“Oh, Eeyore, you are wet!” said Piglet, feeling him. Eeyore shook himself, and asked somebody to explain to Piglet what happened when you had been inside a river for quite a long time.
A. A. Milne
There were options each day. We could ride in one of the 6 rafts that were paddled by a Guide (4 large and 1 smaller called Oar Boats and 1 fishing raft) OR you could take one of the single inflatable kayaks and do your own paddling.
The kayaks were called “Duckies” because they were like little duckies following their Mama Duck (Oar Boat). There were 4 available and anyone taking a ducky was required to wear a helmet. Two duckies were assigned to one Mama Boat. The duckies were to closely follow its Mama Boat in order to ensure safe passage through the rapids and around the rocks. They never had all 4 duckies follow one Mama Boat. This avoids the problem of each ducky getting a little off course as they follow the ducky in front of them; because, like a line of school children, the first one is a little off course, the second one a little more off the path, the third a little more than that, and the fourth ducky is going down the totally wrong way! Plus, the Mama Boat carefully watched his or her duckies to ensure they made it through each rapid; often pulling into an eddy (an area to the side of the river with no current) to monitor the duckies’ progress. So, it went like this – 2 Oar Boats, 2 duckies, 1 Oar Boat, 2 more duckies, and the last 2 Oar Boats to pick up any floundering baby duckies!
The Duckies ready to go!
Michael opted to paddle a ducky on day 1. I was very interested in paddling, but wanted to see what the river looked like before taking the plunge (so to speak).
Michael during a quiet spell.
This is Michael going over a rapid – you have to enlarge the photo to see the edge of the ducky.
Hillary waving.
The fishing boat with Scott and Nicki aboard.
On Day 2 of rafting (Wednesday), it rained in the morning. Only 3 duckies went out due to the rain. In the afternoon, the sun came out and I got brave enough to try my hand on a ducky. Because there were only four and most of the rafters wanted to try paddling, we had to take turns. Consequently, Michael and I never paddled the same day. The upside of which is, it allowed us to take pictures of each other. My paddling partner was Berger. He was such a good partner; after every rapid, he would turn to make sure I made it okay. What a great guy! As I was paddling, we went through a particularly difficult rapid and I slammed up against a big rock. I was pushed up onto the side of the rock and felt my kayak leaning heavily to the right. I really thought I was going over, but I remember what Joseph taught us — lean hard against the up side of the kayak to counter the flip and you should go over the edge of the rock upright. It worked!!! I was so happy and grateful for good instructions. Turns out that GQ was not just another pretty face – thanks, Joseph!
Duckies hanging out around the Mama Boats. That’s me in the middle.
This is me going over a rapid. It was hard work, but I really loved it.
This is Berger going through some tricky rapids. He was my ducky partner (and kept a constant eye out for me)!
Me, going over the rapids, with my Mama Duck watching over me.
Duckies and Mama Boats going over rapids.
NIcki on the fishing boat. She and Scott caught quite a few fish. It was catch and release, so we didn’t eat any of them.
The views along the river were incredibly breath taking. We saw otters, a bear, an eagle’s nest, interesting rock formations, beautiful canyon walls — from one moment to the next, the river was wild and serene.
The water was so clear.
Clear blue sky – great day for rafting.
You can see some pretty fall colors on the mountainside.
Kristy
Look – it’s an Obi Wan Kenobi rock!
One of many fresh water streams we passed. This one was quite large. The Guides refilled the water jugs at these streams.
OMG – Otters! This little guy was hiding in this crevice eating a fish he caught.
So pretty!
Tom, our guide, spotted this bear foraging on the hillside as we passed by. He watched the fishing boat quite closely – waiting to snag a catch??
Heading into the canyon.
A huge eagle’s nest.
We stopped so we could hike to this waterfall, but it was uphill, so some of us (me) waited at the river.
A log jam caused from last winter’s high water levels.
Hooded Merganser ducks.
The days started out warm and got colder as we moved north. I am a fair weather kayaker, so once it got cold, I did not paddle. Others were much more rugged and were willing to brave the elements. The coldest day was Friday – day 4 of the rafting trip. We were not only soaked from rain and rapids, there was a bitter cold wind blowing on us. By the time we got to camp in the evening, my feet were numb and my clothing soaked down to my underwear. It was the first of the only two nights we got a campfire. Since it had rained, the fire danger was much lower, so Dustin allowed a fire to be built.
We were advised to bring rain gear and in fact, I did. However (true confessions) I purchased good rain gear at REI and it was really expensive. When I bought it, I was hoping I wouldn’t need it and I knew I would NEVER use it again; so I asked if I could bring it back if I didn’t use it and was told that I could. Therefore, I did not choose to take the rain gear out of the water proof baggie I jammed it into (with tags still attached). Yes, I froze — but I also took my rain gear back when we got home and got a full refund. My frugal Mom would be so proud!
Mama Boats and duckies heading out after a lunch break.
Trevor, from Santa Barbara, standing in the ducky. He paddle boards so this worked for him (he did sit down over the rapids).
Emily – such a big smile!
Bruce, Kristy, and Bob with Dustin paddling. It was a cold day.
Doug, Trevor, and Berger with Joseph on paddles. Very Cold!!!
Our New York ladies (Hillary, Crystal and Stephanie), all bundled up, with Tim paddling.
This is Karlene on our coldest day. She’s going incognito.
The rapids got more technical (the term for more complicated to maneuver and scarier) as the days passed. By the last day, we were in many Class 3 and a couple of Class 4 rapids. It was really fun, but really wet.
This is one of the two Class 4 rapids we traversed. The drop is bigger than it looks from this angle. Just sayin…
This is Michael’s shot as we hit water and it hits us. He had a water-proof camera. Mine was safely covered at this point.
These long rapids were the most fun, as we went through them the Boat rolled up and down just like a Disney ride!
Here’s a shot of one of the other Boats going through some rapids.
This is gonna be wet!!!
More rapids and rocks.
P.S. Here is why I called Joseph GQ:
See what I mean?
Don’t judge me – my sister took 7 pictures and a video.
Safari So Good 