I admit, I was wary. But now that it's all over, I can eagerly report that whitewater rafting is one of my favorite pastimes. Not only am I alive, but Mark only had to save me four times. A big thanks to my in-laws for planning the whole thing, and Independent Whitewater of Salida, Colorado, for safely guiding us down miles and miles of river.
Brown's Canyon-6/16/09
After we realized that we were being photographed, we stopped doing this...
Here's a better picture. Mark and I on the left in front of Chris, the trainee, and Mark's sister and brother-in-law on the right in front of Keir, the guide.
Here's a good shot of Keir. The other boat's guide, Miller, may have won the "nice guy, awesome mutton chops" award, but Keir definitely won the "best guide" award. It's an ongoing argument.
...and, another shot of our boat.
The Royal Gorge-6/17/09
I wish I could document the Gorge better. But all I have is this silly picture. Seriously, everyone else is paddling, and amidst the air in my head, I am thinking, "Look, a man with a camera...smile."
I did find this old newspaper image on the national park service website (nps.gov), but I couldn't tell you where it came from originally. This picture captures the Gorge pretty well. I wanted a picture from our vantage point (looking up), with the river, rapids, bridge, and scenic railway.
The only thing you can't see is the miles and miles of old wooden pipeline attached to the rock along the river. As you might expect, it is in horrible disrepair, but still amazing. I found some pictures, but, again, I couldn't tell you where they came from. Suffice it to say, they are not mine.
The Numbers-6/19/09
On the 18th we had a "day off" to rest. It was sad that I was sick all day, but good that I was sick that day and not any other day during the trip. By Friday morning, I was fit as a fiddle (well, fit enough to fiddle), and ready to face our most intense miles of river.
By, Friday, we had mastered the synchronized paddling. These picture are taken in succession so you can kind of get a feel for it.
If you jump in this hole, you are supposed to be able to go under the rock and back out into the current. This is a picture of the hole after Mark jumped into it.
Here I am getting ready to jump in.
Here I am stuck in the hole because I wasn't heavy enough with my life jacket to get deep enough to go under. Terrifying. Finally, and without warning, the current sucked me under and out. I just wish I'd had some air in my lungs when it happened.
Our guide took this picture as we were about to hit a rapid. Mark and I are on the left.
Everytime Mark jumped off a rock and into the river, I made him kiss me...in case he didn't come back up. This time I didn't, and he was under water for a LONG time. I almost started screaming. You can see me there on the right, looking concerned. It's hard to tell from this picture, but the 2000 square feet per second of water is pouring through an 10 foot wide narrow.
I wasn't brave enough to jump off the rocks, but I did wade upstream a bit, dive into the river, and then swim the rapid through to the other side of the narrow. Here I am before,
...during,
...and after Mark and his brother rescued me from the current I wasn't strong enough to swim out of on my own. I'm the V on the left, Mark's the V on the right.
And, to sum it all up, a heartwarming picture of us, our boat-mates, and our guide (taken before we started the numbers.)
