We had been looking forward to paddleboarding on this river for a long time. When we pulled up to our campground, I looked out the window at the clear water of the river, and excitement began welling up inside me.
On Wednesday morning we marched down to the river with all our paddles and SUP boards. We were ready to have an adventure. Our plan was to paddle upstream for as long as we could and then float down.
When we started out, we discovered that the river lives up to its name—there was certainly current! Every time we got to a section of rapids, we had to portage, or carry our SUP boards, along the banks till we got to calm water again.
When we got to about 5.5 miles upriver, we turned around to go downstream, and the fun began. We checked out a huge cave with an underground waterfall and saw several minks and otters. A bald eagle looked down on us from a branch.
When we got to one of the rapids, disaster struck. Mom and I were careening towards a snag and trying to steer away from it when we found ourselves slipping off into the icy water. We held onto the SUP and floated down until we were able to stumble to shore. When we had gathered ourselves, we found that my paddle and goggles were gone. Fortunately, Mom still had her paddle, and we headed back to the RV to get warm and dry.
