Colorado River Rafting

  The first day in Moab we went to the visitor’s center, a place I remembered from 20 years ago. A place still was a wealth of info. We wandered separately and I had the thought to ask of rafting in the area. I spoke to a woman who told me of the wonderful opportunities on the Colorado River. I brought the 3 pamphlets, very excited at the prospects to Sandy. I found her, a look of terror on her face as see watched a video of people in a raft in churning white water, the waves turning the boat over and humans smashing around waves and rocks. Well, maybe not the best time to suggest a river trip. I enlisted the aid of the host of the visitor’s center to assure her that this would not be our trip. Lets just say that it was some hours before we decided to entertain the possibility.

       We left Moab at 8:45am, up the canyon, past our campsite, some 35 miles. After a humorous safety check we put in, Sandy and I and the guide in the large raft and 4 college girls in 2 blow up duckies with us. The country side there was open, a cliff of rock along the river on one side and miles of desert on the other ending in mountains, some snow capped, some Arches type red rock crashing into the air in amazing shapes. I wondered about the pace, whether I would be bored, the river is dead flat and we sped on at a rousing 3 miles an hour. But it was wonderful. We were immersed in the sights. We floated slowly down the beauty not flying past us as in the vehicle. there was time to stare and forget to stare. Then there were the rapids, nothing life threatening, but enough to get your blood moving, the boat sometimes heading into the air and fingers gripping ropes to stay in. 8 rapids in all, they were spaced so one had time to relax and enjoy the quietude before the excitement started again.

      We spent the whole day on the river. The lunch was great, on a beach, a huge spread of food, enjoyed with no civilization in sight. The rock closed in at the end of the trip, those cliffs towering above us.