Taming the Arkansas River – Day 3

July 21 – Monday (Very Hot, Dry, Sunny, 90’s)

I did not sleep very well last night. I was up a couple of times and was thinking about the trip down the gorge. Not ever rafting it left me wondering why they only allowed 16 yo and over down it. Shahir and I had one last chat at breakfast. We had French toast, fruit and Mrs. Butterworth syrup. We also had Kona coffee again. We needed to head out early to get to the launch point. Sanet packed up the van and trailer and our family packed up our personal gear and we headed for the last put-in. It showed a picture of the Pinnacle Rock to Centennial Park run we would do today. 19.1 miles total. The water flow is about 1670 CFS as of 7/20. To give you an idea of how fast that is, the park service will not allow commercial rafting in the gorge when it exceeds 3000 CFS. In fact one part of the run can not be done when the water is that high due to a low bridge. One must portage around it. So most of the rapids ran like a class lower but if not executed properly had the same consequence as when the water is high. The most difficult rapids we will do is Three Rocks, Sunshine Falls and Sledgehammer. Shahir likes sledgehammer the best of all named rapids on the Colorado stretch of the Arkansas River.

The first section was 9.1 miles. The rapids were named as follows: 1) Tree Forks class 3-4, 2) Three Rocks class 4-5, 3) Five Points class 3-4, 4) Spike Buck class 3-4, 5) Sharks Tooth class 3-4, 6) Double Dip class 3-4 and 7) Puppy class 2-3.

For the last day, we all put on our wet suits, booties, splash jackets and vests; we also brought our helmets. Commercial boaters must use them on Royal Gorge rapids. We proceeded down the last leg of our journey before Royal Gorge at a leisurely pace. Many opportunities to swim, float backwards, spin and of course run some rapids to get wet. This part of the Arkansas is way down stream and there is little drop in elevation. It’s the part that many people like to fish. We saw many people doing just that. The scenery was beautiful, despite the privately owned homes and the road so close to the river. I was still not sure what the last leg of the day would be. Sanet had to meet us at lunch for us to run the Gorge. We had pictures taken as we hit a huge rapid. It must have been three rocks. Honestly we had so much fun I can’t remember.

We came up to our docking place for lunch. Echo had a permanent tent there and Paul and his grandson Dillion made all the food. Not just for us but for all of the Echo boaters that were doing the Gorge. It was here that we met another guide Cameron. He was younger than Shahir with less experience but fun to talk to. He told us a guide had flipped his raft at one of the rapids, I believe it was sharks tooth. The people were a little surprised but willing to continue. He also told us Shahir’s nickname for the first time. I guess his full name sounds something like Shear Mayhem. We had cold cuts, mac salad, watermelon, lemonade, chips and homemade salsa. It all was good. Even the squirrels liked the chips. They let the boys feed them. I was getting a little antsy because I had not seen Sanet and without her we would be riding the train through the gorge. Soon she showed up and I knew our afternoon was set. Shahir motioned for us to leave so we all packed up put on our helmets and started down the river. Sanet and I were in front and Therese, Isaiah and Ethan behind us. We did a paddle check and Shahir talked to us about how to get out of the rapids in case we would fall in.

This part of the trip included the following rapids: 1) El Primero class 2-3, 2) El Segundo class 2-3, 3) pumphouse rapids class ?, 4) sunshine falls class 5 (pictures taken), 5) sledgehammer class 4-5 (great rapid), 6) squeeze box class 3-4 rapid, 7) Narrows class 3-4, 8) Wall Slammer class 3-4, 9) corner pocket class ?, 10) boat eater class 3-4, 11) soda fountain class 3-4, and 12) pipeline class 2-3. I believe our photo was at sunshine falls.

Wow what a ride. The combination of great rapids, small boat and cold refreshing water makes this one of the best rapids in the river. We had three more just like this one. Sledgehammer proved to be as good as it gets and going through the narrows was just gorgeous! We took many pictures as we exited the narrows and looked up at the Royal Gorge bridge. It is the highest free span bridge in the world. You can see the bridge in the red circle in the following pictures. We also saw in several places the old wooden water pipeline the early Americans built to get water from the Arkansas to local towns and crops. It was the only source of water for a long time and without the Arkansas, this area and many others would never had been farmed.

It was a great run and after it was all done, I had Shahir snap a picture of the winning team, we obeyed the first 2 rules of 3 of rafting on Royal Gorge; 1) Stay in the raft at all times, 2) Be sure to stay in the raft at all times. We did not need the third which is swim to shore as fast as possible if the raft flips.

We had plenty of calmer waters to swim. The cool refreshing water now 10 degrees warmer at 65 degrees was refreshing and invigorating. The boys and I had a blast floating down the river while Shahir, Mary Therese and Sanet drove the raft.

We took out at Centennial Park. It was a joy to watch Shahir and my boys, who had bounded for these three days enjoy a little fun. Remember I told you that for three days the boys had wanted to get Shahir wet. Well today they obliged him … or maybe it was the other way around but I had a big smile on my face knowing that our little family was such a good testimony to this man and I hope he will not soon forget our Christian faith, our family commitment, my Kona coffee and the fun times we had.

We drove back to Canon City where we left the motorhome 3 days ago, but first had to stop at the little gourmet coffee place in Buena Vista for one last Kona/mocha frappachino.. I was thinking about the trip, and the Lord, and how he smashed my expectations using one of his most awesome creations…water as well as the land around it. We all kind of had a hard time leaving. We decided to see the Royal Gorge from above before leaving Canon City and found a KOA campground to stay the night. I went to bed and dreamed of rafting!

We went into town that evening and had a pizza from Pizza Madness. They make their pizzas from scratch. It was recommended by Sanet. Yum, yum!

Family quotes about the trip:

Ethan says “I thought the trip was cool and liked it a lot”. “I am glad we got to get you (Shahir) wet”. “If you (Shahir) have any questions about movies call me anytime and I will tell you about them”.

Isaiah says “ I owe you (Shahir) a dunkin donut without the donut”. “I think the trip was fun”.

Therese says “Thanks (Shahir) for making me feel safe and giving me a thrill of a lifetime”.