Day 13: Rafting

June 24, 2013

It started innocent enough. I was checking in the possibility of renting a mountain bike for the day when I noticed the list of tours.

"How far do the river tours go down the river?" I asked.

Turned out some of them go to Hite Marina, which is in the general direction of where I will be going, though they were multiday trips and very expensive.

"Do you have any 1-day trips?" I asked.

"We don't. But a company called Navtech does."

So I went and talked to Navtec. They did indeed have a one day tour that starts in Moab and ends at Hite. They also agreed to transport my bike in the van they use to pick people up. The raft is motorized, of course. And in my dreams of a river trip, such as through the Grand Canyon, a motorized trip is not an option. Still this sounded intriguing. It would be different, and a break from the heat and the bike.

It would be my first river trip and it was a hoot. The 4 other pasangers were Sue, Keith, Terri and Brad, and our boat was abliy captained by Brian.

Each end of the trip was through calm waters, with white water rapids sandwiched in between. The whole thing was a blast and a really nice break from riding. We stopped for a morning snack, and then lunch on a beach.

It kind if looks like the SS Minnow, doesn't it? That's for those of us old enough to remember what the SS Minnow is of course.

This is a self portrait, taken by me with my water proof camera, of my feet. I just love my camera. So cool that I an actually take it swimming with me.

We stopped at a site with prehistoric ruins. These pictographs are excellent. Notice the one with a finger missing. It is very touching to see these, made by people with real hands just like us, thousands of years ago.

An ancient grainery. It is so cool to actually see fingerprints in the bricks!

Brain clearly had a lot of experience. He was an exellent and entertaining guide. He and Navtec seem to place an emphasis on safety.

Though Brian seemed to take pleasure in getting us soaking wet through the rapids. At one point I commented that the trip seemed like an advertisement for my waterproof camera.

All in all this was a great day!

When I have a little more time I will fill out maps so all this makes sense.

I also appreciate all of the guestbook posts. Thanks! And I will respond to all when I have time. Sometimes its all I can do just to get the journal entries on. And even then I am already behind in my entries. I think that I may be taking a day off soon though. Maybe I can catch up,then. At least the legs are telling me to take a break. And, since I am Aimless, what does it matter? :-)

We were not the only ones on the river though

Today's ride: 6 miles (10 km)
Total: 572 miles (921 km)

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