Rafting The River Of No Return For Me!!

This past weekend I ventured up to Riggins, Idaho to experience The River Of No Return (also known as the Salmon River) in all its glory. Idaho is considered by many to be the whitewater capital of America, and Riggins is the whitewater capital of Idaho- so basically, there is no better place to go rafting. It wasn't quite at high water, but the rapids were raging nonetheless. Being my first time white water rafting, I was fairly unsure of what to expect aside from the basic idea that we would be going down the river in a raft. Driving along the first portion of the river we were going to raft, the rapids didn't look big at all and I was a bit worried that my rafting trip would turn into a float- boy am I glad I was wrong!

After a quick safety talk to prepare us for the unlikely event that we flip and end up in the water, the four of us and our guide, Tall, hopped into the raft and started heading down river. The first rapid we came to was Ruby Rapid- pretty wild during high water, but about a Class III rapid the day we were there. Tall made jokes at the other raft guides about only ever flipping once....per day, and then told us that they never flip with guests but that when its just staff in the raft, they push the limits and have fun. When we were pulling up to Ruby he said he never hits it head on with guests but asked if we wanted to have some fun- a question to which we all shouted YES!!

Clicking my helmet strap in place just in time- into our first rapid we go. Crisp water splashing into the raft, we start to slip off of our seats, I try to brace myself and end up in the floor of the raft thinking "I've got this, I'll just ride this one out from the floor, paddling when I can actually reach the water." Ruby, however, had other plans. In no time, she pushed the right side (my side) of the raft up into the air, dumptrucking all of us out of the raft and into the rapids. Immediately, all of the safety tips we were given were put into practice.

Feet down river.

Look for the raft.

Don't try to swim.

Tall frantically grabs any gear within reach and tosses it into the raft before climbing back in himself. He pulls Zane in and starts scanning the water for the rest of us. Zane pulls me in, Rebecca gets picked up by another raft, but where's Kate? We paddle to the side of the river and start scanning. We can't find her. Tall grabs some rescue gear, scrambles up to the road, and starts running up river. As other rafts run by, they start helping us look for her. At last, we find her climbing the rocks on the opposite side of the river where she had apparently eddied out. After another raft picks her up and brings her over to us, we are on our way once again- down one flip flop, one water bottle, two hats, one pair of sunglasses, an oar, and a few paddles. Nothing is going to stop us.

After an experience like that, we can handle anything. We continue down river, hitting rapids as they come, taking in the beautiful views, and talking and laughing with everyone. Stopping for lunch back at the shop, we then head back out for the second half of our trip, continuing down river. We hit some really fun rapids and even had an audience along the way. Apparently people will just pull off to the side of the road and sit and watch people take on the rapids (probably eating popcorn and hoping someone will flip).

I'm so glad I got to experience White Water Rafting in Idaho with such an awesome group of humans. I'd say it was a super successful adventure and a pretty great Mtn Chicks event. I'm definitely going to go rafting again- next time on another river!

How Neat Is That?!