五月.六月.七月  

今年湾区的夏天(旱季)姗姗来迟, 直到五月中旬还在下雨. 但是各种夏日的传统活动却照常进行: 每个周末总有个把游行啦,艺术节啦,放焰火啦,露天音乐会啦. 没事干的时候总是有处去的. 有好久没整理的照片们为证:

五月.

• 一年一度的"从海湾到海滩"长跑赛 (Bay to Breakers). Matthew第三次参赛. 今年光屁股的选手格外之多,且格外之惨不忍睹. 和往年一样,又是几位肯尼亚选手名列前茅.


• 狂欢节: 五颜六色的拉丁游行


• 其他活动: 观赏池塘里的小鸭,海湾里的冲浪风筝,还有葡萄酒厂的"开桶"会...

六月.

• 爬坦克山,望市景,梦想着有一天,旧金山房地产大崩溃...
• 嘻皮街节. Stern Grove 音乐节


• 还有去Big Sur野营了一次.

七月.

• July 4th.放焰火. 渔人码头人山人海,旅游者们在冷风里瑟瑟发抖,聪明的我们却自带了毯子 (嘻嘻).
• Reading "Harry Potter and the Half-blood Prince" on the beach...

posted by cat 2:18 下午 留言/

An Up Close and Personal Encounter with Class IV Rapids  

"We are going rafting this weekend, " Matthew announced one day, "on some class IV rapids!" OK, I thought, didn't we just do that recently? We just came back from a trip to Waterton/Glaicer park, where we did some rafting on the St. Mary River, among other things. That was fun, a little exciting, but mostly pretty relaxing. "But those were not class IV rapids..." mumbled Matthew. Well, I got to find out, first hand, exactly what that means...

We took our time travelling to the Merced River -- on our way we checked out Mercer Caverns, (and almost checked out a not well marked prison camp!), at night we camped at Mariposa. After a night sleeping under a very bright and starry sky (the most starry I've seen in California), we woke up (me by a super loud bird chirping in the tree above our tent, oblivious to my hissing and shaking of the branches), had breakfast, packed up tent, and were ready for some rafting.

At first glance, we could tell the Merced River was cold -- it just had that look: clear, swift, and brisk. We drove along it for a bit, and sure enough the rapids looked a lot whiter and bigger than the ones we saw on the St. Mary, and unlike the St. Mary, there were not many calm parts between the rapids. Still I was not overly concerned -- we were going out with a non-profit group that specializes in taking inner city kids on rafting trips, and that does not sound like a terribly high risk venture to me.

We met up with our captains and the rest of the crew, and all thirteen (is that supposed to be an ominous number?) of us got ready to raft: the rafts were inflated, the rafters suited up in wetsuits, helmets and life jackets. For some, to wear or not to wear a wetsuit was a dilema -- the air was as hot as in an oven, but the water was freezing cold. But I know I always get cold so I put on my full body wetsuit without too much mental debate.

After much preparation, everyone sat down for a slightly sobering prep talk, and we were taught the paddling stroke, what to do when we fall out of the river (get in the "swimmer's position"!), etc. When we learnt that the chance of falling into the river is 50% (is that real stat. info?), some of us started to look a bit uneasy, while others were more concerned about arrangements for lunch. Finally we were all set up in the two rafts. Our team consisted of Anna, Jon, Matthew, I, and Anna's coworkers Jeremy and Sunny. Jeremy was the guide, and Sunny had never been on a raft before. Anna and I sat up in the front, which Jeremy promised to be the safest spot on the raft -- you get splashed a lot, but won't fall out.

While our team sat loitering and joked around and thought about lunch and stuff, the other team was having a pretty serious paddling drill under the leadership of their guide, Dalton. They practised paddling forward, backward, left turn right turn while tied up to the shore, until Dalton was satisfied. And off we went floating down the river!

We floated/paddled down some class II-III rapids, which were fun and harmless -- we were bounced about in the waves just to get sprayed but never felt in danger of tipping or anything. There was some waving at tourists gawking on the shore and many smiling pictures were taken by our official photographer, Martin. Everyone was feeling pretty good about himself. Then Jeremy announced that we were coming up to our first class IV rapid: Nightmarish Island (I had no clue how aptly named it was)! Ahead, big rocks loomed, and the water looked whiter than ever.

The other team zoomed through the rocks, amid the booming cries of Dalton "FORWARD!!" Somehow, our raft went straight toward one rock barely covered by the water, and there, we were stuck. Then the raft was spun around, and we went down the rapids backwards. And things quickly turned from bad to worse from here.

Anna and I were no longer in the "safe" spot as the front of the raft had become the rear (where people are most likely to fall out). My first reaction was to duck down and find something to hold on to, which I did for a second. But then I thought I should try to paddle -- Jeremy must be giving out some command but his voice was drowned by the now thundering sounds of the rapid. As I scrambled to position myself with my paddle a big wave hit me directly (as Matthew told me later, since I did not see anything), and I "disappeared", or according to another witness, Jon, I "flew off" the raft. Meanwhile Matthew saw Anna "dragged into the water" by that same wave.

As for me, I was dumb and clueless as to how I got into the water, and images and thoughts crossed my mind in flashes: "How did I get to be in the water so easily? Did the raft flip?" I was half disbelieving, and half feeling embarrassed. I did not see the wave that lifted me off the raft like a leaf blown off a tree, and did not felt the coldness of the water as I slid in the river. Something knocked my head lightly -- I must be under the raft, what did they say we do if that happens? Then my head came out of the water, and I caught a glimps of another helmet in the water, quite a bit downstream from me -- was it Anna? or someone else? I was a little relieved that I was not the only one who felt off. Then from the corner of my eyes I saw the raft just to my right. I should grab it! But no sooner did that thought came I was pushed away, and in a flash the raft was nowhere in sight. (You just shot away, said Matthew.) And what more can I do but to stay calm, and put myself in the "swimmer's position" and let go with the waves, hoping for the best.

The "swimmer's position" was easy enough to obtain, as it was only natural to look where I was going. But I soon realized that my visibility was limited -- all I could see was white water around me, and the waves that were coming toward me. When boom the waves hit, well, my head was buried under it and I could not even breath, let alone see anything. I held my breath, and hoped that when I come up I would still be pointing downstream... I came up, attempted to take a breath... oops, another set of waves washed over me, and that breath turned into a mouthful of water, and I went under again... This process continued until I began to get annoyed -- "I had enough water! Better let me breath next time!". Thankfully, I came out of the rapids just when I swallowed enough water and had not went out of breath. In front of me, was a bit of calm water, in which lay waiting the other raft, not far behind them was another set of rapids. The people in the raft seemed to be beckening at me, were they yelling "Swim!"? I felt slightly dazed but managed to flip myself into a swimming position (instead of the "swimmer's" position) and made a general attempt at swimming towards the raft, still clutching my paddle. In not time I was by the raft, and was plucked out of the water. I was saved!

Read the whole story...

View all photos...

Here's a definiation of a class IV rapid:

class iv: advanced. intense, powerful but predictable rapids requiring precise boat handling in turbulent water. depending on the character of the river, it may feature large, unavoidable waves and holes or constricted passages demanding fast maneuvers under pressure. a fast, reliable eddy turn may be needed to initiate maneuvers, scout rapids, or rest... risk of injury to swimmers is moderate to high, and water conditions may make self-rescue difficult. group assistance for rescue is often essential but requires practiced skills...

posted by cat 5:10 下午 留言/

Waterton Glacier Trip  

Day 1: we came, we hiked, and we were soaked!

To the east we flew, over myriad mountains. I laid my eyes on the Great Salt Lake for the first time and marveled at all that multi-colored marsh ringed by snow capped mountains. At Salt Lake City Airport, I felt slightly singular among the many blue-eyed blond people...We arrived at Whitefish, Montana, where we were united with the rest of our crew: Emily, Rong, and John. Whitefish was a surprisingly lively town, with nice looking shops and restaurants.

The next morning we woke up to an ominous sky. As we drove towards Glacier National Park, it started to drizzle, and the drizzle turned to pouring rain! At Apgar we ran into our hotel (The Village Inn), which sits right in front of a lovely lake scene, but we could not check in until the afternoon. As the rain goes on and off, we browsed the selection of gift shops ("Mamma don't shop like crazy!" adviced Emily).

Rain or not, a hike was due, as we were in a national park. So we charged along Lake McDonald, checked out the historical lodge, and started on the trail to Avalanche Lake. In the driving rain, equipped to various degrees of waterproofness, we trudged along a beautiful lush gorge, with white glacier water rushing through. This trip was oddly reminiscent of the one we had in Juneau, Alaska -- another walk in the rain with the same folks, plus our parents. Why are we always going on wet hikes together? I wondered...

...Read more about Day 1 and our super wet hike...
 Start Day 1 slide show

Day 2 AM: Going to the sun, through clouds...

The sun was shining! We were so excited that we even skipped breakfast, in order to catch some view while the sun's still out. But the weather was toying with us, on "Going to the sun Road", the sun was going in and out of the clouds. At Logan's Pass (the continental divide) it was so cold and windy that I began longing for my winter hat. But as we drove east the sky cleared a bit, and we took the advantage to hike the pretty St. Mary's Falls trail -- a perfect two miles through the forest, flowered meadows, then along a river right out of "A River Runs through it", complete with a close deer sighting. It was perfect timing too, for as soon as we finished the hike it started to rain steadily again.

We left the park and drove toward the Canadian border, where we were greeted by a Canadian lady, who stamped Emily's passport as requested and inspired Emily's career goal to be a "passport-stamping person" when she grows up. It seemed a lot sunnier this side of the border, and we were treated to glorious views of the prairies meeting the mountains. We were all hungry by now, and looking forward to "high tea" at our hotel.

Day 2 PM: High tea in Waterton

Finally we spotted it -- the historical Prince of Wales Hotel is strategically located right where the foothills touch the Rocky Mountains, on a bluff above sparkling Waterton Lake. It doesn't get any more postcard picture perfect than this. And who greeted us at the entrance but a young man in a kilt (How silly! giggled Emily). After depositing our luggage on our sixth floor rooms we came down for a much deserved "high tea" session at the lobby with those famous picture windows that look out onto a sweeping view of the windy lake, and layers and layers of mountains behind. The view was breathtaking, and made rather more interesting by an intimate wedding held outside, right now. The prettily dressed people looked ready to be blown away by the wind (did I mention that the hotel sits right in a wind funnel?), but happy.

"High tea" is apparently a misnomer, and should really be called "afternoon tea", or "low tea". (But what do we care, as long as we are fed, we are happy.) Whatever it should be called, we had a good amount of goodies served to us, by our cute waitress in kilt from Saskatoon. There was tea, of course, cucumber and prosciutto sandwiches, scones, cookies and chocolate covered strawberries... even we pigs couldn't eat them all! Everyone was satisfied...
...Read more about Day 2...hiking after high tea...
 Start Day 2 AM slide show   Start Day 2 PM slide show

Day 3: Raft and Ride!

The long-awaited day arrived -- our "raft and ride" day! We could barely believe our good luck -- after days of rain and clouds, we woke up to a brilliant blue sky. After a rather disappointing buffet breakfast ("Who would know that you could starve in a buffet?" quipped John, a very unhappy customer), we set off to Kimball River Sports, our rafting outfitter. We met our guide Craig, who took us on a bumpy van ride up the St. Mary river, near the US border (our trip is named "Border Run". The high tech raft (self bailing and all) was unloaded and we were taught some basic commands. And off we go floating down the river!

The sun was shining brightly, the breezes are soft, the mountains, the forests, the swallow nests on the shore, the glacier water underneath us... everything was super clear. As we moved swiftly down the river, oh-ing and ah-ing along the rapids, we were almost dazed by how good the weather was, and super appreciative after the last two days. Even Craig said we brought good luck -- it was the best rafting day this year, so far. He further praised our rafting "skills" -- he was surprised how fast our raft moved, with just four, no, four and a half paddlers. Probably it was just the river moving fast today, but we were happy to be praised...

...Read more about Day 3...rafting, Matthew's stunt, meeting of the horses...evening at the cabin...
 Start Day 3 slide show

Day 4: Riding all day (most of the day, anyways)!

Our night of sleep in the cabin was pretty comfy, except for the mosquitos that haunted the place. Mosquitos are my sworn enemies -- if there is one species on earth I wish could be extinct, they would be it. Unfortunately, with the recent abundant rain, mosquitos were numerous, and persistent. I was not even the only one complaining of them! In any case we got up to find another beautiful day, fresh with sunshine and the smell of the forest.

After a nice breakfast (better than the overpriced buffet at the hotel) and some more loitering we were ready to ride again! Dan gave us the choices or short or long ride. Emboldened by yesterday's rather eventless ride, we opted for a longer ride.

Off we went on our horses, riding up the hills to the south. I felt a mixture of excitement (what will the day bring? will we actually gallop?), apprehension (I'm not really a better rider today than yesterday, who knows what a horse can do to me?), and dare I say it, some relaxation -- it was a Beautiful ride, and hey, I haven't fell off the horse or anything. ...

Read more about Day 4...riding...trotting...back to Glacier Park
 Start Day 4 slide show

Day 5: River crossings, and canoeing...

Another beautiful morning! We started the day with a sumptuous breakfast at Thimbleberries, a local restaurant serving big waffles and other goodies. Then we went for a hike again, to Running Eagle Falls.

The hike was short, but with one obstacle right in the middle of the path -- a river runs through it. There was no obvious crossing point so we went downstream a bit and made the crossing on a make-shift bridge -- two tree trunks. Some of us were pretty shaky doing this. So after visiting the falls, we decided to take another route -- just wade through the water at the shallowest point. The water was FREEZING cold and I went across as quickly as possible. John actually made the crossing three times: first he went across testing the ground, then he came back for his family, and the three of them crossed together. Here is a short video documenting this slightly heroic effort.

After this we seemed to still have some energy, though not a lot, so we went on a combination canoe/hiking trip on the Two Medicine Lake nearby. First Emily, Matthew and I went on the canoe, while Rong and John traveled on foot. We met somewhere up the lake shore and switched teams: John replacing me and Emily on the canoe, he and Matthew then paddled to the foot of a waterfall and waded up the stream a bit, which sounds pretty cool. The girls hiked back to the dock.

Our trip was coming to an end, and at a good time too, as everyone was getting pretty tired. On the way to the airport we peered at some mountain goats from afar -- they were licking salt and resting on a cliff. Surprisingly we did not see many wild animals in this trip -- last time we came to Waterton/Glacier we had so many casual encounters (with bears, mountain goats, big horn sheep and so on) we thought it would be a given to bump into them again. But what we did see and do more than made up for the lack of animal sightings, and it was certainly a fun trip!

 Start Day 5 slide show

posted by cat 3:56 下午 留言/