Rafting the San Juan

Since we had Gran and Pa with us this trip, it allowed for Chris and I to do a few things we couldn't have otherwise. Mainly white water rafting. The river was really running high and it made for a great time to raft. We went before in August and no trip were going because the river was so low. Chris made or reservations with Pagosa Outside. They were great. Splash gear comes included in the price and was very much needed.

I will admit that I have rafted since I was a teenager and see the water so high I was a little nervous. But after getting splash gear (YEA!) and a little instruction from our guide Jay, I was feeling pretty good.

For the first half of the trip, Chris and I were in the back. Not a bad place to be for a nice relaxing trip down the river. You don't get too wet, but you get wet. On the second half we were in the front. They asked for volunteers and I told Chris, we should go because he is a "front car of the roller coaster" kind of guy and we really needed to try it.
IT WAS AWESOME! It was a totally different ride up there. LOTS of water and the most beautiful scenery, wide open with nothing blocking your view.

From Colorado

From Colorado

These were taking when we went thru downtown Pagosa. There is something the town built in the river under there that makes this a bumpy ride.

We had some adventure on our way down the river too. There were 3 others going down the river that day too, but they were in duckies (individual rafts). Two guys and their guide. One of the men was 72 and had exerience on the river, the other had some, and the guide Matt, well he was pretty awesome. After our lunch stop, only about 10 mins, the two guys fell out of their rafts on some big rapids. One guy was able to swim to shore, the other wasn't. and did I mention the water was SUPER COLD...oh yeah, the WATER WAS SUPER COLD. They luckily had wet suits on, but still. Well the old man couldn't swim to shore so Matt the guide had a hold of him and was trying to get him to shore. Along with one of the rafts. Oh the other raft and oar, well that we floating down stream to our boat. Our guide turned us side ways to try and catch it, but at one point had to stop and face front again because "we need to pay attentino here"...uh yeah!! So the next chance we could we turned out boat again (imagine going down the river sideways) and we tried to catch the oar and raft. Well I was on of the ones holding the raft...not too hard until we tried to go to shore and we turned downstream. The raft was hard to hold and I suddenly remember the 1st rule of rafting.."STAY IN THE BOAT". When the smaller raft I was holding started to fell like it was going to pull me out of the boat, I quickly thought, "if it is me or this raft, sorry raft, I win" and I let go. I then went about holding the other person that was holding the raft. Chris and another guy jumped out of our raft as it was close to shore and held it until we could get the smaller raft and everyone else out of ours and onto shore. He said after about 30 seconds his feet went numb...remember the water was SUPER COLD.

All is well that ends well. The raft was saved, the men were fine and we all made it back safely. The older man rode the last part with us...he had just too much excitement for the day.