Rafting the Gorge

I left from Superior Saturday morning on an old blue and white bus and bounced down the frontage road towards Cyr for a daylong raft trip on the Clark Fork River with Western Waters.

In the bus named Surfer Steve, I rode with a group of women from Coeur d’Alene that schedule a rafting trip together once a year for the past seven years.

Western Water’s owner and guide Jared Forsythe drove the bus along the river. Jared said he calls the group of women the Wild Women because of how eager they are to get on the water each year.

Amongst the chatter of the Wild Women, I sparked up a conversation with Steve Temple, another guide for Western Waters. Steve would be my guide throughout the day on the river.

As the bus pulled into Cyr, Steve told me how this year Western Waters built a shop in Cyr to store equipment and make trips more assessable for people coming from Missoula. Western Waters’ main shop is in Superior.

Western Waters has been taking people on the rivers since 1976. Jared took over the business seven years ago and offers white water rafting trips as well as fishing trips.

Jared stopped the bus at the Cyr shop to pickup another raft for the trip. Wesley Harmon, a guide for Western Waters, met the bus and hopped on at the shop.

With the extra raft and guide, Jared took the bus a few more feet down the road to the Alberton Gorge put-in area. Inside the bus, the walls are covered in writing from satisfied rafters from years before.

Next to my seat read, “Best boat trip ever! Carly 7/16/09. Above me read, “I fell in the Rapids 0 times, I win 7/13/07” and across from me simple read, “Thanks for the awesome ride, Dane H”.

Seeing all the excited writings surrounding me on the bus, I begin to feel my anticipation for the trip grow.

Rafting down the Alberton Gorge is a trip I would have liked to take a month ago, but with the flooding and high water this spring, the rafting season is off to a late start.

Better late than never I think to myself as I step out of the bus at the put-in area.

Various other rafting companies and private parties gathered at the put-in area. Surrounded by all the people adjusting their life jackets and listening to safety talks, I find my friend Chris Williams, who drove from Missoula and joined me for the day-trip.

After Chris and I synched our lifejackets, we gathered with the Wild Women and the guides for our own safety talk.

A total of 15 people rode with Western Waters in three rafts.

The Wild Women took up two rafts with their group of 11.

Chris and I hopped on Steve’s raft with a married couple, also from Coeur d’Alene, celebrating their seventh wedding anniversary.

Micah and Sarah Young said they have been together for 10 years, married seven and thought a day on the river would be the perfect way to celebrate.

I helped push the raft off of the shore, jumped in and began my first white water rafting trip of the season.

With my hand over the T-grip of the paddle, I listened to Steve’s commands. Steve spoke with experience as he guided the trip.

Throughout the trip, Steve would call out “all stop” to have us stop paddling, “forward two” for us to paddle twice and “All forward” to have us keep paddling.

My experience in white water is limited.

Besides some tame rivers in North Idaho, I had never spent much time in white water.

My river experience consisted of me sprawled out on an inter tube floating down a lazy river.

With Western Waters, I was about to embark on class two and class three rapids, which are not the most dangerous, but can still get my heart rate to spike.

Despite my lack of river experience, I am always comfortable on water. I’ll take a day on the water over a day on the ski slopes anytime.

The trip began on a smooth stretch of the river. I took a deep breath and enjoyed watching the glassy river water around me cut through the Gorge.

The peaceful float made me empathize with the people stuck in rush-hour traffic while I cruised down the river.

Just as I was relaxing on the calm float with my friend Chris, Micah, Sarah and guide Steve, I saw the rumble of the white water coming into view.

As I approached the first rapid, I had the same feel of slowly riding up a rollercoaster before it drops.  The inevitable feeling made my stomach sink.  However, the nervousness became excitement as the rapids came near.

Staring down the tongue of the rapids, I could only hear the yells of “keep paddling!” for my raft.  I dug my paddle through the water and felt the raft glide over the unsteady water.  The tumbling waves broke over the front of the raft, where I was sitting, and splashed my face.

Once the first rapid spit out the raft, I felt invigorated.  Surviving a rapid brought a masculine feeling over me.

With water drops on me sunglasses, I looked over at my fellow rafters who were just as enthralled.  From that moment on, all of us could not wait for the next rapid.

Halfway through the trip, all three Western Water rafts stopped for a lunch on the shore.  Jared brought food from his garden.  The whole group sat together in the sun. While we all had lunch, other rafters came and stopped as well.

Some had not made it through the rapids as smooth as us.

All sorts of paddles and equipment could be seen floating by in the river. Jared said it looked like a yard sale.

After lunch, I had more confidence in the rapids. For one stretch of rapids, Chris and I decided to jump off the raft and float down in our lifejackets.

Although the river controlled out direction, I had an overwhelming feeling of freedom whisking through the water.

All together, I went through five rapids, which were Cliffside, Triple Bridges, Tumbleweed, Rollercoaster and Fang.

During a slower stretch of the river towards the end of the trip, Steve had us stand up on the edge of the boat and hold hands for a fun trust exercise.

As long as everyone holds tight, no body will fall in, Steve said. Nobody fell in.

Around the final bend, I saw the exit ramp on the Tarkio shore.

Approaching the end of the daylong trip brought mix feelings. With the sun going behind the clouds, I felt tired, sunburned and ready to dry off on land.  Yet, the other part of me never wanted to get of the river, and maybe live like Huck Finn.

We all helped pack the bus, which met us at the end, and pilled in for the ride back to Superior.

Back on the bus, I read more of the writings on the walls.

Now that I had experienced what so many people have over the years, I grabbed a pen.

Through the rocking of the bus, I steadied my hand and wrote, “Western Waters does it right Kyle Spurr 7/30/11”.