Battling the rapids with a paddle
One of the things that I love about Groupon and Living Social is that I’m now able to do things I otherwise wouldn’t have done, or at least do the things I wanted to do sooner.
Like the deal with Indoor Skydiving, I had been wanting to go white water rafting for a few years now after I saw how much fun some of my friends had on their trip. I don’t remember why I didn’t go but I do remember an incredible feeling of regret that I wasn’t able to join them.
After a friend from church saw this offer on Living Social, I jumped at the chance. There was no way I was going to miss this experience a second time around. We were able to get a group of six of us who were brave enough to go in on the deal and we set our date to tackle the rapids for the second weekend in July.
We went through Gold Rush Rafting and they were fabulous to work with. The coordinator, Cammie, is actually a trained EMT so we were in highly capable hands. The best part was that, after our group expressed their nervousness (out of six of us, only myself and another girl knew how to swim!), she made sure to pair us with their best river guide, Jim, who left a cushy job in Silicon Valley to work outside (and lost a good deal of weight in the process).
The biggest worry is falling out the boat, but thankfully we all stayed inside ours. There were a few people from other boats that fell out but since we go out in a group of several boats [a flotilla?] people are on the lookout for wayward rafters and help to catch them. So long as you remember to roll over onto you back and keep your legs up, you’ll be fine. Someone will fish you out of the water in no time.
The ride down the South Fork of the American River was absolutely beautiful. It was a warm 90-some degree day and the water was perfectly cold that it was a welcomed relief when you hit a huge rapid and was splashed though you were bone dry again within minutes. So what does it feel like to shoot down the rapids? Have you been on those rapid-like rides at amusement parks? Multiply that by about a million and you’re pretty close. Oh, and your arms are like wet noodles at the end of the day.
In short: IT’S AWESOME!
I definitely want to go again (and again) and would highly encourage everyone to give it a shot. You don’t really know how to swim but it helps if you’re at least comfortable in water and can float (not to worry: everyone has a life jacket). It’s a fantastic way to get outside and a little wet. It’s challenging but in a good way.
All pictures are courtesy of Gold Rush Rafting