''Manifest Destiny. Westward Expansion. Come April it will start again'' So starts one of my favorite monologues in a Horror movie. The movie is called ''Ravenous'' and it is so diverse it is difficult to pinpoint its genre but I will go with Horror. This movie is partly inspired from the story of Alferd Parker also called the Colorado Cannibal,who confessed to resorting to cannibalism while travelling with a group of men through the mountains of Colorado. The monologue was playing in my mind as I sat in the flight from Vancouver to Denver, Colorado. The movie was part of my preparation for my trip to Denver.This was a couple of months back when I was in the United States of America to visit my sister Sheereen and her husband. This was my first visit to USA and I was hugely excited. Here was the land of the movies I grew up watching and the novels I used to read.
Luckily my sisters husband, Azaan is an active outdoor person himself. He loves going on hikes and doing adventure activities. The weekend I was going there, he had planned, a river rafting trip near the town of Glenwood Springs which was around 150 miles away. Other members of this rafting trip were his friends, Ujjwala, her husband, Manish,, Rohini and Daivik.
We started off from Denver around 8 am.We passed through some beautiful scenery and I was glued to the windows as this was my first road journey in USA. We reached the rafting spot at around 11 pm and since the starting time was 1 pm we still had a couple of hours to kill. So we decided to have lunch in the small but quiet cafe there.Soon it was time and after the registration process we headed over to the gathering point where we were to be given some instructions. After a brief talk which included heavy doses of humor we grabbed our gear. This included a safety vest, some smelly shoes and for those of us who were wearing specs, a strap to hold the specs onto our faces. From here we were shepherded into a school bus which was waiting for us. It was a bright sunny day and inside the bus it felt like an oven. Some windows were stuck and wouldn't open and everybody was drenched in sweat within minutes. The bus started and this bought some respite with the air blowing on our faces.
We reached the starting point at around 12 30 pm. There was only one last thing to do now and that was each team had to carry their raft with them towards the river. We did this and were in position. Soon, the rafts were dragged into the river, people jumped on them and on they went on their way. Our turn came and we did the same. We were off in the Colorado River now. I already had done river rafting once before. That was in Rishikesh in India some 5 years back. Similar to that one, this was also a grade 2&3 rapids rafting. I was looking forward to how different/similar rafting here would be.
At first, we drifted into the current in a gradual pace. As for the seating, Ujjwala and Manish sat at the front, in the second row sat Daivik and Rohini and behind them was me. Bringing up the rear was my sister and her husband Azaan. Our guide, the good natured Mike sat the back steering the raft. He gave us some simple instructions. When he shouts 'row' we were to row and with shouts of 'stop' we were to stop rowing. Also if he said 'Right' then the those of us who were on the right side were to row and the left would sit still. And when he shouted 'left' only those on the left side were to row. We practiced this for a few times till we got the drift.
After some time we could see the change in the state of the water. It became more turbulent and we were getting excited now. Soon enough our guide instructed us to strengthen our grip with our feet and start rowing with our hands. In a minute our raft collided with a huge wave. The front of the raft went up a huge angle, stayed there for a split second and then fell into the retreating water. There was a spray of water on our faces and bodies as we tried to hold ourselves in place. This first encounter was mighty thrilling and bought out shouts of joy and excitement. We ran into many more rapids like these now and then.
At one point the guide stopped the raft at a section of the river where the water was calm and told us to jump in the water if we wanted to. I was waiting for this part the whole time and without further prodding I jumped along with Daivik. As I hit the water, the momentum carried my whole body a meter inside the waters and then I popped up, breaking the surface. Initially I struggled to catch my breath but I soon recovered. I floated around in the water and took videos with my action cam. But I did not let go of the grab rope holding it with one hand and taking videos with the other. Soon others joined too. Rohini and Ujjwala also jumped into the water on the other side of the raft. All got in the water except Azaan. He helped everyone with getting back on the boat.
To make matters more interesting our guide suggested we take turns in sitting on the tube itself on the front. They had tied a rope with a knot from the D Ring at the front. We were to hold on to this rope and enjoy the heaving of the raft from the prime seat available on the raft. First to go was me. I perched atop the tube there and as instructed grabbed hold of the rope and sat there. The first collision with the waves bought a huge scream of joy from me as it felt exhilarating. You feel as if you are flying in the air. Truly, the feeling of the raft striking the waves and shivering with the impact is something that has be experienced. Pumps up your adrenaline!
We all took turns sitting at the front. Sheereen also had her turn and she enjoyed it a lot. It felt good seeing my sister with me on this trip. We used to go on trips with our dad when we were kids and as so happens in life as we grew up the frequency of trips slowed down until it stopped completely. And now back together on a trip made me happy.
We passed a number of sections of rapids of different intensities. Some were mild some wild. The only thing I found a bit annoying was that the whole rafting trip was a bit too long with long periods of calm water in between the rapids. This was getting a bit boring but our guide tried his best to fill in these phases by telling stories of local legends and also his own experiences. The only story that stuck in my mind was that of a woman of 19th century who used to climb one of the cliffs overlooking the river. In that day and age a woman doing something like that was super inspiring.
Soon we reached the end, where again we had to get off the raft and carry it upwards towards a waiting vehicle. We all then got inside the bus mighty happy with the rafting experience. We were taken back to the original starting point where we returned all the equipment and changed into dry clothing. By 5pm we were soon on our way back. That ended my first adventure trip in the United States of America all thanks to Azaan and my sister!
In Brief :
Activity - River Rafting
River - Colorado
Location - Glenwood Springs
Distance from Denver - Around 150 Miles.
Rafting Agency - Defiance River Rafting
Class of Rapids - Class 2&3
Duration - 3 hours. From 1 pm to 4 pm.
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