I could hear the roaring rush of the water, and see the terrifying white water rapids slam against the sharp jagged rocks. Just looking at the rapids got my adrenaline rushing through my body. I could feel the forty degree water chill my body to the bone as the water splashes up into the boat. I wedged my feet into the sides of the boat and was hanging on as tight as I could. This is what it is like to go white water rafting like I did this summer.

The first thing that we did when we got to Rocky Mountain Adventures was to go out back and have one of the guides tell us all about the safety rules and what to do if we fell out of the raft. Everything that she said made the people who had never gone river rafting cower in their seats. She made it seem that if you didn’t everything exactly right you would die. After the lecture about all of the horrendous things that could happen to you if you fell out of the boat we proceeded to putting on the florescent lifejackets. The life jackets were a bright neon orange and the other guides would tighten them so much that you could barely breather. Then we climbed on to these blue and white buses that looked like it was from the seventies, and traveled to the river.

We got to the river, which was as clear as glass. They unloaded the mammoth blue rafts and everyone grabbed a paddle. I was seated in the back of the raft which the guide said was the hardest place to stay in the raft. We started down the river and it was pretty calm in the beginning but as we approached the first rapid I could see the rushing white water bubbling and frothing against the rocks. Our raft slide up one of the rocks and almost flipped over, but the current swept us off of the rock, also spinning us uncontrollable. It only lasted for a few seconds, but it certainly got my adrenaline flowing through my body.

My favorite rapid that we did that day was on that went under a bridge and had numerous sharp jagged rocks. As we approached the rapid our guide told us that we were supposed to go on the left of the beacm that supported the bridge. We were foing down the rapid and we bounced off of a rock which shot us right at the middle of the support beam. Then our guide to ld us to turn right. Our raft barely avoided crashing into the support beam and the rock that was next too it. Our guide said that she was very surprised that no one fell out of the raft because it is hard to stay in the raft when you slam into a rock. On a different rapid we slide up a rock and tilted sideways and my aunt fell out of the side when she did everyone tried to reach out with their paddle so she could grab it, but she couldn’t reach it. She did everything the guide had told us to do if we fell out, and she didn’t get hurt.

The river rafting trip was full of suspense and excitement, and it was the most fun I have ever had on a vacation. Every time I hear rushing water I remember how fun and exciting this trip was. Even after an hour I was still chilled to the bone, but it was totally worth it. It also was pretty strenuous exercise because we were paddling for three to four hours strait. I’ll never forget the look on my aunt’s face when she fell out of the rafting the middle of a rapid. About half way through my little brother got to cold and sat in the middle of the raft. I hope that we go white water rafting next summer.