Took a day off from my photo assignment in Anchorage to get out of the city and shoot some pack rafting with two friends, Eric Parsons and Nora Tobin. We went up to the Eagle River and they ran a fun three mile stretch below Eagle Peak while I hiked through the woods along the bank with my camera and chased them down the river, all the while keeping an eye out for bears and moose.
The fun really began when I decided to borrow Eric’s drysuit and packraft so that I could have a turn running the river. Being a relative novice when it comes to whitewater sports, I quickly turned the run into an epic. I flipped and swam in the rapids twice, got the raft hung up on a log in the middle of a good sized drop and then lost my paddle after being washed completely under the boat between two large rocks. And where was Eric with his video camera during all of this? Taking a nap in the woods.
All turned out ok, and I can still smell the refreshing tinge of glacial water up my nose. Besides, I would have felt pretty lame if I came all the way to Alaska and didn’t have some kind of good wilderness adventure.
Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to go to REI and buy Eric a new paddle.
Whitewater River Rafting
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