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| no partners | | The main reason I made my alternative the Columbia River Gorge. When I was here the week before, it was pretty cold, cloudy and raining most of the time. This week? There was some forecast at least for sun. Especially on this day.
I haven't rafted like this since 2001 when I went on a guided raft down a small portion of the Snake River while visiting Yellowstone. I was overdue to do this. A motorized raft like I took at the Grand Canyon is in an entirely different category. Everyone has to paddle or at least supposed to, but it doesn't always work that way. People get excited or busy holding on and forget to paddle. That's when you hope the Guide is decent enough to be able to compensate and keep everyone in the boat.  It also means my picture taking was pretty minimal as we stayed busy. But they had a photographer that showed up at strategic spots and I bought the picture package, so I got to see some of the action as it went.
This was a Half Day Trip. The water was still too high for a full day at that time. And a Half Day, while they tell you to plan on a 4 hour experience, is really only about 2 hours on the river. The rest of the time, you are checking in, getting dressed into wet suits, splash jackets, etc. Doing safety briefings, yada yada yada. And that all happens before you leave the parking lot. Then after, getting undressed, turning in gear, tipping Guides yada yada yada. So yeah, about 2 actual hours on the river.
I was pleasantly surprised at all the rapids in just this short jaunt. And even more surprised that on a Friday, there was just 5 of us plus the Guide, so only 1 boat. And the other 4 people were a family. So just our boat and a couple of safety kayakers. We hit the first rapid right away and there were probably 10 to 12 more. I was sitting in the back next to the Guide. That ended up being a good place to be because of Grasshopper Rapid. The rapid kicks the back of the boat up at the end and I went airborne. But the Guide earned his bacon and grabbed me just in time to keep me from going out, over and in.
We continued downstream and reached Husum Falls. We had to portage the raft around it because the water was still too high. When the water level drops just a bit more, they will run it, but rafters have the option to get off the raft before they do.
After quite a few more rapids we got to a bridge and the Guide asked if anyone wanted to jump it. Of course I said yes and I was the only one at first. And I was by far, the oldest person in the boat.  So, we pulled the raft over and I got out and jumped off the bridge. It was about a 30 foot jump. Apparently the father of the family decided to go for it too and he jumped after I did.
Got back in the raft for a bit longer and enjoyed a couple of more good rapids and then it was over and back to their shop. It was a good run, I'm glad I did it and I hope to do more of it in the future. Pretty exciting stuff. Looking forward to doing some Full Day Trips at some point.
There was some interesting history about this stretch of the river. Apparently there was a dam that was built in 1913 and wasn't removed until 2012. So a lot of the river we were running down was actually a reservoir at one time.
There was still some daylight left, so I opted to head for another waterfall hike. Stay tuned for that one. |
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| Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty & well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, totally worn out & proclaiming, "Wow What a Ride!" |
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