0 In Travel/ Washington

Rafting the Elwha in Washington

This summer, while on a road trip with my dad and brother, we decided to go rafting on a whim!  We went rafting with Olympic Raft and Kayak outside of Port Angeles They were really great to us!  None of us had ever been rafting before and they were really patient with us and answered all our questions.

Rafting wasn’t something that I was particularly excited about, and honestly I was a little intimidated, but my dad was really excited to do something different.  So, I put my wetsuit, jacket, life-vest and helmet on and got in the van to our launch site.  We chatted with fellow-midwesterners: both the people working and the other rafters!  It was exciting to hear from the workers how they were able to drop things and move to pursue their interests.  It really inspired me.

We launched our raft and we were floating down the river.  I know I had this ridiculous smile plastered on my face through the whole trip because I was just having a blast!  We went through a couple of areas of larger rapids and I felt like a pro paddling our way through them, my heart racing in my chest!

The highlight of this rafting trip for me, though, was near the end.  We stopped the boat at the edge of a river with this big cliff and my dad and I both climbed up that big cliff and dropped down into the 36 degree Elwha River!  At only 4 degrees above freezing it was the strangest feeling when I hit the water.  It made me stop breathing, and I felt like it was taking FOREVER to get back up to the surface!  I finally did, though and swam over to the boat and could not wait for them to pull me out of that water!  Once I was back in the boat I got to watch my dad (who by the way, is seriously the coolest dad, ever) make the same bone-chilling jump.  Let me just say, I have never seen my dad swim so fast in my life!  He said he also felt like the air was just sucked out of his chest; we also both agree it’s one of our favorite experiences.

I jumped from that edge in the top right corner!  

My awesome dad doing the jump!

Cory, my dad and I all loved this experience and I urge anyone who hasn’t rafted to do so!  It’s so much fun and really a great memory to share.  If you’re in the Olympic area I highly recommend Olympic Raft and Kayak!

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