't wait around and get soup like they offer to people who order take-out. If fact, I walked over to the bank to get some cash while it was made. So, I didn't tip. I'm pretty sure those $*&@ers made it more spicy than a 2/5. My mouth is on fire and I hardly even tasted the food because it was so hot. But I was SO hungry that I couldn't NOT eat it. Ouch.

Oh well, we are taking Brooke to the Fair today. It's not my favorite place, but it will do. Plus, it's not like 100 degrees outside, which is nice. It's more like 82 and that is much more pleasurable that being a sticky, sweaty mess. I'm going to go get myself to looking cute and head out the door. Oh, and I'll probably have another beer, in hopes that it will calm my mouth a little bit.

FYI - it's Thursday and at 2pm I had already worked 40 hours. So I got the rest of the day off. I have to show up for Court tomorrow at 8:30 and then I get to leave to go rafting with teh fun folks from Josh's office. And we don't have to buy the beer! Yippee!

Miranda = Bad Ass Rafter (part 1)

These posts have been a long time coming. If you don't care about my rafting experiences, the next few months will probably not be worth reading.

Memorial Day weekend I went with Josh, another friend, and the friend's cousin (and douchebag) up to the Lochsa River in Northern Idaho. The boys all ran the Lochsa River at a crazy high water lever (~14,000 cfs) while I drove along the river and video taped their adventures. Jealous that I didn't get to ride along on that trip (we were all worried about the level), I explained that I wanted to ride on the back of the boat the next day. Josh said I could, and the next day was sooooooooooooo fun. The waves were HUGE and Lochsa Falls was even bigger. The ride on the Lochsa River on Sunday went something like this:

Josh rowed while I sat on the seat at the back of the boat. I was decked out in my new dry top, dry pants, and fancy helmet. Though the river is not generally the place where you try to look like a fashionista, I looked pretty cute. Really, that doesn't matter, but I thought you'd appreciate it. Josh and I were able to launch with 22 other Cataraft boaters, including guru, Ted Day. It was pretty cool to look up and down the river and see only Cats! We started coming up to Lochsa Falls (at that level, the water is HUUUUUUUUUGE....I cannot reiterate this enough) and Josh turned to me and the following conversation ensued:

Josh: "I think I want to run it." (Translation: "I want to hit the guts of that gigantic hole down there that is flipping 1/2 of the boats that go through it.")

Me: "Ok babe, just do it."

Josh: "If I do, we're probably going to flip."

Me: "Go ahead. No one is really ever ready to flip, but I'm ok with it."

Josh: "Don't make me regret my decision."

Me: "DO IT!"

So he did. But when we came up to the Falls and Josh realized we were a bit too close to the raft in front of us and couldn't push as much as he would have if there were no one in front of us. It felt like slow-motion as our two Cat tubes punched the hole and jerked us around on our seats. The, the boat started to turn 180 degrees. Josh was out of his seat and his legs dangled in the water below. The current was so strong that it sucked him right under the boat and he went swimming. He was gone and I knew I had to do something....but what??? I took a flying, Super Woman leap to the front bar of the boat, near the place Josh had just been sucked under the boat, and held on for dear life. The gigantic wave rocked the boat back and forth for what seemed like an eternity, until suddenly, the boat turned back around and, ever-so-gracefully, spit me out over the wave. The boat was upright. I was still on the boat. Josh was nowhere to be seen. (Turns out the camping douchbag was good for something - throwing the perfect rescue rope to my man.) I managed to get into Josh's seat while an observer held the boat on the shore. I returned the oars to their proper place, and after securing the spare oar to the side of the boat (it was hanging by one tether), I rowed through the next rapid and found Josh waiting in another boat for what he thought would be a flipped boat and a swimming girlfriend.

For some reason, I can't figure out how to embed the video within this post....so follow this link and watch our adventure in the yellow Cataraft at 2:27 and in slow-motion at 7:02.

Parts 2 and 3 soon to come!

I'm pretty much a badass

At least, I feel like one. I think/hope that Josh will back me up on this.

You may remember that at that end of last summer I rowed my first class III rapid and was very, very proud of myself. Two weeks ago, I ran the Main Payette (all but 2 rapids) with Josh in the boat with me. So when last week hit and Josh asked if I thought if I was ready to run my own boat down the Main, I was scared shitless. Thankfully, Josh had a lot more faith in me than I did of myself. I randomly told my co-worker, Vanessa, that we would be going that weekend and invited her along. At first, I thought she'd be running her own, new, inflatable kyack alongside us. However, her IK is with her dad elsewhere. For some strange reason, she decided she'd be OK riding in MY boat (with my new b-day oars, btw), even though I'd never run the entire Main by myself.

Enter: Party on Friday night. OMG, it was insane. The party was very impromptu, and we grilled hamburgers and had a helluva time with our neighbors. Multiple bottles of liquor and several cases of beer were consumed. When I woke up to Josh, sick beside me, in the morning, I was worried that we wouldn't actually go. He assured me that we would. Vanessa arrived, and a few coffees and sandwiches later, we hit the road. Josh and our buddy Jesse ran the South Fork (despite my extreme nervousness) and we met them at the put-in for the Main. I was SO nervous about the river, and even more so because it wouldn't just me me to get wet or dumped - Vanessa would have to survive through my lack of experience. I have since adopted Vanessa's motto: "If I weren't in it for the adventure, I wouldn't have come."

And that's what it was. Josh neglected to inform me of the size of the river we would encounter; it was FREAKING HUGE!!! BUT, I did it! I managed to run the entire river without dumping myself OR Vanessa, which made me so so so so so so so proud!!! And I still am. I even threatened to call Josh's dad (rather than my own parents) to tell him about my accomplishments. (I let Josh call first the next day.)

To say the least, this was pretty much one of my greatest accomplishments over the past few years, and it makes me very, very, very excited for the rest of rafting season! Plus, I just got some amazing new semi-dry gear for the season, and it is awesome.

(I must mention that I was in charge of getting the car to the take-out. 4/5 of the way there I realized that I forgot the keys at the put-in. I am a big dork. Thankfully, our buddy Travis took the initiative to hitch a ride to the put-in to get the keys and meet us at the take-out. Part of me likes to think that Travis just really wanted to stop rowing through the slow parts. Whatever. It gave Vanessa and I the chance to run one more rapid, and Vanessa rowed, magnificently, through it. Hooray!)

a few things I am very excited about!

1. Friday night's white-trash-bar-extravaganza was pretty entertaining. Josh's cousin's band played at Mr. Lucky's here in Boise. FYI, Lucky's is known for their NASCAR Sundays (all you can drink for $20.00). I'm pretty sure they are also known for the extreme amount of Special Olympics Dance Team members....in the most unofficial sense, of course. Anyway, the band was pretty good for firing the lead singer a week prior, which surprised the hell out of me (the fact that the band was pretty good surprised me, not the firing of the lead singer - that should not surprise anyone, really).

2. Saturday night I went to a concert at the Big Easy to see Joshua Radin and Ingrid Michaelson! They were incredible! I wasn't too familiar with their stuff before heading out (except for Ingrid's song, "The Way I Am" which is on an Old Navy commercial) but I am fully convinced that they are worth listening to over and over and over again in my office. Yay! On top of seeing the phenomenal concert, I ran into two of the guys who were in my youth group when I led the group at my church in college. They are old. That makes me feel old. BUT, it was super fun to see them and I think they even convinced me to pick up my guitar sometime soon.

3. I spent the majority of my time sleeping and laying on the couch this weekend and it felt awesome.

4. None of our immediate friends or family members drew a Middlefork of the Salmon rafting permit this summer, which made us pretty bummed out. Thankfully, a friend of a friend invited us on his trip! Hooray! I'm pretty sure I'll be dreaming of this for the next few months....

5. I think I have become addicted to Crystal Light Energy. And Spicy V8 (not just for my perfected bloody mary recipe - I like it plain, too). And Laughing Cow cheese with celery. And sushi. (I never thought I would say that). And steamed broccoli (WTF?).

6. I made my first official meatloaf last night and it was really effing good. Oh my god, when did I turn into a housewife?

7. San Francisco was fan-freaking-tastic. Next trip: Vegas on April 26!

back to work...

...but not without some fun first!

1. After surviving a family reunion without a bit of booze to pull any of us through, Josh, Adrianne and I went to see "Superbad" at the theater. I thought I was going to die of gut-wrenching laughter and found myself up heaving in the seat a few times during some scenes...completely worth it.

2. My friend Kristen swapped me every season of Sex and the City and a mix CD of Neko Case and Kasey Chambers in exchange for the Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, which I had borrowed it from her boyfriend). I have yet to pop in a season of SatC, but the mix CD is amazing.

3. I managed to row through bigger rapids than I've ever rowed before, which made me pretty damn proud of myself. This is a bigger deal for this particular trip because Josh wasn't sitting behind me telling me to push with the left or pull with the right--it was all me, baby, watching where he and his dad had gone before me and attempting to do the same..not without some swearing, however, when I thought I was going to hit some rocks. I didn't hit them. I did well. And I was rightfully P-R-O-U-D (and hopefully Josh was too).


and now non-hobby related information...

1. Reporting for my first day on the job this morning, I knew that one other girl was starting with me. What I hadn't prepared for was the fact that it might be someone I knew. Yup, Hafsah and went to high school together, graduated the same year, happened to recognize each other, and actually seem to get along....weird.

2. Class started tonight too and I can already tell that one girl is going to drive me nuts....but that's probably because the one time that I met her this summer, she shoved her hand in my face and told me to get away from her. I sincerely hope that she's not in my Thursday night class (or I might have to kick some ass).

fire!

Last weekend, Josh and I took our friends Marc and Margaret on a little rafting/camping trip up near Cascade. We had a grand ol' time on the river, finding a camping site (at one point in time we had to unhitch the trailer from the Jeep and turn everything around on a narrow path), and eventually setting up camp for the night. Between the four of us, we had a shit-ton of booze. I really didn't think it was possible for Josh and I to find a couple who could rival our drinking capabilities, but sure enough, Marc and Margaret have skills! 30 Natural Lights, 6 Bud Light tall boys, 12 Keystone Lights, 1 bottle of white wine, and 1 Heinekin mini-keg later, I was nearly falling out of my chair and everyone got stupid. This is where the story gets interesting...

After the Heinekin mini-keg was out, Marc put it in the fire. Uhhhhh, yeah. Not too long after that, the keg exploded and blasted pieces of the keg all around us. Josh leaped from his chair and pulled me from mine. Marc and Margaret ran as quickly as possible away from the fire. Upon review of the situation, Josh found a HUGE chunk near his chair, but aside from that everyone seemed to be ok.

The next morning, I discovered 2 holes in my favorite camping pants from the explosion. Later that day, when I went to go swimming with my sister, I discovered 2 more holes in the breast area of my newest bathing suit, which I was wearing at the time of the incident.

The upside? Josh let me row more than on any other trip we've taken this season and I HAD to go get a new bathing suit top.



Some not-so-good photos from the day...

Note the mini-keg to the right of Marc--pre-explosion.



My super-hot boyfriend...

Middle Fork Trip

My feet have a brownish tint on the soles of them and my body still wreaks of odor that has not washed off after the first few showers. The tops of my feet have acquired a more distinct "river print" from wearing my Tevas on the river for nearly an entire week and I have found sand in nearly every place possible. My contacts were glued to my eyes until Saturday night at 11:45, when I finally took them out to sleep. I still cannot bring myself to putting them back in yet. Bruises will continue to appear for another day or so and I will continue to have no idea which fall or slide caused it to appear.

Everyday last week, I woke up to an amazing mountainous view outside our tent. After marveling at the view for at least 10 minutes before climbing out of my sleeping back, I would stumble to the common area of the campground and drink coffee from the same stainless steel coffee mug that held my wine the night before...sometimes with Bailey's and sometimes without. The daily routine didn't vary much: get up, eat breakfast, break down the tent, pack up, load the boats, get on the river, drink some beer, stop for lunch, drink more beer, back on the river, get to the campsite, drink more beer, unload, set up the tent, drink some wine, eat dinner, sit around, drink more wine, and sleep.

More specific daily activities were varied. We stopped at a few hot springs along the river one day, then hiked up to Veil Falls and Parrot's Grotto another day. We drank tequila straight out of the bottle prior to having moose steaks for dinner one night and later, in the night sky, Josh and I ran off (rather intoxicated) to sit in the hot springs at our campsite. (Tequila can make people do crazy things). The next night, I drank wine and read a book alone in the tent to recuperate from being around 11 other people for so long. With so much hiking up and down trails and maneuvering around rocks to see the waterfalls, squatting became difficult later in the week and would probably still be a problem for me, if I didn't have the convenience of a flushing toilet in my apartment right now.

It poured down rain the first night of our trip and I wondered what the hell I had gotten myself into, especially after my sunglasses broke before we even hit the water and my chair broke on the second night, but when the sun shone bright and warm the next day (our first day on the river) and we saw three bears on the side of the mountain our first day, I was convinced this would be a fabulous trip. And that it was. We didn't flip the boat or fall out (though we did get stuck on a rock when I was rowing one day) and a bucket as a toilet isn't as bad as it sounds when you've got the Frank Church Wilderness in full view.

You really can't beat a trip like this, especially when the company keeps you laughing at every bend in the river. There are MANY stories to be told and one blog can't hold them all--it would take me hours to write and more time than you have to read them in one sitting. So for now, enjoy the photos!

Rafting...

As I briefly touched upon in my last blog entry, I *think* I like rafting. And actually, after yesterday's trip down the South Fork of the Payette, I'm a bit more confident in my ability to say, "Yes, I like rafting."

So here's a little story for you...

Josh was a bit disappointed when he didn't get a permit to raft the Middle Fork of the Salmon this year, so when he found some guys on a forum about rafting stating that they were looking for an experienced rafter to go with them in June, he was nearly jumping up and down in his house. A few e-mails and phone calls later, it was set--we were going on a week-long trip with a bunch of guys we've never met before. Have you ever seen "The River Wild" cuz that's about how I was feeling--rafting with a bunch of guys I've never met and fearing that I'd be killed by them along the way.

Enter: Travis.

This guy was a riot yesterday. Josh and I had plans to go rafting down the South Fork of the Payette (a bit more adventurous than our last day trip down the Main Payette) and invited Travis to come along. Travis is a burley, curly and long-haired, bearded, aviation sunglasses-wearing 31 year-old who runs heavy equipment for a living. And he's a talker. After a few hours with the guy, I decided that this trip would be nothing like The River Wild, but rather a little more comedic. Here are some things I found out yesterday that made me a little more excited about the trip-

1. I'll be the only female (this shouldn't make me too excited, actually, but I'm happy that I won't be going with stranger-danger females who carry too much drama)
2. One of the guys who is going is a chef at Table Rock (a restaurant in Boise)
3. The other guys who are going don't know how to raft either
4. If the other guys are anywhere near as entertaining as Travis, this trip is going to be a hoot and a half!

Time frame:
Proposal due for grant-writing: June 1
Last day of work: June 7
Trip to the Lochsa (???) June 8 - 10 (this is a big maybe)
Put-in on the Middle Fork: June 11
Take-out from the Middle Fork: June 15
Home for a week-ish before heading out to another rafting trip with Josh's family...