Day 12 - Whitewater rafting down the Arkansas River


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North America » United States » Colorado » Canon City
July 13th 2010
Published: July 21st 2010
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We made the trek down to the Royal Gorge (near Cañon City) for a half-day of whitewater rafting. While I have done the odd bit of rowing, canoeing and kayaking, the thought of going down some rapids was a tad daunting.

While listening to the safety talks, I kept telling myself “Don’t forget this bit. Commit to memory you idiot, commit to memory”. Unfortunately for me it all went in one ear and out the other. All I could remember were the cheesy jokes.

After meeting our guide and running through some specific commands, we launched and made our way down the river. It all went well until we hit a rapid by the name of “Sunshine Falls”. Immediately after going through, all I heard was a girlish scream (no it wasn’t me). One of the boats had flipped and the entire crew was now in the water.

As our guide barked out commands and threw out safety line, all I could think was 1) “Holy crap, someone’s going to drown!” 2) “This is so cool I have to mention it in my journal.” and 3) “Sh*t, I hope I don’t drown”.

The crew of “mini-Titanic” was successfully saved and the occupants split over two boats. Once they were checked for injuries (one of the guys split his shin on a rock and would need stitches), lost paddles and boots were reclaimed and mini-Titanic continued down the river. The rest of the trip was pretty smooth sailing, or rafting, from that point on.

We checked out the “professional snapshots” from the day and decided to pass on purchasing a picture. The photos were too expensive (US$29 per photo) plus our photos weren’t as good as the other boats. Blasted mini-Titanic managed to have all the cool shots. I’m sure the passengers are now showing the photos to family and friends and bragging about their near death experience …. maybe they’ll mention the brave Aussie that rescued them.

We celebrated the afternoon’s achievements with a nice cold beer in the car park before driving home via a small town by the name of Salida.

Next stop .... Arizona!

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22nd July 2010

haaar.
nice story. white water rafting is freaking epic! more storiessssss! from a fellow travelling aussie =)

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