Rogue River Rafting, pt II: The First Two Days on the Water

After the rest of the crew came back from driving the cars out to where the end of the river was (and where we would end up in four days), we all got in the rafts and hit the water. On the first day, I took Mark's advice and didn't wear a wetsuit. He said,"Man you don't need one, you'll be warm enough." He was oh so completely wrong. You can see me at the front of the raft in the picture below. Though it's hard to see, I was completely miserable from constantly getting wet and cold. I was near hypothermic.

The rapid below was traversed on the first day. It was a class IV/V and scared the bejesus out of me (remember I was freezing cold and this was my first day ever rafting). Most of my pictures show a relatively calm river, for the simple reason that when traversing the rapids you don't want to destroy your camera with all the water splashing everywhere. However, on some the rapids, like the one below, we had to port the rafts and walk up to the rapids to plan our trajectory though the rough water. 

Since the other raft in our party went down the rapid, of course the raft I was in had to follow. I didn't want to take three days of ribbing because I was scared (pride is a powerful motivator). So we went down the rapid. And it was sweet truth be told. The whole thing only lasts about two seconds, but its a loooonnnnggg two seconds. You hear the sound and power of the rushing water, everyone is screaming, and the raft is bouncing everywhere threatening to tip over.

After that first day I was so exhausted I immediately set up my tent at the campsite, had something quick to eat, and promptly passed out for ten hours. The next day was much better. I put on my wetsuit, and though I was still cold, it was a "comfortable cold," like mid-Fall in Michigan, and I was able enjoy steering the raft trip, navigate the rapids, and try my best to get everyone in the raft wet.

In late afternoon we ported at a beautiful campsite. Even the view from the outhouse was excellent.

The pictures below show where I pitched my tent. The view was stunning. I sat and watched the sunset for an hour and a half. After 7 months of being chained to a computer desk finishing my dissertation, I had found the perfect place and perfect peace, far away from Ann Arbor and completely off the grid, with only a guitar, a journal, and a tent.

The best thing about camping is that the only entertainment is your companions and any musical instruments you manage to bring along. After dinner I would regale my friends with songs by Johnny Cash and Beck. Danny is a professional singer and would accompany me during some of the songs as well.

Below is the groupshot of everyone at the campsite. That's me on the left, then Kelvin, Danny, Chris, Nigel, Joleigh, Emina, and Mark. I could have stayed there for weeks.