Hudson River Whitewater Rafting

This would be probably my first and last trip. This summer we went rafting again. It was for the advance level, meaning you got to have a licensed guide with you. We chose to raft with Hudson River Whitewater Rafting located at Gore Mountain, North Creek, New York. The Hudson River Gorge runs through the “forever wild” Adirondack State Park. According to the site, the trip length was about 17 miles and took about 4 hours.

We, 14 people, got there around 9:00 am. We registered and waited for them to load the rafts up to the roof of the equipment buses. School buses took us to the base of operations which is the Inn at Gore Mountain. Unavoidably, drunken rafters were riding the bus with us. They were annoying as hell, yapping all the way to the starting point. I kind of wish they were death by drowning!!!
We were spit into 2 groups, 7 each. We were the first raft to go. Crazily yelling at us, our guide was very cruel at the beginning. He thought we were all Chinese and couldn’t speak English. I, as the oldest person in the raft, had to be his translator. He would hit me with his paddle if I didn’t translate a single word he said. I understood that he was responsible for our lives if something bad happens. However, it’s not necessary to be nasty like that. After a while when he was sure that he could control the raft, he, finally, seemed to calm down and be nice. Mostly, I opted to enjoy the rapids, scenery, sunshine and fresh air. Sometimes you have to let things go and enjoy what makes your life happy as much as possible. Otherwise, your life will be miserable.

We did the barbecue for dinner. The Weber grill was in the backyard of the house. Beautiful weather, nice conversation, decent alcohol and good food were just the perfect combination of the exquisite evening. Thanks to our personal chef, we had a chance, again, to be overwhelmed by grilled beef, juicy fish, chicken, mushroom, burger, to name a few.

The next day we stopped by Lake George to take some photos and, for some people, to buy souvenir. Certainly, it was crowded with weekenders. No wonder why the city has been empty lately.

I came back with a body of an elephant; however, my mind was filled with happiness. Thanks goes to my friend who make this trip possible.


Rafters:
Standing on top: Den, Num, Tong
Sitting in the middle: Bee, Koi, Tong, Aue; Standing in the middle: Mick, Chang
Sitting in front: Pui, Ginggal, Koi's cousin, Ploy, Tee