Friday, August 05, 2016

Josh's Birthday - White Salmon 2016!


What’s more fun than careening down a river filled with freezing cold glazier water and rocks while sitting in a small rubber raft filled with air!

That is what fun feels likeJ

Left to Right: Jason F. Me, Pat, Alex F. Katie, Josh


I’ve rafted the White Salmon River twice before and had a blast each time so when Chrissy arranged a trip for Josh’s birthday I was excited to go again. We had 9 people so we were split into two boats. Chrissy, Alex and his friend Mark were in one boat with three others and Josh, Katie, Pat, Jason, his son Alex and I were in the other.

This year we used a different company than the last two years which meant a new launch point and new rapids!

We got about a mile and half of river we’ve never rafted before, which was a lot of fun.

Our guide was “Dave” from Ireland.

 

Cliff jumping! It's faster than hiking down:)


We got to go cliff jumping from a new section. I always have to laugh at myself because I always start off really amped to jump and then as soon as I get to the end, I realize just how high up I am (or it seems) and my brain kicks in and starts telling me that it’s a stupid idea and that I’ll probably be the one to have a horrible accident and paralyze myself. Besides the fact that history supports this theory, I’ve always decided to ignore that voice and live lifeJ

 


Finally a great action photo of me!

This was taken in the rapids right after we capsized. Yeah, yeah…it wasn’t our fault though.

The boat ahead of us got stuck in our path and we couldn’t get out of each other’s way in time. Our boats collided and the force of the rapids pushed the boat up the side of the first boat until it flipped.

Pat and I tried to get throw our weight against the high side but you could feel the moment when the boat had too much water in it and started to flip. All I could think was “huh…this is what they were describing during the safety briefing.”

The rest of the river went without incident but was a ton of fun! Lots of rapids, no collisions, sunshine and lots of white waterJ Josh and Pat made perfect water shields for Katie and I :) The water was fresh cold, beautifully clear glacier water, so even though we were all getting a face-full of water on each rapid it was delicious!

The grand finale was the 14 foot water fall. It’s the tallest waterfall that is commercially rafted in the US. AND AMAZINGLY FUN!

This is obviously a different raft, but it shows how awesome the waterfall really is!


The run each raft through a drill to make sure the chances of falling out or flipping over or…getting caught in the “washing machine effect” of the white water at the base of the waterfall.

We were a well-oiled machine of team work!

No fall outs, flips or washing machines on our tripJ

Left to Right: Mark, Alex, Pat, Katie, Me, Jason, Alex F. Josh, Chrissy


 

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