White Water Rafting - Day 2
By Philip Pratt
As we finished up dinner to the sight of growing thunderstorms we were blessed with some of the most stunning skies New Mexico has to offer. Luckily most went north and south of us but as we prepped for bed the winds came. Strong gusts took at least 2 tents down (including yours truly) but were quickly repaired. Scattered showers around 1am made for a good nights sleep.
6:30 or so the camp started to awaken...coffee brewing, breakfast prep, and campsite tear down. Breakfast burritos with sausage or chicken, scrambled eggs, peppers/onions with cheese and salsa. Needing to leave by 9:00 the camp quickly cleaned and packed up in anticipation for our upcoming rafting adventure.
Prompt arrival at our meeting spot to load up on a soon to be retired school bus. We were bussed to the drop spot to go over all rules and regulations. Safety protocols were explained with regards to life vests, helmets, paddles, etc.
We loaded up into 4 rafts. Groups of 9,8,4 and 4 were loaded depending on families, size of rafters, etc. All but 1 of the 25 had never been white water rafting before so this was sure to be an adventure.
Calm waters swept us downriver as we learned the paddle commands. Forward 1, forward 2, backwards 1, etc. The scenery was stunning as the guide blessed us with his knowledge of the terrain.
Lunch was needed so we pulled to the side and anchored to the bank. Sandwiches with turkey, ham and roast beef were accompanied with the usual sides with some avocado and green hatch Chile. Everyone full and ready, we (well, the tour guides) cleaned and we disembarked once again. But not before “graceful” water entries by Lance Brooks and Daniel Woehler were used as our afternoon humor
The 2nd half of the trip promised higher difficulty rapids but nothing Troop 451 couldn’t handle. Some Class 2 rapids and small class 3 rapids gave us something to look forward to around all curves and bends. The main source of fun as it turns out was water fighting with paddles. Any pent up aggression or sweat was soon washed away with 55 degree water hitting you in the face. There were some aggressors, to be unnamed, that were repeat instigators.
Around 4pm we took one last bend and were at our final destination. We unloaded and got ready to board the bus. On the bus, start of head nodding and blank stares became more frequent. Back at our drop, we changed clothes and inhaled ice cream. On our way to dinner at Chick-fil-a before trip to museum.
As we finished up dinner to the sight of growing thunderstorms we were blessed with some of the most stunning skies New Mexico has to offer. Luckily most went north and south of us but as we prepped for bed the winds came. Strong gusts took at least 2 tents down (including yours truly) but were quickly repaired. Scattered showers around 1am made for a good nights sleep.
6:30 or so the camp started to awaken...coffee brewing, breakfast prep, and campsite tear down. Breakfast burritos with sausage or chicken, scrambled eggs, peppers/onions with cheese and salsa. Needing to leave by 9:00 the camp quickly cleaned and packed up in anticipation for our upcoming rafting adventure.
Prompt arrival at our meeting spot to load up on a soon to be retired school bus. We were bussed to the drop spot to go over all rules and regulations. Safety protocols were explained with regards to life vests, helmets, paddles, etc.
We loaded up into 4 rafts. Groups of 9,8,4 and 4 were loaded depending on families, size of rafters, etc. All but 1 of the 25 had never been white water rafting before so this was sure to be an adventure.
Calm waters swept us downriver as we learned the paddle commands. Forward 1, forward 2, backwards 1, etc. The scenery was stunning as the guide blessed us with his knowledge of the terrain.
Lunch was needed so we pulled to the side and anchored to the bank. Sandwiches with turkey, ham and roast beef were accompanied with the usual sides with some avocado and green hatch Chile. Everyone full and ready, we (well, the tour guides) cleaned and we disembarked once again. But not before “graceful” water entries by Lance Brooks and Daniel Woehler were used as our afternoon humor
The 2nd half of the trip promised higher difficulty rapids but nothing Troop 451 couldn’t handle. Some Class 2 rapids and small class 3 rapids gave us something to look forward to around all curves and bends. The main source of fun as it turns out was water fighting with paddles. Any pent up aggression or sweat was soon washed away with 55 degree water hitting you in the face. There were some aggressors, to be unnamed, that were repeat instigators.
Around 4pm we took one last bend and were at our final destination. We unloaded and got ready to board the bus. On the bus, start of head nodding and blank stares became more frequent. Back at our drop, we changed clothes and inhaled ice cream. On our way to dinner at Chick-fil-a before trip to museum.
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