Day 31
Friday, July 8
Denali River Rafting


We woke up to overcast skies and temperatures in the low 50's. What a crummy morning for river rafting! Fortunately we weren't going until 11:15 so we hoped for a clearing. I fixed breakfast of eggs, sausage, and pancakes. Am I ever glad we had a big breakfast because we didn't have the opportunity to eat again until after 6:00. The bus to take us to the river arrived at 11:15 sharp and 25 hearty souls loaded for our 4 hour trip. Our first stop was at the Outdoor River Adventures center to sign waivers, get our dry suits and river booties, and get dressed.
 This was one of the funniest parts of the day. The guides circulated among all of us helping pull on dry suits, booties, and life jackets.The funniest part of the whole process was pulling the suit up and sticking our heads out of the neck gasket.
I told people that it was like being born - that rubber gasket stretches slowly over your head and suddenly you pop through.  
 

We all felt like we were suiting up for a space mission. After we were all dressed I called all the women over for a group picture. First we took a picture of all of them facing me.
  Then I told them to turn around, put one hand on their hip, and say "Honey, does this make by butt look big?" It was hysterical when all 12-14 of them did it.

After a short bus ride we arrived at the Nenana River approximately 11 miles south of Denali National Park. The head guide gave a brief safety talk and we were ready to load our boats. The sun finally came out so we could enjoy a semi-warm ride down the river.

19 of the 25 chose to go in rafts with a guide who would row them along. All they had to do was sit and hold on. The guide made every effort to avoid the fast water, deep troughs and high waves. Meanwhile, Ken, Carol, Bruce, Robert, Ron and I chose the paddle boat.  
  We were with a guide who told us when to paddle and how many strokes to take as we headed for the fastest water, deepest troughs and highest waves.  

Needless to say, we got drenched many times by the murky gray, silty water. The water was running about 8,000 CFM (cubic feet per minute) which is moderately fast moving water. The water was so silty and murky because it had just come from a glacier about 80 miles away and it carried lots of "glacial flour" or the sediment that comes from the glacier grinding rocks as it moves.  The water was also very cold - about 37 degrees. We were all certainly glad to be wearing dry suits. Our ankles, wrists and neck was all encased in a rubber gasket that kept water out. The suit, completely made of neoprene, kept you dry but not necessarily warm.
 
As we went down the river our guide directed us to terrific troughs of water. I learned very quickly to wait until we emerged from a wave to holler or yell. One mouthful of cold dirty water taught me that! Bruce and I took the lead position in our raft which put is in the two front seats. In this position we were the first to get hit by the water and we effectively blocked the major part of the wave from those sitting behind us. After a while Ron said, "I don't know why I needed a wet suit; I'm not even getting wet." He shouldn't have said that. The next major wave was all his. The guide turned the raft just as we got to it and Ron got drenched. The guide was terrific at turning the raft at the last minute to be sure everyone in the boat got drenched repeatedly. What a rush!! It was so much fun!!

Meanwhile, Jenna, Roni, Bet, Cindy, Dick, Diane, Ron, Jackie, and Chris floated serenely down the river enjoying the beautiful scenery and listening to the stories told by the guide.   
About 1 1/2 hours into the trip, we arrived at Denali National Park which was the half way point of our trip. Ron, Jackie, and Chris chose to leave the river at that point so three strangers joined the others for the 2nd part of the trip. Part 2 was much faster with higher waves and deeper troughs. We all rafted another 11 miles and ended our tour around 5:30.

The scenery was majestic!.
 
  Steep high volcanic mountains flanked both sides of the river. In places the canyon narrowed making for extremely fast water and beautiful rock walls.

The Alaska Railroad runs on a ledge high above the river. As we were nearing the end, the train from Denali to Fairbanks came by. The first dozen cars belonged to the Alaska Railroad. They were followed by train cars belonging the Holland America and Princess cruise lines. People who were completing the final leg of their Alaska cruise stood on the balconies of the train waiving to us as they passed. We returned their waves with a 6 paddle high five. It was a beautiful sight to see the river covered with rafts, the high rock walls and the Alaska Railroad going by. This is the same railroad that Jenna and I rode when we came to Alaska about 10 years ago. 

After our travel briefing we went with Robert and Bet to the Salmon Bake for dinner. They chose to have Salmon and Jenna and I had Shrimp. I usually hesitate to order shrimp because it usually is only a 1/2 dozen and I want mo
re. This was only 6, but they were 6 BIG shrimp. It was scrumptious!

There are no pictures today because we have to take the waterproof camera to Wal-Mart to have them developed. We'll try to do that tomorrow. Tomorrow we go to Anchorage for three days. I'll let you know about the trip and see some pics tomorrow. Till then - Happy Trails!!