Intro to White Water Rafting

Whitewater rafting is something that, before I met Austin, I had heard about and knew people did, but had no personal experience with. So when I met Austin and he told me he was a river guide, I didn't really know what that meant. That summer, he invited me to accompany him on two of his rafting trips. The river where he guided was the Salmon River in Idaho, which is one of just a handful of rivers in the U.S. where you can take a week-long raft trip thru a completely secluded wilderness area. At first I was massively intimidated. A whole week? On a raft? Camping? In the middle of nowhere? It sounded like the kind of thing I had always wanted to do in my younger years, but had started to wuss out on as I grew old and crusty.

But I did it. I went. And WOW, what an experience. I took a week off school to go on the first trip. To be honest, since we were dating, and I hadn't seen Austin in 2 months, we could have probably done anything and I would have had a good time. But it really was amazing. It was fascinating to see how the professional guides knew how to "read the water" and keep us safe as they rowed. It was incredible how much stuff the rafts could carry. It was fun to spend a week with the 15-20 other passengers and guides I had never met before. And it was astonishing how well we ate! Of course food always tastes better when you've spent a long day outside, and especially when you're camping. But still, we're talking steaks, salmon, fajitas, omelettes--good stuff!

Ending a rafting trip is always a bummer for me. It's just so hard to adjust back to normal life. "What? You want me to go to work? And navigate traffic? And I can't just wear a sarong and bathing suit? Come on!"

Austin invited me to come on a second trip just a week after the first. That was also the week of my college graduation. Can you guess option won out? My second raft trip was even better than the first, and I've always wanted to be able to do something like it again.

So when we moved to Idaho, Austin applied for a permit to raft the Middle Fork of the Salmon River. He applied for early season when the water would be big and cold because he figured his chances would be better. And when he was selected for a permit, we did everything we could to make sure we both could go. My mom came out to watch Carson, we spent a little extra getting all the gear we would need to stay safe and warm, and we invited everyone we could think of that we'd have a good time with.

Next posting, I shall finally share with you pictures and experiences from this raft trip! Coming soon! I promise!