“Things get so crazy, crazy
Don’t rush this baby” – Matchbox 20
Getting up at 6:30 is actually considered sleeping in on road trips, but it was especially hard this morning since I woke up in a comfortable bed. The smell of bacon wafting up from the kitchen helped ease the transition though. After a quick shower I discovered that Susan had prepared not only bacon, but also french toast, eggs, and fruit. By the time I’d finished breakfast it was time to pack up the car and head out to Idaho Springs for our adventure of the day – whitewater rafting.
We caravaned there with the Stewarts, checked in, and hung out for a few minutes. In short order we were directed outside where we got a quick safety briefing. By quick I mean that the person leading the briefing talked very fast as he went through a lot of possibly deadly scenarios. I’m glad that none of them came up during our rafting trip because I’m certain I don’t remember anything that was said.
After the briefing we filed through a storeroom to pick up our life jackets and helmets. We regrouped for another information session that I actually can’t remember anything about at all. Hopefully there was nothing important said. Finally we were loaded onto ancient school buses and shuttled a few minutes upriver.
We were assigned Ana as our guide and we quickly learned that Crawfish, our guide from two years ago was still working there. It sounds like he’s doing pretty well for himself as he has moved up from living in his car to living in the boathouse. It is Ana’s first year as a guide and she is living in her car, so it must be a seniority thing.
In any case Ana briefed us on all the relevant strokes and commands and thoroughly quizzed us. Apparently we passed because we were allowed to put our boat in the water and begin the journey. The rafting tripbwas much calmer than our trip a couple years ago. We’re here much later in the summer and after a particularly dry winter. While it wasn’t as wild a ride as last time, it was still a fun trip down Clear Creek. I had time to enjoy the scenery and birds as they cruised just above the surface of the water.
There was also a bit of adventure. We got caught up on one rock and were rammed off it by another boat. In the last set of rapids, Ellie, who was sitting in front of me seemed to get caught in a position where she was leaning out the side of the boat unable to sit back up. Not wanting her to be in the river I grabbed her lifejacket and pulled her back in. The girls also got a chance to jump in the river and swim a part of it. All-in-all a pretty good trip!
After a bus ride back to the boathouse, showers, and dry clothes we got to have one last lunch with the Stewarts. Thank you, Stewarts for having us!
Our next stop of the day was the West side of Rocky Mountain National Park. My favorite! We set up our tents in the campground closest to Mt. Ida, tomorrow’s hike. Then we returned to the visitor’s center to pick up our hiking permit for later in the week along with junior ranger books for the girls. Now Molly and I are sitting on the patio of a bar in Grand Lake while the girls explore a nearby park. We’ll find dinner before too long so we can get to bed. We have a 5 AM alarm and goal of being at the trailhead by 6 tomorrow morning.
