Whitewater!
As my wife and I planned for our family reunion trip to Glacier National Park in Montana, I decided I wanted to put a little adventure into the experience. Not known as the outdoorsy type, I was sure I needed a diversion from the hiking/camping/singing around the campfire kind of thing. When I saw the brochure about whitewater rafting down the Middle Fork of the Flathead River, I knew I'd found what I was looking for.
My wife was skeptical at first, knowing that a simple carnival ride can do me in (I've been known to spend twenty to thirty nauseous minutes behind the carnival tent after one ride on the "Zipper.") Despite her cautions, I Karlene, her adventurous and young-at-heart mother volunteered to join me along with my brother-in-law Joe and my wife's nine-year-old second cousin Derik.
When we arrived at the dock, we learned that there were enough rafters to fill up three boats. Two larger rafts were filled with other parties, while the third smaller raft included our party of four, along with a delightful English couple (a civil servant and a university lecturer from London) and our ponytailed throwback-to-the-sixties guide Sparks.
As none of our paddlers (Joe, the English couple, and myself; Karlene and Derik sat in the middle of the boat) had rafted before, we chose to hang back and practice our paddle strokes in the calm part of the river while the two larger boats drifted on ahead. We had a chance to meet our guide and learn a little about one another. Sparks won our trust early on as he calmly and confidently shared about some of his experiences on the river. He told us what we might expect and gave instructions on what to do should the unexpected happen. As he assigned each paddler his/her duties, he asked each rafter a couple questions, listened intently to each response, and almost always issued a hearty "cool" or "right on". Right away I knew this was gonna be fun!
Before any of the rafts reached the first set of rapids, the other two boats decided to engage in a series of paddle wars and bailing bucket battles. Every member of the two rafts were completely soaked by the forty-five degree water within minutes. Sparks suggested we steer clear of the water wars for awhile as we were both outnumbered by the other rafts and were complete novices. Besides, we were here for more important things. Our first battle against the river loomed right around the next bend!
Sparks gave some last minute instructions as our first challenge, the "Tunnel Rapids" came into view. He warned that we needed to be aware of a large rock in the middle of the stream nicknamed the "Can-opener". When we saw it, we knew why. Sparks gave the command "All forward" and the team paddled hard as we entered the torrent. Suddenly, we were tossed up and down and to and fro in the fury. As the first large wave momentarily engulfed the lead paddlers, Sparks issued a "right back" and I worked hard to get my paddle back in the water and stroke backwards before the next wave hit. After three or four paddle strokes by each team member, Sparks managed to slip the raft just inches to the right of the "Canopener" and before we knew it, we glided back into calm water again.
What a rush! Soaked but excilerhated, team members congratulated one another on a job well done. Sparks sat back in the rear of the boat, smiled for a moment, then simply said "Right on!"
Our group gained confidence after similar battles vs. "The Bonecrusher", "Jaws", and more. Our newfound courage proved to be too much for us to resist a water war with the other boats as we slipped lazily toward the docking area near the end of the trip. Having hung back the whole trip, we calmly and cleverly paddled closer and closer to our targets. As we neared the other two rafts, we noticed that a couple of ladies in one of the boats had stopped paddling to take a smoke break. Here was our opportunity! We moved in slowly and carefully. When we pulled abreast with the other vessel we let loose. Paddles went flying into the river, creating a different kind of whitewater. A well thrown wave of water from the bailing bucket doused both smokers and ruined their break. Mission accomplished, we let out a cheer and paddled hard downriver to make our getaway, our ambush a near perfect success! Right on!
Though for awhile the team did our fair share of gloating, it would be wrong to not tell you that our new enemies did eventually catch us, and with the help of the other larger raft, sandwiched our smaller craft in the river and thoroughly doused our entire crew. Paybacks are truly double!
The whitewater didn't disappoint! It's an activity I never thought I'd try. Now I can't wait to do it again. Our team thought the whole experience was awesome. I'm sure Sparks would agree.
" Right on"!
About the Author:
Barry Holmen is a Christian educator and familyman from Minot, ND. He enjoys running, golfing, and being with his wife and two boys. Barry serves as webmaster of Immanuel Online.