By john Schultheis      All photos

On the third weekend in August, 21 Après members and guests got together to celebrate summer and 3 birthdays. Three Après women, Wendy Lockhart, Kristin Thornquist and Tina Groux all celebrated birthdays on the weekend of August 16-17, 2003. Our wet and wild weekend was spent in the beautiful Gold Country. The river was the South Fork of the American River.

The weather was great as we hit the water around midday on Saturday. We floated down the gentle Class I & II stretch through Lotus, along Highway 49 in three rowdy rafts. There were some water fights, and some retaliations.

Wendy brought a guest with her, and we all welcomed him completely, In fact we treated Tod like any other member. Meaning that we teased and harassed him and generally made him feel just like one of the gang. In fact, when he sprayed me with a water cannon, I pulled him right out of the raft! (I got my just desserts when Jack Laird pulled me out of my raft later in the day!)

On a sad note, Mike Stevens was an early casualty in the water wars. He suffered a serious ligament tear that left him with only one arm for the remainder of the weekend. (He has since had surgery to re-attach the ligament.)

Our knowledge and experience grew as we worked our way down the river. Slowly but surely the river grew faster and wilder. As the afternoon went on, we entered the Lower Gorge section and hit the bigger Class III rapids.

At Satan’s Cesspool, everyone made it through unscathed. At the next rapid, called Son of Satan, raft #1 tried to climb the wall and ended up dumping almost everyone. Laura Bryan and the Guide were the only ones that were able to stay in the raft. All of the swimmers loved the Out of Boat experience.

At the end of the day we were towed the last mile or so through the flat water to the take out at Folsom Lake. We hauled the rafts and gear up to the parking lot, and piled them on a trailer. We grabbed cold drinks and rode the bus back to camp.

After showers and clean clothes, we set upon the drinks and appetizers. The three Birthday Queens were given their crowns and beaded necklaces, while the rest of us wore silly birthday dunce caps.

Around 7:00 the dinner bell rang. There were at least 60 rafters there for dinner. We were treated to BBQ’d chicken, BBQ’d steak and the most fabulous salmon that you ever tasted, plus salad, corn and mashed potatoes. Dinner was topped off with a birthday cake decorated to look like a river.

Hot Shots, one of the local raft photo companies provided digital pictures of all of the rafts at various places along the river< we relived some of the adventures of the day.

After dessert the serious partying started. Some walked a medium distance up the road to a local bar. Others wandered the short distance down to the tents by the river and celebrated with champagne and cocktails.

The night was cool, but the stars were magnificent. Some of us left the rainflys off of our tents so that we could watch the sky.

On Sunday morning a lot of sleepy heads staggered up to the dining area in search of coffee. At 8:00 am we were treated to a big breakfast with lots of choices. The eggs were very good and the pancakes were loaded with fruit and nuts.

Around 9:00 am we loaded into the rickety old bus for the 30 minute ride up to the put in at Chili Bar for the trip down the upper section of the South Fork. Several people who couldn’t make it Saturday joined us just for the Sunday rafting.

After brief preparations, we hit the water. When it hit us back, it was COLD. A short ways down the river we did a brief bit of surfing at a popular surf hole. It was a lot of work for very little reward.

We bounced and splashed through a number of Class II and Class III rapids. At Meatgrinder raft #2 lost two occupants. Raft #1 rescued Marmot Mary. Guide Chris tossed a throw bag to her, and we all paddled like mad while Mary was hauled to safety. Al the while she was floating at the end of a long rope, just above the next set of rapids. Cougar Carol was able to swim to a safe spot at the side of the river.

Later at Troublemaker Butterfly Beth and Kangaroo Kristin were tossed from raft #2 in the middle of the churning rapid. Kristin tried to breathe the cold frothy water with very little success. The river pushed Beth into a rock wall at the end of the rapid, and she got a very hard knock on her upper shin, and a strained calf muscle. First aid was administered and we finished the last few miles in a rather somber mood.

I must make a little note here about raft #2. Brad the Bear and Henry the Hawk and Motorcycle Mike never left the raft, but all of the women in raft #2 spent some time swimming. No judgments, just the facts.

We arrived back at camp and had a sumptuous feast for lunch before packing everything away and heading back home.

In spite of the injuries, I think that almost everyone had a lot of fun. Several people are already signing up for next year’s rafting adventure. We will have to find another way to make next year special. So be sure to watch for next year’s whitewater rafting adventure and sign up early to ensure you place in history.