River Adventure!

On Saturday, Paul, my dad and I set out on an adventure down the Stanislaus River! We met up with my dad in Riverbank and left one of the vehicles, then proceeded to drive up to Knights Ferry. We had all our gear packed with us for a two day trip!

We put the canoe and kayak in at Knight's Ferry amungst all the river rafter day-trippers and began our journey!

There were a few areas where we were met with rushing rapid waters, but nothing too major. Well, unless you count the spot where the kayak practically tipped over and PO's ipod and shoes went floating away. When he started yelling "grab it!" I immediately jumped into the water (with all my clothes on) and viciously fought the flowing current in deep water to grab what I could! Luckily the ipod was safe (thanks to one of the greatest inventions on earth- Ziploc) and we were able to retrieve both of his shoes. I think I about darn near gave PO a heart attach by fleeing the vessel in attempt to save our valuable possessions, but we later got a laugh out of it all!

We stopped for a break and to eat some lunch at a large island in the river. By this time of day it was gorgeous outside (we started the morning off with sprinkles and cloudy skies!)

When we approached the campsite in Oakdale we were greeted by live music being played across the river. There was some type of party going on and we got to enjoy the music all evening!

We didn't sleep well in our tiny-ass tent with no air mattress or pillows, but that didn't stop us from getting up early and hitting the road. . . I mean, water!

 This tree was filled with a ton of scary vultures that were staring at us like we were pray!

We stopped to take a break, take some pictures and take in the beauty and peace and quite that we were surrounded by.

After trolling along the peaceful river for a few hours, we came to an open pond that was like glass. Above in the distance we heard rushing water and so we prepared ourselves by holding onto everything (ipod and shoes included!) Luckily we did because there was a steep little drop that we went head first into, filling the kayak with water! My dad was a ways behind us (he was doing some fishing) and so we pulled over to the middle where there was a little island (and by island I mean 3' wide area of sand) so we could watch and make sure he made it through safely. I took the opportunity to capture some great pictures of him in his canoe!

No bathroom, no problem! :)

We continued on our way down the river and enjoyed the rest of the afternoon before we had to pull the boats out of the water and call it a day!

We paddled a total of 24 miles down the Stanislaus River over the course of two days. We had a great time and can't wait to do it again next year!