Essay on Personal Narrative: White Water Rafting

Some of us struggled into our wetsuit, trying to jump and jiggle in, while others tied themselves to their tub as a safety line. I decided not to tie myself on, because the last time I had tubed in a flood, the nylon rope almost strangled me. As we continued to get ready, we had to periodically move back because the river was still rising. Every once and a while, huge trees – whole trees – would pass by, barely making it under the rope bridge ahead of us. This only added to our excitement. This was going to be AWESOME!

Upon stepping in the boat, they handed us blue ponchos. The floor was metal, with thin, almond-shaped bumps on them, forming many little crosses. There were some rooms where you could watch through the windows and not get wet. Thinking that was pretty boring, I chose staying outside, where blue chairs lined the walls of the rooms inside. I chose a seat on the starboard side, quite close to the metal railings that bordered the walls of the boat. My little sister sat next to me, her smiling face bursting with excitement. I felt a little jerk, and the boat started moving and the thundering falls grew closer. Though I was warned not to stand up, I got excited and rushed out of my seat, eager to see the falls. My hands grabbed the railings as I watched the roaring waters go around in a horseshoe shape. After a while. the sky darkened, lightning flashed, thunder boomed, winds whipped up, and it started pouring. I started to regret staying outside and started slowly making my back to my seat. The boat lurched to the starboard side, and I slid back to the railing. My sister, the only other person nearby, screamed as she jerked forward, her seatbelt stopping her from flying into the water. I slowly got up but the boat lurched to the other side and I went flying forward, my head hitting a chair. Clutching my head, my vision dimmed and I went flying towards the railing again. Horrified, I suddenly realized that I missed the metal bar entirely and was actually hurtling towards the water. On impact, my body instinctively curled into a ball. I fought to reach the surface, but the water from the falls was pushing me down. When my head last broke the surface, I saw many more people in the place where I fell out. They were probably the people from the inside, who saw me tumbling out of the boat. The freezing water made it hard to think and hard to move. After around what I thought was

From discovering turtle nests, cliff jumping, to the daily wind down it was a blast. After catching two baby turtles, Stuart and I made sand castles for them to live in and brought food for them to eat. Koopa Troopa and Shelly were our very own turtles. We eventually had to let them go and release them into the lake. At this point my seven-year old self was probably very emotional and probably cried. Once my turtle phase was over, we often times went cliff jumping. A few miles down the lake was a group of cliffs that we would jump off fairly often. The feeling of falling from the rock and splashing into the water was so fulfilling and invigorating. Since running up and down the cliffs was relatively tiring, we eventually would take the pontoon back to our dock and unload all of our belongings. When the day would come to an end, our entire family would cozy up around the TV and watch The Wilderness Family movies. Most of us would fall asleep on the couch and wake up when the sun shone through the huge glass windows that surround us. By then the weekend was over, and it was time to go

I'm back! This past summer was a whirlwind of working all the time. Raft guiding is a 24/7 job, even when you're only doing three trips a day. The internet at the boathouse was not the best and I was always getting off work after the library closed. I know, what a rough life, spending all my time on Clear Creek...it did make doing chores a bit of a challenge though. To summarize my summer in one post would take too much time and I wouldn't be able to find the words to describe all the wonderful people I met and the amazing experiences I had. I will say that living out of the back of my little green Subaru Outback was an experience in itself and has made me appreciate beds all the more. I can't wait to go back next summer though. The Creek has truly captured my heart for the time being.

Can you imagine living on an abysmal river canyon for sixteen days? No cell service, no internet, and no people except the thirteen others that you signed on with? Add to the mix, temperatures up to 115 degrees, an upstream wind that blows whitecaps directly at you and a fine sand constantly swirling in your face, ears, nose and every other orifice imaginable plus 40 degree water that if submerged for too long could cause its’ victim to experience hypothermia. I grew up Whitewater River Rafting with my family. Several times every summer we would load up our van and spend time on a nearby river. Sometimes we would travel across several states to raft and sometimes we would drive for only an hour and arrive at a beautiful river. I have been

While rafting down the Chilko River, Ron Thompson, a seasoned river guide with thirteen years of experience, had his raft high side on a rock. When the raft high sided and all but one of his guests fell out into the river. Due to the strong rapids five of the guests died. This is a tragedy that should not have happened on the river considering it is not nearly close enough to being one of the major rivers in Canada. The problem of where this happened on the river, Lava Canyon, is about how long the rapids run. The water level was approximately 2 feet lower than it typically ran. With water levels changing, rapids adjust throughout the river. When the raft hit a wake it turned on its side and hit the rock that forced people out of the raft. Some of the people were able to swim for safety, including Thompson, but sadly five drowned.

That afternoon, on the Shoshone River in the mountains of Wyoming, might have been my last. In hindsight, I knew the raft was going to overturn. Having looked downstream, I saw the imminent threat of the canyon wall. The raft guide yells “ALL IN,” but the opposite occurs. The five of us are tossed to the mercy of the waves. I do not recall hitting the wall; the only memory I possess is looking back and seeing nothing but crashing waves on every side of me. Our entire crew was out of view.

One of my most enjoyable and exciting adventures was traveling to Destin, Florida. Walking on the extremely fine soft sand feels like paradise. Meanwhile, the sound of waves is crashing and the cool sea breeze brushes by. Along the beach stood a booth where tourist could register to go parasailing. My boyfriend Michael and I registered and anxiously awaited our turn. Suddenly, everyone was loaded onto a tiny boat in hopes of reaching a bigger boat out deeper. Reaching our destination everyone had to climb a rope ladder as it was moving with the rough waves. As they strapped us in, we prayed we could come back in one piece. As the boat slowly started to move I grasped the rope, realizing that an inch-thick string was the only thing between me

A Lot of people go out on the lake every year to go salmon fishing,I am one of them.I go out salmon fishing every year with my grandfather and brothers.I am an avid angler and fish whenever I get the chance.what happened this day was something I had never expected to happen.

Once we got out there is was scary my friend drove me around and we went about 40 mph. I almost flew off the jet ski into the water. After that we got to a cove where we just relaxed and swam for a little bit. Then we went back after a while to eat dinner. We ate then we got in the hot tub and relaxed. The second day we went to the “jumping bridge”. That was so scary because we were all standing on the ledge a bridge while they counted down. It felt like free falling and I was terrified. After that I got to drive the jet ski. I was super excited. I was driving and a big wake came at us so I slowed down and the wake came over the nose and soaked Trey’s dad and I. We got home swam, and had a good

We were the only people who were on the water it seemed, they were all smarter than us. By the time we drove the boat to the spot that we wanted to go the clouds had gotten even heavier and the wind had picked up another fifty mph it seemed like. We got our poles baited up and put in the water for probably ten minutes and felt drop, drop, drop. It had started

The boat ride to America was long, 14 days to be exact, and the whole time I felt utterly dysfunctional. It’s as if I could see all my surroundings and I knew what was going on around me, but my body felt foreign to me. I couldn’t think straight. Hunger was nonexistent. I soon forgot what it was like to sleep. My eyesight got blurry. Oppressive grief hung like a cloud above my head, following me everywhere I went. I felt strange. I was brought back to reality when a hand, of a white man in a white jacket, waved in front of my face. I blinked slowly and frowned. When did I end up here? I don’t remember walking here. I racked my mind for answers, but all I was left with was a blank space. He quickly examined me and unlike most, he took a piece

“Splash!” I went into the river. I was at Ten Mile River Scout Reservation. We just started the trip when I went into the water. We were the only boat that flipped over on the river. Let me tell you what happened before and during this part of the camping trip.

Like it was yesterday I remember my first vacation on a cruise. My Dad and I went on a three- day long cruise to The Bahamas. I had never been on a cruise, so it was a new experience for me. We needed to be in Tampa for our departure, so we drove the two hours from Orlando, Florida to Fort Lauderdale, Florida. My Dad and I used this time to talk, make plans for the trip and think about our upcoming adventures on the cruise.

This is the 69th day for me to take my adventure in the wild, since I lost the contact with my friend. I came from South Dakota, and I am a writer that try to write a book about my various experiences in the wild. After I finished writing part of my story, one of my friends called Ashley wanted to join my adventure during her vacation this year. Surprisingly, I accepted and we had a great time in California.