As you clear Last Chance Rapid, you’ve got about 20 seconds before the entrance to Tunnel Chute to frantically get the boat lined up straight. Just about the time it’s too late, it hits you…

Last Chance.

As in, maybe you could have asked to be put ashore before all of this. But it’s no matter now. You’re in the throat of the beast and the raging current violently grabs the raft. Ship your paddles, get low and plunge into the chaos. The monster’s got ya now.

Blasted and carved out by gold miners in the 1890s, Tunnel Chute is one freakishly unnatural piece of whitewater. The original idea was to divert the entire flow of the river through a hole (the tunnel) in the bedrock so that a long stretch of riverbed would be left dry and thus easier to mine. To channel the water into their tunnel, the miners dug the 50-yard long chute.

Of course, those were the days before controlled reservoir releases. At this time of year back then, the Middle Fork of the American River was very likely a trickle. The amount of water that flows through the chute now is perhaps 10 times of what the miners designed it for. What you end up with is a lot of water squeezing through a very narrow and steep channel.

Once you’ve cleared the lip, it’s a “Land of the Lost”-style free fall. Foaming whitewater explodes all around you. Water pours off the rock walls above you. The world is a blur of dark rocks, blue rubber and white spray.

Even at this disorienting speed, it’s immediately clear that the distance between the sharp vertical walls of Tunnel Chute are barely wider than your boat and it’s hard to imagine anything good coming from having any contact with them. Paddling is useless now. Just hang on and hope for the best.

And oh, by the way, this is not a good spot for a swim! The guides will tell you to ball up like a sow bug if you go into the drink here. At the high velocity you’ll be traveling, you don’t need any limbs sticking out.

Also, pray you get a good gulp of air in your lungs before you hit the water – you may just be under for a while. Eventually you’ll flush out and be okay, but it’s a ride you won’t soon forget

If you stay in the boat, you’ll make the turn in the middle of the rapid and maybe even start to sense that you could get out of this whole deal alive after all. At that precise instant, the bow of the boat drops like a jet that’s lost an engine and you nosedive into a massive hole.

For a second there’s nothing but your stomach in your throat and white pandemonium all around. You lose all sense of direction, but then the monster spits you out and you’re suddenly in the mellow waters of the shaded tunnel. It’s over before you know what hits you.

And then you grin from ear to ear and think: Can we do that again??

Luckily, there’s a lot more of that feeling to come. You’re just two miles into a 15-mile ride down one of the best pieces of river you’ll ever experience. Sweet!

Right in the back yard

Isn’t it funny how we often completely ignore the stuff that’s right under our noses? You know – it’s the guy who lives in Seattle who’s never been to the Space Needle; the folks in San Francisco who never go to Golden Gate Park. Or more locally, the Auburnites who don’t even notice the 60-foot nude Amazon warrior chicks cast in concrete behind the grocery store.

In my case, I’ve spent most of my adult life floating down rivers from California to Alaska and back, yet somehow have never managed to take a raft trip down the Middle Fork of the American, which features both world-class whitewater and epic scenery right here in our back yard.

Well, I took care of all that on Tuesday and made a much-overdue float down our hometown gem. The short version of the story is that the Middle Fork trip was one of the best things I’ve done in a long time. The trip through the inaccessible canyon is incredible and the whitewater was as fun as it gets.

In addition to the Chute, we ran a bunch of big, bouldery drops with colorful names like Good Morning, Bus Crash, Jake the Ripper, Kanaka Falls, Chunder, Parallel Parking, Cleavage and Texas Chainsaw.

Good times!

Go with the pros

Though I’ve got a zillion hours logged on the oars, I was happy to leave the heavy lifting to the pros on this one. We put on with the gang from Adventure Connection out of Lotus (www.raftcalifornia.com) and I was very impressed with the guides – Nate, Reilly and Evan were extremely professional and fun to spend the day with and also put on a pretty nice shore lunch spread.

If you can bear to see the look on your face at the moment you plunge into Tunnel Chute, log onto www.hotshotimaging.com after your trip – they have a photographer perched on the cliff above it every day, snapping shots of people running the rapid. You can order copies from their web site.

Anybody in for tomorrow?

I’ve got to say, the run down the Middle Fork was one of the coolest trips I’ve done in a long time. So fun, in fact, that I’m ready to do it again tomorrow! Anybody with me?

Have a great Fourth everybody!