The Roller Coaster Rule

Wild ride!

May 5, 2019

When deciding whether or not to do scary things, I use the roller coaster rule. I have rarely been on a roller coaster where I did not spend the whole time wishing I was off of it. So I call it the roller coaster rule- if I am going to hate it the whole time, I will not do it. But if it is just scary and also exciting or parts of doing it are fun or beneficial to others, I may give it a shot.

Kernville -near the Sequoia National Park -has a lovely river flowing swiftly through it and Steve wanted to go rafting on it. Everywhere we had seen the Kern river it was flowing swiftly. April and May are the prime times for rafting because the snow is melting on the mountains and the rivers are full and fast. The RV park was right on the river and there were signs about the dangers of getting in the water. Downtown Kernville there was a park near the river and the day we were there we saw an upside down raft racing down the river and thought- Uh-Oh, someone fell out of that or lost control of it somewhere upstream.

The river at the park in downtown Kernville

We saw a bear!

One yard in Kernville was just beautiful with irises and California poppies.

We had rafted the Rio Grande last year and I had really enjoyed it so I was game to try it again.

But I was a bit scared because what I had seen of the Kern river so far was much different than the Rio Grande. Rapids, the rough places in rivers, are given grades from 1 to 6 depending on the danger.  Class 4 is “Long. Difficult rapids, narrow passages, turbulent water that requires precise maneuvering and sends hearts racing.” Class 5 is all of that plus large, complex, gushing rapids that twist and spin a raft for the ultimate adrenaline rush. Class 6 is considered “unrunnable”. (Western River Expeditions.)

About 15 years ago, 24 of my extended family, including my kids, two of my brothers, one sister, spouses, nieces and nephews, and my 75  year old Dad (!!) went white-water rafting on the New River in West Virginia after it had rained for 3 weeks. After we signed a paper saying we wouldn’t sue the rafting company if we were injured or died, we got on a bus to go to the rafts. On the bus ride the guide said there were no grades for the kind of rapids we were going to encounter, that we should bow out now if we were scared. My 75 year old Dad did not speak up or bow out so I kept quiet and thought, “If he can do it, I can.” Unbeknown to me he was thinking, “If Nadene can do it, I can.” Ha!

It ended up being a couple of hours of sheer terror, during which the raft my kids were on tipped over and they were all able to get back in, my Dad flew out of our raft and after several terrifying minutes was pulled by rope and his life jacket back into the boat. I got slugged in the lip by the person’s paddle in front of me  and was bleeding. My sister-in-law had the same happen to her nose. It was not a lovely relaxing “see the scenery” rafting trip. It was a roller coaster- “please get me out of this” ride. We all felt we had survived near death afterwards.

So I was not keen on a repeat of that! We got in wet suits, got our life jackets so tight we could be hauled out of the water by the shoulder straps, and were given our paddles. We were lucky that Skip, our guide, was one of the owners of the business and had years of experience being a river guide and in fact, was a trainer of river guides. This company, unlike any other we have seen, sends another large rescue raft along on the trip in case help is needed, so that was somewhat reassuring and somewhat scary that they thought it was necessary.

We did some fairly easy rapids first and I was ok. Then things got a little rougher, then wild and crazy! The good thing was that there were breaks where one could look at the beauty of the surroundings. Another good thing is that I found I was fine rocking back and forth riding the huge waves we encountered. The water was so cold -maybe in the 50’s.   When it hit us in the face it dripped down the inside of our wet suits  but the sun was warm, and being a bit wet was ok. We went through rapids named “The Wall”, Tombstone”, “Cables”, and

“Tequila Shots”.  At noon, we got out on a small beach and 3 men fixed lunch for Steve and me. We then were given a choice about what part of the river to do in the afternoon. I knew Steve would like the more exciting Class 4 rapids and having found the morning was exciting, I was game to try that part rather than the calmer Class 2 and 3 rapids.

It was a definite adrenaline rush to concentrate on paddling rather than panicking, to go between huge rocks that could have tipped us, to go by a restaurant on the side of the river where people go just to watch people getting dumped out of their rafts on the rapids below. I fell out of my seat to a squat on the floor of the raft a couple of times. But we stayed in the raft the whole time! I was glad I had braved it. So much more fun than a roller coaster!

End of the trip with Skip, our guide.

We ate at a restaurant above the Kern River that night.

You hear about Yosemite and how beautiful it is but nothing prepares you for the breathtaking views. The immense rock faces, the tall and furiously rushing waterfalls, and the snow -topped mountains brought many “awe” moments as we drove through. We walked among the Sequoia trees that felt like wise old friends. We were among thousands of people who visit Yosemite each day from all around the world. We heard Spanish, German, and some different kinds of Asian languages from our fellow sight-seers. We hiked one small trail and watched some rock climbers.

We enjoyed learning about Sequoia trees from a National Park Service guide. The cone of a Sequoia tree- the largest living things on earth- is very small. It opens when it is burned by fire, or is eaten by squirrels or cone-boring insects, and the seed that comes out of a sequoia cone is the size of a corn flake. The corn flake must land on fertile dirt, not layers of pine needles and brush, which is why the continued existence of sequoias is dependent on fire, prescribed or natural. The bark of a sequoia is from inches to a foot thick which is why they survive fire best when they are very old. Just standing next to a sequoia tree makes you feel you are next to someone who has survived impossible odds.

The Grizzly Giant is the 25th biggest known tree in the world
and took root around 200 AD!

This one fell in 1954.

Now that's OLD!

Which one is the giant sequoia cone and which is the Sugar Pine cone?
You're right! The Sequoia comes from the small one!

Tunnel tree- Its still alive!

Sequoia bark gets as deep as a foot - so the older it is the better it resists fire.

The rock mountains in Yosemite have names like Half Dome and El Capitan. Steve found the movie, “Free Solo”, the true story of a climber who climbed El Capitan with NO ROPES, just his bare hands and his toes! I could hardly watch. It was made more vivid for us as we had just seen El Capitan and knew its massive face seemed unforgivable. So I thought again of the roller coaster rule and how I probably would never do rock-climbing because I would hate every minute of it. Add another rule: if the odds are good I would die doing it, I will not try it. 

Upper and lower Yosemite falls

Upper Yosemite falls

El Capitan! Photo by Steve

El Capitan from a distance. The redbuds were blooming!
Photo by Steve

An old friend of mine named Ron Helmuth died 3 weeks ago. He was just a few weeks younger than me and we had spent a lot of our childhood together. Our parents took us to church 3 times a week and our families got together for strawberry shortcake, softball games, star-gazing, yard games, and cook-outs. I had not seen much of him the last 40 years but knew through Facebook that he was an avid biker and hiker.

For some reason, I thought a lot about him the day we went rafting. I knew he would encourage me to take reasonable chances, to experience adventure, to live each day to the fullest. So when I climbed into the raft that afternoon on the Kern River, I thought, “This one is for you, Ron! I’m not doing roller coasters again or climbing without ropes, but I will live while I can.”

Steve's photo of Kern River