Whitewater Saturday

During the planning stages of our trip to Wells Gray Park,  I booked a Saturday afternoon rafting trip with  Interior Whitewater Expeditions (IWE).  Once there, we planned a leisurely morning, with a  visit to the Clearwater Farmers' Market, lunch in town and a wild ride on the river in the afternoon.

As we headed towards town we took our time along Clearwater Valley Road, stopping at a few of the viewpoints we had rushed by earlier in the week.  If you drive up Corral Road near the 31 km mark you'll catch a nice view of Pyramid Mountain.

The CV Road crosses three canyons located fairly close together and we stopped after the bridges to have a good look at Canyons One and Two.  

 Apparently at Canyon Two you can hike down from the edge of the road and walk along the creek inside the gorge.

Though the market had lovely flowers, produce and handmade jewelery it was fairly small so it didn't take long to look around.  Since it was right next door to IWE, we decided to see if there was room on the 10:00 expedition.  It was about 9:30 and as luck would have it, there was a spot for us.

Ang, our fearless Aussie leader selects our wetsuits.

Ang encouraged us to make sure our shoes were on tight, pointing to the unclaimed footwear that had washed up on the riverbanks after people had been dumped from the raft on previous expeditions.

While Cade and Tyler unloaded our gear and prepared the raft for launching, we went for a short hike upriver.  We stopped at the class 5/6 rapids known as The Kettle.  In the past, a number of kayakers lost their lives here.  Check out this link and head to the 4 minute mark to watch video of some whitewater kayakers running the Kettle.  The first one makes it look like a piece of cake but there are a couple of nail biters afterwards.

I'm calm on the outside, more than a little nervous on the inside.

 Our companions on the trip were couple from Edmonton and their buddies from Germany and Australia.

 Cade led the way, not straying too far in case of emergency.

First rapids.  Not sure if it was The Mosh Pit or The Wall.

Part of the trip involved pulling over to a rocky bank, climbing up a fairly steep rock face and jumping off a 7m cliff...if you so desired.  That's me on the right, picking my way carefully to the top.

I'm the one clutching the dead tree trunk and hubby is behind me.  Three of the guys jumped, one went a second time adding a flip, but the photographer missed it. It doesn't look quite so high from this angle and I kinda wish I'd jumped too.  On the way down I ended up with bruises on the inside of one bicep when I pinched it against a log that I braced myself on.  At the bottom I slipped on some loose rock and ended up with some lovely bruises on my bum.  Hubby didn't jump either but managed to return to the raft undamaged. 

I really enjoyed the experience.  Because it was later in the season the rapids weren't quite as wild  and I wasn't worried at all.   I chose Interior Whitewater Expeditions because of their high rating on Trip Advisor and all the comments that said how safety conscious they are. I felt very confident in our guides, they explained everything well and I felt prepared for any emergency. It was also nice to have a CD to purchase at the end of the trip with photos taken by Tyler and Cade.

Afterwards, we enjoyed a tasty lunch of Mediterranean wraps at The Kettle, IWE's on site restaurant.  Stay tuned for the next Wells Gray post that follows our afternoon hike up to Trophy Mountain Flower Meadows.

To catch up on other posts about our Wells Gray Park holiday check out the following links.

• Mountains, Lakes and Rivers
• Water Falling Everywhere 
• Cabins Waterfalls and Horses  
• Enjoying Alpine Meadows Resort