And Now for Something Completely Different

I’ve been asked, How many years have you been operating Otter Rafting Adventures? They always give me this quizzical look when I say, For 30 years. I often ask back, Why should I quit? I thoroughly enjoy it.

With so many variables to the way a trip runs, each trip is different in some way.

The people are always different. Yes , we have lot’s of repeat guests but there are always new faces that join in. And every one brings some different quality to the group.

For the river, there is a lot of variability there as well. It is always changing. Usually the river is cold but there are the rare days it can warm up by 4 degrees! It doesn’t hurt as much if you fall in.

The water level cycles up and down throughout the day as the melt rate changes in the mountains. There is usually less melt at night. With this variation you have features , such as waves, rapids and play spots, that appear and disappear. Any rainfall in the watershed will also make a contribution.

As the season progresses you can see the flowering of the wildflowers at ever increasing altitudes. They seem to move up into the hills giving their display of Paintbrush, wild Tiger Lily's, Mountain Blue Belles, Daisies and countless other species.

We are always finding different fossils. We’ve learned to keep an eye on the ground when scouting the rapids or playing at the jumping rock.

Lastly, there is your guide. Each guide has a different style of running the rapids – intentionally or not! Here is an example of Brayden and Piers at the Big Rock rapid. The different angle of the raft indicates where they are with respect to the rock.