i am pooped. i went white water rafting for the first time today. my husband had gone before when he was younger, so it was the first time we went together.
we arrived at the base camp early (probably due to excitement), so we checked in, filled out our liability waivers, strapped on our life jackets, and waited until our color was called. a tour member approached us and asked if we wanted to jump on the tour that was about to leave instead of waiting, so we decided we would (which is better since the longer i sat the more nervous i became). instead of the lower gorge course we would be taking the upper gorge, and he assured us that it was similar with class 3 rapids.
once on the bus, one of our guides prepared us for what lay ahead. he said we were on the narrowest, fastest course they offered, and the water would be good from hurricane irene last week. the more he talked, the more jittery i was, telling my husband that we were supposed to go on the other course. i suddenly felt i had jumped on the wrong bus.
at our starting point, a group of 4 quickly asked if we wanted to join them, so we did a round of introductions and climbed in our raft. then it turned out that a couple was on their own, so the guide yelled out for any other parties of 2, so we paired up with them instead. neither of them had rafted before either, so i felt better to have some inexperience on my side.
my sneakers were soaked within the first few minutes of takeoff, since we had to wade out into the water before scrambling onto our boat. we went left around the bottom of a bridge since most of the others were going right, and found that it was already a struggle with the current. the guide hadn't been kidding about that. but once we were on, it felt manageable with our paddles.
we swiftly learned how to paddle and steer as a team, and before long we were whizzing by some other rafts like we were on crew or something. we found that we rowed better backwards and typically ended up sideways, no matter how hard we tried to go straight. but we also found that it was fun to hit the rapids from the side or from behind, when we didn't know what to expect.
the first time we got stuck on a rock (and i'm talking about some huge suckers), we did as the guide had told us (move to the other side of the boat away from the rock to loosen the raft from the culprit), and it worked without much fuss. the second time, however, we were stuck by a sharp rock where our path split, and we were stuck good. my husband got out of the boat to try to push us off and we paddled as hard as we could. we got free, but the current pulled us downstream to the left (when we were told to go right). we spun out of control, hitting rocks, trees, whatever we really could hit. when we reached one of the guides (the one who had told us to go right), he said we'd missed the better rapids on the side. i don't think any of us cared, since we had a good ol' time bouncing down the left.
it's amazing how calm the waters can be in some spots and how intense they can be in others. we stopped for a 10-minute break to get some food in our bellies before taking off again. the rest of the trip was harder since the areas we navigated were narrower and there were rocks pretty much everywhere. we found that whenever there was a pool of water confined to one spot, it was a rock. sometimes, depending on how we hit them we could spin off them, but other times they'd sneak up on us and we'd sail over them.
the one time we weren't so lucky was when we were behind another raft and couldn't avoid a boulder right there in the middle of the river (which we did not see since they were in front of us). the other boat was able to skirt by, but we got stuck, and a 2-person kayak ran up the rock and in turn, was stuck between us and the rock. then, to top that all off, another raft slammed into us, so we were a huge, messy pile, crammed all against each other. and somehow in the middle of the chaos, my husband, the other guy in our boat, and the man in the kayak all fell into the water. and just as soon as the current had pulled us into the obstacle, with some vigorous paddling we were able to catch the current and break free from our raft-kayak-raft collison.
with my husband finally safe in the boat and our other raft member saved by another boat, we made our way to the stopping point, a long hike back to the bus, and finally to base camp where some dry clothes were waiting for us. i was so exhausted, i fell asleep on the 1-1/2 hour car ride home.
my shoulders, arms, wrists, and even fingers are sore now, so sore they almost feel bruised. but it was all worth it. and i'm glad we took the upper gorge, even though it scared me. i feel like sometimes the most frightening things can turn out to be the most rewarding.
