WEBER RIVER RUN!!!!

Dad, Mom, Me, Brian, JaQuoy and Hayley

Brian and I

QuoyQee, me and Haybells

Well this was sure an experience I'll never forget. The river was at an all time high yet we were assured it would be safe and that we had nothing to worry about... HA! Now, I have an abnormally low pain tolerance yet I'm definitely not a wuss when it comes to adventure sports like kayaking and rock climbing etc. So, I figured this would be no big deal and that there was nothing to worry about. Well let me tell you, there was plenty to worry about!! I don't have many pictures as I don't have a water camera, but after this experience I am definitely looking into buying one! Oh the memories I wish I could show!!

We each pulled off the shore at different times so that the guides could help us figure out how to paddle and eddi out (pulling over to the side of river). It wasn't too bad. Actually, it was a little exhilerating because we were ultimately responsible for ourselves and if we weren't paying attention or following the rules, we'd the be the ones who ended up swimming in the freezing river. After everyone had a chance to acclamate themselves to their kayak the fun started. The water so so swift that everyone kept falling out of their kayak. My family managed to stay in their kayak for the first half an hour. Maybe that's because for the first half hour we had to park our kayaks on the shore to wait for the guides to pick up the empty boats of those people who didn't stay in their kayaks! Some lady fell out of her kayak onto a rock and broke her ankle... ha ha it's not funny because she didn't get to finish going down the river but it is kind of funny because she fell out in an area where it's almost impossible to fall out!! Anyway! As we got further down the river it became harder and harder to stay in our kayaks. Because the water was so high, it was super swift. There was an area where I fell out of my kayak twice in 30 seconds. The water was so cold that you almost couldn't breathe. I'd fall out, hyperventalate and flip my kayak back over so fast that no one even knew I had fallen out. Brian watched as I fell out twice in a row and he said he'd never seen anyone move so fast!! Which is funny because I'm not fast at anything- except typing maybe! Pretty soon everyone was falling out and the guides were freaking out. They couldn't keep everyone safe because there were only 3 of them and there were 13 of us- all missing either a kayak or a paddle! They blew an emergency whistle which meant we needed to eddi out of the river, or pull over to the side of the river, and get out immediately. I couldn't eddi out because I had lost my paddle and there were trees everwhere along the sides of the river, so I remember grabbing onto a branch and just hanging on for dear life. My hand got totally mangled! I finally slowed down enough that I could jump out of the water. Brian saw me and tried getting out where I had so that we could be together. He grabbed onto a tree branch and when he did, he went over a rock so his kayak was filling up with water. He couldn't hold on and let go, loosing both his paddle and his boat. He made it to the shore after I'd almost had a heart attack watching him drown! The guides yelled to Brian and I to walk along the train tracks until we came to a road. When we got there, we waited. We waited for at least an hour! It was terrible!! For all we knew someone had died! It turns out, everyone was okay except for the lady who broke her ankle, and we weren't allowed to get back in the river because it was too high. It kind of sucked because we'd made it down 1/3 of the river. We paid for 3/3 of the river! Ha, oh well, I guess I'd rather be alive than make it to the end!

So, there's the story. My parents were expecting some nice leisurly ride down a river and after that experience I'm sure they'll never get in another kayak again! We had so much fun though and I am definitely going to go again next summer, hopefully when the water isn't so fast!