I write this with sore arms from an intense white water rafting experience. But more about that in a little. This morning we woke up to beautiful blue skies and surrounded by giant rocks that we didn’t have a chance to see since we were so worried about setting up the tent the night before.
The view from inside our tent in the morning.
After some coffee and a silly Yosemite Sam photo shoot we headed over to the white water rafting place.
And then we saw a bear!
At the white rafting place we put on a wetsuit, wool sweater, air breaker, life vest and helmet. We looked pretty ridiculous. Soon our training started and the guy explained what to do in case you FELL OUT OF THE RAFT. Yeah. After I wiped the terrified look off my face we went down to where the raft was which was where we first stepped into the freezing cold water. We practiced some paddling and things he may yell at us throughout the trip, and just like that we were off. We were a crew of 7 including the guide, and we chose the last two seats because I was so nervous. The river started off relaxing but in no time we were in level 3 rapids (on a scale of 1-5!). We got through the first set with no problems. We then we went through a series of levels 2-3 where we lost a crew member, but he was quickly picked up and got back in the boat. After about 10 miles of rapids we stopped for lunch on the river where we had sandwiches and got to warm our feet up a little. After lunch, we went through some nice calm waters as we digested and prepared for what was to come. Larry moved to the front of the boat and I stayed way back in the third row :) The instructor briefed us again on a few safety procedures and before we knew it we were in the biggest rapids we’d seen yet. Every time the huge waves crashed, I would quickly scan the boat to make sure everyone was still on. One time, during “Split Rock” where the water goes on either side of a large rock, the same guy from before was thrown off the boat once again. Another time when we were in perfectly still water, Larry inexplicably fell off. It was really exciting and fun and overall a great experience.
Guess where we are tonight..
