The Snake River

We just returned from an awesome white water rafting trip at the Snake River. The water flow was record high. The river was running fast and high which made the rapids incredible!!!  Brent and I stayed back from the first run while the rest of the group went down. Brent hiked down to the river at a rapid called Lunchcounter to take pictures of our family.  Before the family got there he practiced on a few other boats. Lunch Counter is notorious for being big in high water. So in REALLY high water, it was like we had never seen it.  These first several pictures aren't of my family but they're awesome. So enjoy while you witness the incredible Snake River!

Glad I wasn't on their boat!!!

I think the dude in the skins is wishing the same thing

It's all fun and games....

until your boat hits a wall of water

and folds your boat in half

and your raft lands on top of you

Bummer

Begin epic theme music...

Enter my family

Enter 10 foot waves

Look at the picture below. My dad is on the left in the back with the sunglasses. Doesn't he look profesh? He has been doing this for 30 years. :) Same with my Mom in the front on the right. She's been doing it for 40 years. She may be a bit crazy, I mean she's got a fused spine and has MS, but somehow she did 3 river runs this time around.

You can see my two sisters Emily and Jenni in the front on the left

Brent's sister Heidi is the one screaming, "I'm gonna die! I'm gonna die!" You can't see the curling wave, but you can see the looks of terror/delight going into the rapid.

They made it!!! They were awesome and pioneers. We've never been down the river to my knowledge with flows this high. Little did they know that there were new sets of rapids ahead that were even more fun than Lunchcounter! Rock Garden used to be a bunch of shallow water with rocks sticking out all over.  Now it's a huge set of rapids similar to Lunchcounter. Oh man, it was a blast.

Were you wondering what happened to those people who flipped? They had to climb to the highway and wait for a ride to pick them up.

This view gives a nice feel for the size of the river

Brent saw three out of ten or so boats either flip or spill their occupants. Amazingly, our little family beat the odds and avoided any flipping or spilling during four runs of the river.

Coming tomorrow... pictures of the other portion of this trip. Unfortunately no pictures of Brent and I on the river. No one volunteered to use our camera and take pictures. Not sure why... ;)