We had to get up early in order to reach the Tag-A-Long headquarters at 7 am. All was packed and our valuables were locked in the safe. No identification papers on us…Together with two other persons (Dad Nicky and son Nick from Texas) and our guide we got on the bus, which brought us to our departure point. Meanwhile we got to know that Moab digs up uranium and also potassium. The river was still wild for the time of the year – and brown from taking sandstone along. Putting on insect repellent seemed a good idea. Our raft had a motor on it – we weren’t going to row the 100 miles we were about to enjoy. Our guide was in charge of the motor. He even had a second one with more horsepower, once we were going to hit the rapids. Yes, in the morning it was a smooth ride on the river – sometimes cold in the shadow – passing Dead Horse State Park where the beginning of Mission Impossible two was shot and the end of Thelma and Louise. At one time our guide cut the motor and we just floated and listened to the silence on the river. The guide pointed out the Tamarisk trees which were a nuisance for the river. We had 29 rapids on this trip in the Cataract canyon – some of them were the hardest in the northern hemisphere. After number 1 – an easy one – we got to a sandy beach. Here our guide became a magician and made us a wonderful lunch with wraps, veggies, fruit and drinks. Before getting on board for the afternoon ride, he told us a lot of safety tips, like “don’t get under the raft – I don’t want you to get into the motor!” He checked our life vests and then it was time for the big, splashy adventure. IT WAS AWESOME!!!! At rapid 7 he told us it was safe to swim this – but nobody went into the water. He said the same thing about rapid 11 and then Jana, Nick, Gert and I jumped into the river. What a feeling – letting your body go with the flow of the river – feet first as the guide had told. No need to swim. Jana bumped into me! When the guide signed us to get into the boat I rolled on my stomach and swam to the raft. There I learned that getting picked up and lifted into the raft was not easy for my buddies on board. I wanted to help but it was kind of hard. Meanwhile Gert was floating away from the raft … not such a great feeling when the current keeps pulling you further away! In the end, everyone got safely aboard. I thought it was a great experience! More fun was coming up with the class V rapids. The last one we did 4 or 5 times – the guide turned upstream to repeat the conquering of the rapid. The last part of the trip was on slow water again. Whoever wanted to take charge of the raft, could now take command of the raft. That was also a great experience: to steer a raft on the Colorado River, in between the canyons of Canyonlands National Park. Sometimes we took a side canyon where our guide had stories about. At last I saw the bridge at Hite – high above us. Our 100 mile rafting trip ended. A necessary pit stop (4 women peeing together on command!) and then off to the “airport” of Hite. This was only a road on top of a bluff. Two planes were waiting for the 7 of us. The small plane (5 passengers) flew us back the way we had come. We had a great view of the river from high above! Back in Moab we had dinner in a bar before returning to our ranch. Today was a once in a lifetime experience! Pictures may be posted later…
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