Mileage: Zero
Karma and I slept in some and I did yoga for the first time in months. It was a pretty dreary Saturday but we didn't care as long as we had somewhere dry and warm to sleep - plus our own rooms to boot!
We went over and had breakfast at the local diner - they had small portions and served everything on plastic plates, but the service was good and the waitress kept our coffee warm. I headed over to the post office after breakfast and hung out there until they opened at 11am. Who's ever heard of a post office opening at 11am? Even on a Saturday in a small town?
I ran back to the hostel through the pouring rain in my homemade thong sandals, drenching both my shoes and socks in the process. We sat around Raven's Rest most of the morning, drying things out and doing some light gear repair. Around noon, Lucky walked in and asked us if we would want to go whitewater rafting. He said it wasn't for sure, but we should be ready in an hour if we wanted to go. Sure enough, an hour later he walked in and told us there was room in the boat.
We were headed to the Lake Fork of the Gunnison, or as locals called it, 'the Lake Fork'. It was running high, around 1,200 CFS (Cubic Feet per Second), and had Class III and IV rapids, much more intense than our day trip on the Rio Grande. As we drove north on Highway 149 out of town we saw the Lake Fork on our right and hills full of Purple Lupine and the fiery red spikes of Paintbrush on our left.
Our guide was Jack, a solidly built man in his 50's, who at first came off a bit gruff, but who clearly knew more about the river and surrounding landscape than almost anyone else around. He'd owned a rafting company in town for nearly ten years before he had to shut down for legal issues with a wealthy private landowner. Our other companions on the trip were Patrick and Eric, a local and his friend from the front range, respectively. Everyone had beards. It was raining steadily as we unloaded and inflated the boat. As I took my turn pumping the air into the raft I realized how out of shape my arms had gotten. I'd pump for thirty seconds before I got tired and had to tag out.
Once we were all set with life jackets and helmets, Jack went into serious mode for the safety talk to scare the crap out of us and make sure we knew what to do in an emergency. My takeaway from the whole thing was don't fall out of the boat because that would suck for everyone, especially you.
We got going down the river and Jack started hollering out commands as practice before the big rapids. 'Right', 'Left', 'All forward', 'Back left', 'Back right!' He told us to dig deep into the water and use our full bodies to paddle - not just our arms. I was seated in the back right near Jack. It was nice because I could ask him about the various plants I was curious about along the way. The Choke Cherry bloomed in umbels resembling white bundles of Lilac from faraway, while the Alder and Aspen filled out the remainder of the banks, with the occasional Spruce or Fir along the way.
We ran rapids with names like 'Peanut Butter Falls', 'Rollercoaster', 'Rattlesnake', and 'Railroad Falls'. In these sections Jack would rumble out commands, roaring double if we didn't paddle to his liking. At Rattlesnake rapid the raft completely filled up with water like a bathtub. We all dug our feet in tight to stay in the boat as it shook in the rapid. Jack deftly guided us in, out, and around the obstacles of rock and log to bring us to safety each time. He would tell us, 'Great job!' after each rapid, but we knew it was Jack who deserved the credit for bringing us out of the depths of the roaring river, nimbly paddling us along.
By the end, we were all totally soaked and shivering from the river water and the rain but this couldn't take the smiles off our faces. My face actually hurt from smiling. I loved feeling the power of the river, but being able to ride on top - gliding over the snow that we had trudged through just yesterday in the San Juan's. After we finished, we loaded the boat and paddles and headed back to town. We all resembled (and smelled like) wet dogs.
Karma and I dried off and ate at the Southern place for the second time in as many days. I had a catfish po' boy once again, this time grilled. It was delicious. Lucky informed us we were invited over for BBQ ribs at Patrick's house. We figured a second dinner sounded great.
Patrick lived just a few blocks away on the Lake Fork. His house was warm from the wood stove and smelled of cooked meat. Two giant racks of ribs slathered in KC Masterpiece laid on the table. The starving Nebraskan in me outruled the principled vegetarian. I had my first ribs in close to ten years. They were amazing - so much salt and fat rushed down into my stomach and up towards my brain. I could only eat two before I started feeling a little sick, but it was worth it. Eric whipped up some crazy mixed drinks and we all sat around the table and talked about Lake City: it's wonderful outdoors opportunities, the Texans, and the crazy religious folks who'd tricked Patrick's daughter to going to a 'volleyball camp with just a little bit of bible study' - apparently there is no such thing as 'a little but of bible.'
Jack stopped by and we all were happy to see him. I'd bough him a six-pack after the trip and was happy to see he had a Budweiser in-hand. We all chatted some more until Karma and I couldn't keep our eyes opened. Jack asked if we wanted to raft again the next day, this time on the upper reaches of the Rio Grande. We said we'd sleep on it. Once we got back to Lucky's I immediately fell asleep, the Lake Fork rushing through my dreams.
The next morning we cooked up some breakfast sandwiches - Patrick stopped by early and we agreed to leave for the raft trip around 10am. This time Jack brought his two kids and wife, Leslie. Leslie was also a river guide. They told us today would be a lot calmer than yesterday but still would have some rapids. His kids were adorable and I kept kidding the younger one that we were going to throw him in the river if he didn't paddle hard enough.
We had a great time lazily floating down the river and paddling as Jack commanded. It was all gravy. That was until the clouds descended on our and it began to rain. It was the cold, wet rain that seemed all too common at this time of year in the San Juan's. Almost right as the sky closed up, we saw a logjam ahead. Logs spanned across the entire river, making it impossible for our raft to make it through. The river was still moving fast, so we had act quickly to get over to the respite of an eddy before we hit the logs which would flip our boat against the hard-rushing water.
Jack got us over in plenty of time and we all got out except him and Leslie. They tied a rope to each end of the boat and slowly maneuvered the boat up to the logjam as Patrick held on to the rope to make sure they wouldn't go anywhere too far. Once they made it to the logjam, Jack and Leslie hopped out of the boat into the shallow water and we lifted the boat over the logs. Once on the other side we all got back in and resumed our trip downriver. What could have been potentially disastrous was no problem for Captain Jack and his experience.
As seems to happen to me so often these days, the sun popped out the second we got off river. After all day of freezing rain, it was all of a sudden a beautiful day for our drive back to town. You can't control the weather, but you can complain about it. I had a good conversation with Jack and Leslie on our way back to town and she kept me and the kids well-fed with pop-tarts and chocolate, while Jack gave me beer. It was nice to feel so at home with people I'd just met the day before.
We got back to Lake City just an hour or two before Laura, my girlfriend, got in from Denver. We shared a beer and some pizza and just enjoyed being with one another for the first time in two months. We went out to the bar and sat by a campfire and listened to a guy playing his guitar with an older Slovakian couple who didn't speak any English. The husband kept bringing logs to the fire, until we had to scoot back to keep our feet from getting burned. It was wonderful to just sit with Laura and chat. We went back to the hostel and fell asleep early, anticipating a big day ahead.
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