Chapter 14: Rafting Day
The woman at the Parks and Recreation office was passing around waivers. Not good, at least in my personal opinion. Something about signing a piece of paper absolving them of blame in case of our death was a little unnerving to say the least.
The woman went over the differences between what we had been doing and what we would be doing that day. The holes were deeper. There were undercut rocks that would drag you down named Bone Cruncher and Meat Grinder. We'd been going on three level fours and two level fives. I thought I might faint.
It was a particularly hot day… which meant a lot of evaporation… which meant a lot of extra rock. We all crowded into the large yellow raft. Our guide settled himself at the back of the raft to steer. Just ahead I could see the rushing water of the first level four. There were crashing waves and jagged rocks every where. I glanced about nervously, relieved to see I wasn't the only one considering faking a stomach ache.
"This is going to be great!" I smiled. Purin was always so happy and cheerful. So optimistic about everything… especially the dangerous things.
"Remember to jam your foot into the extra padding of the raft when we hit the rough waters. It'll help you from falling in. If we flip over, try to find the air pocket and hold on to the rope along the edge of the raft, got it?" The guide seemed very strict in his rules. I wondered if anyone had ever died on this trip… Probably not a good thing to think about at the moment.
The awkward vessel floated along casually through the beginning of the choppy water. White waves came crashing over the sides; a nice relief from the hot sun. The waves started to grow higher. The raft began to jump up and down as we desperately tried to keep our paddles in the rough waters. At one point I felt myself slipping out—without thinking I jammed my foot as deep into the folds of as it would go. It was absolutely thrilling. My heart was pounding.
The raft rambled down a small slope before coming to a slow, gentle glide. Everyone was drenched, but they all appeared to have enjoyed it. There was little time to relax though. Just around the next corner came the loud rumbling of the next endeavor.
It continued on like that through the day. Around lunch time we came to a long stretch of quiet waters. The guide ordered us into the water. He pointed to two large pillars just ahead with metal rungs on them. The river was deep enough at this point that we could jump in from as high as the 8th rung, approximately six or more feet above the water level. Mint, who was positioned behind me in the raft, waited for the perfect moment. The next thing I knew, I was submerged in the water.
"Mint! What was that for?" She was still sitting there laughing at me.
"Canon ball!" Purin jumped into the water with a huge splash. "That was fun!"
We had a great time that afternoon climbing up the pillars and jumping down into the water. Ami, Akasaka-sama, and Ryou remained on the raft more than happy to let us have our fun. The day was not yet complete though. We had to continue on.
The last rapid of our trip was a massive level five, one of the strongest in the area. Even before the rapid began the raft was being tossed left to right. The river was beginning to slope downward. The upcoming horror was within plain sight. Massive rock formations rose up on both sides with water crashing around them. There were about four or more holes swirling around in random placements. One was right in the middle. The raft was going to go through it. I took in a deep breath and squeezed my eyes shut.
The first bump sent my body straight up into the air. I flung my body towards the inside of the raft and locked my foot into place. Crisis averted for the moment. The guide yelled orders: Lean left. Lean right. Paddle. At one point the raft was almost sideways while in the air. It seemed as though the raft would end upside down for sure. A quick lean to the opposite side was good enough to correct it, fortunately. As we hit the hole it the middle our raft shot straight up into the air a good three or four feet, landing (luckily) right side up. I heard a screech.
Purin was clinging to the rope yelling that she wasn't having fun anymore. The water was tugging fiercely on her. Lettuce and I quickly grabbed onto her arms and pulled her back in. She was shaken, but otherwise alright.
The raft pulled up to left side of the river where a small dock rested in the eddy. The bus was parked and waiting in the lot. It looked so wonderful. The sun was setting in the sky. It hardly seemed possible that we had done this one activity over the course of an entire day.
"Alright girls, on to the bus." Ami stretched. "We're going out to dinner and then driving on home tonight."
"I thought we had one more night of camping." Mint almost sounded disappointed.
"I don't think you realize just how far away from Tokyo we've ended up," commented Akasaka-sama drying off. "It'll take us all night and much of tomorrow to get home."
"Now I have to sleep in a bus!"