A few weekends ago, J. and I took off on a little adventure that was... exciting...to say the least. As an aside, I'd just read, the day before, how the Japanese have a higher than normal suicide rate.
J. and I went "canyoning" in Minakami, a beautiful area about 3-4 hours from here full of green (and some snow topped) mountains, deep canyons and crystal clear rivers. J. thought she was signing us up for a "canoeing trip" until about 5 days ago when I looked at the flier and said, "Uh, J.... this doesn't say canoeing, this says canyoning..." Of course, neither of us had a clue what "canyoning" was - well, except for the one photo I found on the flier of some insane person jumping off a waterfall! Anyway, we went ahead with the trip since we'd already paid for it and such (ignorance is bliss...).
It was scary as hell at times, but a lot of fun. Basically, you put on wet suits and helments and then proceed much like a human pinball while 'body surfing' down a raging river, over waterfalls and through whitewater rapids. Due to all the rain we've had (its currently typhoon season here), coupled with the still-melting snow up in the mountains where we were, the water was HIGH and it was FAST! For much of these canyons, the riverbed is only about 3-5 feet wide so the water was just powering thru - and I felt like I was trapped in a washing machine at various points.
In the morning, they teased us with the fun stuff in an area called Nosehair Canyon - sliding, quite fast, down the river on our backs/stomachs/butts on natural water chutes. Piece of cake compared to what was coming later. In the afternoon, they took us to Fox Canyon where we proceeded to be swung out on a pulley, holding a tiny bar, about 60 feet in the air - and then had to jump because they wouldn't bring you back... After that, we body surfed down the river to a 20 meter (that's about 66 feet if my calculations are accurate) waterfall that we slid/hurtled down. Of course, I did pretty graceful cartwheels all the way down said waterfall and almost killed myself...
And did I mention the water was about 40 degrees? Oh yes, there were large snow drifts sitting next to the river's banks in a couple of places. Good stuff. Here are a couple of videos on the outfitter's website to give you a taste of what "canyoning" is. Its insanity is what it is.
Great, great trip! I'm ready to go back and do it again, no doubt - and we're happy to take other naive visitors too!
Hope all is well in your corner(s) of the world.
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