Taming the Mighty River
“I just want to go whitewater rafting and maybe ziplining.”
These were the only requests of Benjamin as we neared his summer visit. Ben is a precocious kid, but not at all needy. He’ll turn down ice cream if he doesn’t want it, and aside from an appetite for books, rarely asks for anything. So his request was something.
“Buddy, Dad lives in Colorado,” I responded. “That we can definitely do.”
There is a desire when your kid visits to do All The Things and do them now. But you really have to pace yourself. The cost of living here in Colorado is insane, thanks to its status as a playground for the wealthy, with the vast majority of regular people like myself just trying to make ends meet.1 But I also wanted to get his trip started off with a bang and if he liked it, allow us enough time to do it again.
I wasn’t kidding when I told him of the ease in finding a place to go rafting; the difficulty was in choosing a place. There are places all over the state where you can go. I chose to stay nearby and bring us to Canon City, which is about 45 minutes away, making for an easy excursion.
Ben was born in Wichita, where the locals call the river there the Ar-KANSAS mostly because there’s nothing else to talk about in the state. The same river originates in Colorado, only the locals here pronounce it correctly. That would be our ride.
Ultimately I chose Echo Canyon River Expeditions because it was a bit cheaper than its competitors and by my logic it was in operation because it offered similar quality. We also had a coupon for $20 off, which turned out to be negligible.
I suppose I must be naive because I reasoned the $119 per person for three hours was expensive but not that bad.2 However, I forgot about the extra fees that would inevitably be added on, much like at a hotel where they bang you for $45 dollars for parking or at a restaurant where they charge $3.89 for soda. I am a simpleton, you see, so the additions annoy the shit out of me. But this is gonna happen anywhere, so $256.14 later we were booked.
We arrived in time Sunday morning to get our wetsuits—the water was about 60 degrees and they were highly encouraged—and prep ourselves for the ride. I was not expecting to wear a XXXL sized wetsuit, which I reasoned was because of my muscle mass and totally not for my love of bottomless chips & salsa.
We took a ride on white school bus for about 20 minutes to get to the launching point. We would be accompanied on this trip by a nice family from Houston. The mom was a lawyer down there and judging by the rest of their itinerary (they flew in for a couple weeks and would be running in an Aspen race later) were of a socioeconomic class unattainable by yours truly. But they were nice folks, and had a sweet kid with them who was about 6 years old. He’d ride in the middle of the raft.
Our guide, naturally, was a 26-year-old former football player named Luke, who hailed from either Mississippi or Mount Olympus. Luke did not need a wetsuit; Luke guided the frozed water shirtless, warmed perhaps only by the confidence endowed upon one’s self by gods. Luke worked here seasonally, living the dream life in Colorado during the summers and then returning home to the South in the fall doing God knows what else. I feel at 46 and failing jealous of guys like Luke who are busy creating memories in their prime. I missed that boat, though now oddly find myself literally in another boat with them.
Our guide turned out to be quite terrific. He was a personable dude, sharing stories not only of himself and what it’s like to be a single-syllabled rafting guide, but also of the history and nature of the region. One of the things I liked about Echo Canyon’s operation is that they clearly spent a lot of time training their staff. There .was another boat on our trip led by Leah, who was the leader of the two parties. She was also excellent, and in line with Luke, likely a descendant of Athena or some other deity. Maybe it’s the water. Anyway, moving on.
A half-day’s trip consists of about three hours’ adventure, two of which are on the river itself. I chose a beginner course, which featured rapids of Class II, III, and IV. My combination of muscle/chips & salsa affinity meant that I was seated up front and left, while Benjamin was actually in the back next to River Thor, which you can see below.
The great thing about this particular course is that there was plenty of downtime to just float the river and talk. I’ve taken pictures of the the Arkansas before, but this was fun just to experience it in another way:
Did we get thrown out? Nope, thankfully. But there were a few times when I worried I might. It turns out that Mexican appetizers will indeed affect one’s balance.
And as for those wetsuits? A godsend. Let’s just say that being up front meant taking the brunt of some of those rapids.
That said, our trip was amazing. And despite my grumbling about costs, worth every penny. There was a sense of satisfaction that I was the one to provide this experience for Benjamin. We did this together. And when he returns to Florida, and I inevitably weep my own river on August 2nd, I’ll have his opinion of the day to remember.
More adventures await.
I’ll write more about the class dynamics of this place later, but it’s a frustrating aspect of living here. There are simply some places that I do not go.
An entire day’s admission costs about as much
Good work, Dad 🥰