Just a little blood...

1. Futaleufu River White Water Rafting, Chile.
2. Cherry Creek/Upper Tuolumne White Water Rafting, California
3. Zambezi River White Water Rafting, Zimbabwe.
4. Great Bend of the Yangtze River White Water Rafting, China.
5. Río Upano White Water Rafting, Ecuador.
6. Magpie River White Water Rafting, Quebec, Canada.
7. Karnali River White Water Rafting, Nepal.
8. Gauley River White Water Rafting, West Virginia
Back in 1992 Congress mandated that, between Labor Day and late October, Summersville Dam must release 2,800 cubic feet of water per second for the purely hedonistic pleasure of rafters and kayakers. For those 22 days, you can catch this Class V pool-and-drop river at full throttle; you’ll feel like a cowboy atop a bucking bronco. But don’t get thrown: The Gauley river runs so swiftly that it’s famous for its undercut ledges. Indeed, along the 28-mile run there are precious few spots between the 100 or so Class III-V rapids to catch your breath enough to enjoy the steep Appalachian scenery.
9. Middle Fork of the Salmon White Water Rafting, Idaho
10. Victoria Nile White Water Rafting, Uganda.

I rafted one of the top 10 rivers in the WORLD this weekend! I can hardly believe it myself. It was 9.5 hours of rafting and intense to say the least, but more than anything, an absolute BLAST! I would do it again in a heartbeat! The full trip was 28 miles with one stop at Sweet Falls for lunch and the chance to watch tons of rafts & kayaks fly through the falls - some successfully, some not-so-much. My raft made it through with everyone in-tact, well, almost. I ended up at the bottom of the falls with quite a bit of blood due to a "t-grip to the nose". I'm pretty sure it looked much worse than it was due to the mix of blood and water (I know, TMI) - that and hundreds of people staring at me. I never did see it, so I honestly don't know. I just had a bloody life vest the rest of the trip (again, gross, I know...just tellin' the facts), but not even a mark or bruise, so all in all, no biggie whatsoever. I will say I was exhausted by the end - due to no sleep the night before, being incredibly hungry, and paddling for hours. I can't even imagine how tired all of the kayakers must have been... Oh, and the video that I posted when I mentioned the trip a few weeks ago? Yeah, I saw almost all of that happen! Boats flipping, bending in half, people "popping" out after hitting a rock square on, you name it! It was CRAZY and again, absolutely amazing! It's by far the best rafting I have ever experienced. I'm thinking I'm going to have to add some of the destinations in the list above to my "places to see" so that I can raft them all!

Everything else about the weekend was great as well. It was GORGEOUS camping weather - mid 70's to low 80's during the day, with 50's at night...making it slightly chilly, but perfect weather to bundle up in a sleeping bag. There were around 3,000 people camping at the festival and tons of vendors/booths with great outdoor gear, giveaways, food, etc. My friend was able to snag 3 free tshirts for me as well as a few hats/visors. Who doesn't love free stuff??!! I'm pretty stoked! A group of us grilled out steaks (sooo good!) on Friday night, burgers on Saturday and just had a great time hanging out and meeting new people. If I wasn't moving farther west, I'm pretty sure I would return every year...and who knows, maybe I still will.

So, a total of 15 hours in the car was every bit worthwhile for the hours of fun in the great outdoors this weekend. Making it pretty hard to be sitting behind a desk today...but there's always more adventures still waiting to be had... ;-)