Whitewater Rafting the Snake River

This last weekend I was invited to go on a Whitewater Rafting trip last minute by my friend Ian. His friend Logan was planning it. He invited me, Becky and Allison and we all jumped at the opportunity for a fun and cheap weekend getaway to Wyoming... which was BEAUTIFUL!

We had a connection to stay in a house near the river, so that was really nice. Logan had bought food for breakfast and lunch and even got up early to cook breakfast for us. Thanks Logan! It was such a great time. The trip didn't start out exactly as planned...  We wanted to leave at 5:30 but with Allison driving down from Salt Lake and getting stuck in traffic and picking up Ian at work in Lehi and waiting for Becky to get off work and me having to pick up Andy (who I didn't know) and Andy having locked his keys in his car.... we didn't end up leaving until 7. Which got us to Wyoming at the house at 11. It was a beautiful drive up the canyon and we all had fun in the car and all became quick friends with Andy. When we got to the house everyone else had been there for hours and it was a little awkward for us since we didn't know anyone there.

We quickly got to know everyone and became friends with everyone over breakfast and on the river.

Most people don't think this about me, but I'm kind of a wimp. I am probably overly cautious and get nervous over the unknown... although I had been rafting before 10 years ago, I wasn't sure how big these rapids were. I really didn't want to fall out. That was the one thing... I DON'T want to fall out of the raft. Well.... we hit the first class 2 rapid and Allison's foot got caught under the raft and she fell out. When we tried pulling off to the side so that Allison could get back in, I was on the side next to the shore and I was trying to pull my paddle on a rock to help pull the raft to the side. MISTAKE!!! That pulled me right out of the raft. That water was a shock to the system. Took my breath away. The current was fast and I struggle getting back in the raft while holding on to my paddle. However, the guys came to my rescue and got me back in the raft. Shortly after that... I stopped paddling (since we had too many people and not enough paddles anyway) and I got in the middle and just held on and enjoyed the ride. I liked that a lot better.

After our first run down the river, (which took about 2 hours) I had to go in Ian's car to go get my car to help shuttle people back up to the top of the river. We didn't have a trailer for the raft. The plan was to deflate the raft and then blow it up again at the top of the river. When they saw that I have a bigger car, they got the idea to put the raft on top of my car and hold on to it while I drive 8 miles up to the other spot. I went with it... thank goodness those guys are strong, because I had a hard time holding on to that raft while driving. Once we got on the main road and the wind caught under the raft, it really hurt to hold on to it. However... we did it.

Then we had our lunch while we waited for everyone to get back into one place. The raft on my car ended up creating some nice shade for us to eat under and ended up keeping my car nice a cool also. So we all hung out at my car for the next hour or so.

Then it was time for our second run down the river. I liked my seat in the middle so much that I decided to take it again. This run, when we hit the biggest class 3 rapid, we lost Allison again and this time Ian went with her. Everyone was ok... Ian lost Logan's sweater that was tied around his head though.

After that rapid we pulled over and people spent time getting in the water because it was a lot hotter... and a few people did some cliff jumping. I passed on that. No thank you.

After that our second run came to a close and it was time to go back to the house and gather our things and head home. The drive home was beautiful. Got a picture of the sunset. Becky and I had a great time talking and enjoying the beautiful drive while the rest slept in the back. (most of the drive)

Such a great trip.... even though it was so short. We had a blast and had a great time making new friends... after our time on the river, we were sad that we didn't have time to hang after... now that we actually all new each other. Oh well. Maybe we will all get together again someday. Either way, I had fun and was so happy that I was invited.