White Water Rafting 1989

These were the days of paper maps, AAA Campground Guide, and no cell phones.

        Summer of 1989 I (Marcia) took our children on a white water rafting trip.  I was a Girl Scout leader at that time and found a company on the American River near Sacramento that the Girl Scouts used and approved.

         Each of my 3 children brought along a buddy and the seven of us would go on a 6-day trip in my blue Volkswagon Vanagon.  I invited my god-daughter Carrie Ann, then a college student nearby, to come along to be a buddy to Charles, my eldest son.  James invited Lars, and Stephanie invited Nancy.  I would be doing all the driving since none of the others were either old enough or could.

         We packed our gear in our VW Vanagon and a car-top carrier.  I had my own tent and each pair of buddies had a two-man tent.  We packed sleeping bags, clothing, food, camp stove, dishes, and standard camp gear.  This was going to be a long 2 day drive each way so they all agreed to share the front passenger seat at intervals when we made rest stops.  Whoever was in the front, had control of the radio and cassette player.  Yes, they brought their cassettes.  The others had to listen and wait their turn for their favorite music.  They had their favorite snacks and drinks.  Since I was the only driver, we would stop almost every 1 to 1.5 hours for a rest stop, seat change, and potty break.

         Our first overnight stop was at Pine Lake campground.  We found the campground deserted.  There were no other campers there. The lake was only a puddle due to the drought in California.  

We all piled out of the van and surveyed the place.

“Do we have to stay here?”

“No one else is here!”

“It’s HOT!!!” one complained

“Let’s go someplace else.”  They all agreed.

         They studied the maps and campground book so we decided to move on to another campground outside of Fresno.

 CRUNCH!

“What’s that?!”  I asked?

Everyone got out to look.

“You backed up into a dumpster!”

“The back gate is smashed!”

“Try opening it.”

“It’s stuck.  Can’t open it.”

         The top of the dumpster was just below my rear window and not in the view of either side mirror. I did not see it but felt it.  The van was dented enough to disable the back door but the car was unharmed.  Now we would have to pack and unpack all our gear through the side door and over the backseat.

         As we drove to Fresno, we could not find the campground we thought we were headed for. 

 “Let’s just go into Fresno and go to a motel for tonight,” I suggested. “It will be cooler and I don’t want to wander around a campground in the dark.”

 They all protested.  “No.  We have all the stuff.  We want to camp. That’s what we came for.  We can do it.  It’s still light.”

 The children kept studying the map.  They read the map and as I drove.  The sun was setting and I really didn’t want to set up camp in the dark.  We finally found a campground, Milliton Campground off Lake Milliton.

 “How are you folks this evening?” the Ranger greeted us at the gate.

“There are 7 of us with 4 tents.  Do you have a campsite available?”

“You’re in luck.  The last one is a large site.  Follow this road to the left until you come to the restrooms.  It is just next to the restrooms.  How long are you staying?

“Just for tonight.”

“OK.  Enjoy,” she said as we drove off.

 With flashlights on, they searched for the site while I drove slowly.  We finally settled on what we thought was the site as it was large area not too far from the restrooms. It was too dark to check out this lake.

         In the dusk, the kids set up the tents while I fixed supper.  It wasn’t easy as it was getting dark and we had only a Coleman camp lantern.  We were all hungry enough so whatever I prepared was good.  We turned in for the night.

         At dawn, we discovered we were not in a campsite at all.  We were in the middle of an open space leading to the restrooms! 

 We broke camp to move on.  After a breakfast of muffins, juice, and fruit, we repack all the gear through the side door lifting everything over the back seat.  This is the first awkward repacking so it took a while to figure out how everything would fit from this angle.  Fortunately, Lars and Carrie were tall to reach up to the car top carrier without much trouble.

         Off we went to Sacramento to the white water rafting campground.

When we arrived at the campsite in the afternoon, we were greeted by the crew.  There was a section reserved for us as I had made arrangements.  We were given instructions and time to set up camp.  Dinner was served by the camp staff.  I was relieved to not have to cook.

 After-dinner campfire time was spent with the other guests.  They were adults and our group was the only one with kids.  Well, Carrie Anne was 23, Charles 16, James and Lars 14, Steph & Nancy 11, and of course adult me.

         The next morning, after breakfast served by the camp staff, we all assembled near the river to receive safety instructions and boat assignments.  Our group was divided with the other adults so that the boats would be balanced in weight.  The girls were together and the boys were in another boat, each having other adults.  We all wore life jackets, given a paddle, and were told to tie down any hats, jackets, or shoes.  Each boat had an oarsman who sat or stood at the back to steer the rubber boat and give instructions when to paddle and on which side.  We all face forward as he called out over us.

         First, it started on smooth waters.  We were told to paddle gently.  As we came upon rapids, the oarsman shouted “paddle, paddle, paddle!” and we would all dig in.  “Stop! Rest.”  would be the next command. 

As the rapids got rougher we paddled harder, screamed louder, and got wetter.  The weather was beautiful, the sun hot, and the water cool.  After about an hour of excitement on the river, we stopped for lunch provided by staff who met us on the banks. This stop included lunch, a short rest, and potty stop in the woods.

 After lunch, we returned to the boats for the trip back to the camp.  Somehow, the river moves in loops because I could not figure out how we kept going downstream and end up at the same place.  At least that was my memory.

         At one point the rapids were quite large.  The boys’ boat went over the rocks first. 

 We were bracing ourselves for our turn over the rapids.

“Somebody fell out!”  Carrie Anne yelled.

“It’s James!”

As his mom, my heart pounded.  My thoughts ran, “Will he drown?  Is he hurt?  How will he get back in the boat?”

 Then we saw his oarsman throw him a life ring and pull him in.  Despite all my trepidation, James thought it was the most exciting thing that happened.

         At the campground, we cleaned up and had dinner with all the others sharing the adventure of the day.  We learned that since the weather was so hot, the dam was opened for greater water flow to the electric plant downstream to meet the demand for electricity.  That’s why we had good swift rapids.

 Later that evening I asked one of the oarsmen, “How do you do this with Girl Scout troops with little girls?  As it is you balanced us with other adults.” 

He told me in a low whisper, “Each oarsman can maneuver the boat downstream by himself without any paddling.  We just yell “paddle, paddle, paddle” to make it exciting and the kids think they are really controlling the boat.  All the coaxing and advance prepping was to make it exciting.”

         We spent the night there and the next day headed for the Milliton Campground outside of Fresno where we had been two nights ago.  This time, we knew the way and arrived in daylight.  The ranger recognized us and assigned the same campsite.  We were able to find it this time.  We checked the lake to discover it too was very low.  Over dinner, we relaxed and told stories about our adventure.

 The next morning, we packed up and headed back to Santa Ana stopping every 1.5 hours for driver breaks, potty stops, and seat/music changes. 

         When we got home, I had to figure out how to fix the van back gate. 

         That would be another story.