Rafting Rampage

Today was a special day here at Kivu Colorado. We woke up to rain at 8am, enjoyed fog dancing on the hills immediately after breakfast, got more rain during camper coffee house, thunder and lightning during institute and then clearing to sunshine for an awesome afternoon of trips.

I love the weather here in Durango because its normally so hot and predictible that we will get a storm for about two to four hours in the afternoon. This day however was so special because we literally did not know what was getting thrown at us. Our expectations got completely blown out of the water by the beautiful summer sunshine that we enjoyed as a group of us rafted the Animas river for the afternoon trip.

The river was flowing full from freezing snowmelt and the fresh rain. Needless to say it was going to be an exciting trip. I was in a raft with Heno (captain) guiding, and our power came from Carson (Adrenaline), Maddy (fury), Sims (Sharkbait), Jackson (Buccaneer) and Ethan (Angus). Everyone was excited as we set of down river after figuring out our river names (above). A few quick rules then came time to break them all as we raided the other rafts. Courageous acts from Jackson saw him in the water then Carson dragged an enemy pirate into the water. A third raft joined the fray as andy steered his crew in to have some fun and saw probably a third of us end up in the water. A great start in my books!! The rest of that trip was a mix of waves, splashing and embarrassing stories. however the next trip we hit the big stuff.

The really big waves are in a part of the river called Smelter, Corner Pocket and Ponderosa. These are waves that were manufactured for surfing on but at this level of water they broiling pits of white water. Our raft hit a rock going into the first big wave and spun 360 degrees around and somehow managed to make it out unscathed. The next wave was a different story. We hit it slightly off angle  and the next thing we knew was that the top of the wave had crashed into the side of the raft, had thrown us almost vertical and kicked all the paddlers out of the raft. Heno the guide was the only one who had managed to stay in the raft but he quickly picked up Maddy and together they piloted the vessel down the massive rapids while the rest of us swam. Everybody came back with a story (even if we were missing a couple of paddles) and we managed to regroup a couple of hundred yards down the river. The rest of the trip was filled with story telling of our individual experiences of bravado (or terror) and sharing in the joys of our success. Such a fun time with all the campers and kudos to all of the guides Heno, Luke and Andy for getting us out of the river safely at the end of the day.

With only the Arabian Nights dance party to come today I am going to say "Yalla Habibi" (Lets go, my friend). Keep joining us for this adventure and it will carry on into the distant future.

Jock Barr