Show Page 5 May 25 1995 CEU students learn the power of the Colorado River raging water This happened and the river was no longer some abstract knowledge it was real and it was dangerous photos and text by Kimberly Mattingly The Colorado River was the coldest wettest most dangerous rollercoaster I have ever been on On the weekend of May 7 a group of CEU students discovered the sheer strength and power of the Colorado River I was one of them The first day we set off to a shining sun and a gentle rolling river I knew that we wouldn't go over any actual rapids that day and sat hack to enjoy (he changing scenery We enjoyed the serenity of the river and after lunch one of the ratters ahead of us pointed out two eagles circling overhead They were beautiful they stood as a reminder that we were no longer in die havoc and chaos of midterms and deadlines We were in a part of what is left of the wilderness We pulled into a camp ground and alter setting up camp we were released to go hiking swimming or to help make the spaghetti dinner Kara Forsyth mentioned "It's amazing you can always feel it thc river even when you can't sec it or hear it" Alter dining on spaghetti and peach cobbler we built a fire and sal telling jokes Most of these people I hardly knew but we all seemed to form a bond of friendship We were all from greatly diverse backgrounds and were given a chance to look at life from a whole new angle We teased each other laughed together and looked forward Unfortunately the weight of the third raft broke us free of the eddy and we were pushed into the next rapid 6-- togoing through the rapids together I was immensely tired and went to bed early It was the earliest I had to bed gone since starling &' life-lin- Two rafts overturned on the second day of the trip Wc were then forced to slop trying to help them I and concentrate on getting through the next set of the raft to catch up with us to sec if we could reach rapids ourselves The next rapid was called “Surprise" We went any of them to pull them to safely Lee was “Get a the the with bear raft! voice to of through it and once on to the other side wc saw shouting ralll!" two girls on the rocks next to a smaller boat As Get to the Leeed- well as I ean remember the two girls were Billie Kline and Lynn Wc pulled in on the other side of the nick and stayed there for the two to get across the nick and into the boat Tliey were cold and it was hard for them to get acmss So Karim Lallali got out to help them over They all made it back into the raft and wc gave them any dry clothes that wc had Wc pushed off continuing downstream and on the shore lay one of the rafts They said everyone was OK and to catch up with the other have never felt so helpless and concerned as felt then We could only wait for our friends and I raft Tlic next rapid was the worst one and neither Lynn nor Billy were too excited to go down it Lynn even said that she wanted to walk amund It The college moon came in and out of the clouds as I drifted off to : -- was called "Skull" because of the skull you could sec on the mountain Halfway through there was a giant eddy whirlpool and wc could sec oars sleep The next morning ‘ I awoke to the sounds of people cooking and the slight drizzle of rain Breakfast was a requirement to go on the rapids and it consisted of hot cakes bacon eggs squash and cooked tomatoes After eating we loaded up the rafts and prepared for a trip down some white water rapids Lee Johnson our tour guide pulled out sonic wet suits asking if people wanted to use one We shoved off singing (if you can call it that) Bonanza I could feel the excitement and anticipation of riding the first wild rapids of my life build within me I knew the water was powerful and dangerous It was an exciting rush to go over my first rapids River water crashed down from above us and I could feel my heart heating faster After getting through them I expressed my excitement and was reprimanded because that was the "small one" We then went down the next three rapids "Marble" "Staircase" and "Funnel Falls" They were awesome compared to the first little one The river was so many things at once It was I frightening fun and it demanded respect knew all kill us that the river had the power to yet you don't realize what it means until you see the two rafts behind you both pop over and your new friends fighting to keep their heads above the boat that had pulled ashore to help Everyone piled off of the boats and started looking everyone else over One of the guides had dislocated his shoulder and relocated it again His wife Lynn went into deep hypothermia and wc all got her out of her wet clothes and into dry ones Wc later found out that she had not eaten breakfast Lynn and her husband were the ones who had it the worst Everyone else had mild hypothermia and were piled together to keep warm Lee pulled out some hot Tang and wc made sandwiches While we were waiting for die rest of our group to conic down another small boat came down this one had also overturned and he was headed straight e and for the next rapid Wc threw him a managed to pull him into shore The next raft to come down was the last raft in our group Lise Kortcback was on the raft and she said Before I could even get off of the raft I had a sandwich in my hand As sixin as the other raft joined up with us Lee sent Kara John and me down the river ahead of them Our trip down the river was complete No one expected one raft to lip over let alone two Lee had never had a raft tip over and he has been a CEU river guide for over I 5 years We had good equipment and good guides it was just one of those rare occurrences that everyone knows can thc first of the two rafts caught up with us everyone was yelling “grab the raft" so we all took hold of the cord and held it as tightly as we could through the bitter cold About Three feet away was Martin Hansen clinging to the raft I just wanted to reach out and pull him into the raft hut I knew I couldn't reach him so instead we continued to hold on to the raft the cord cutting into our hands Yet though it hurt wc were all working together Wc were no longer forced to stand aside helpless and watch as our friends struggled to survive "The first rapids were kind of little wc just barley got wet" Martin remembered “Then suddenly wc came to (his one where the water just went straight down like about 5 or 6 fat then up again Our boat came in kind of sideways so when we canic down and up it just tipped over Then (lie boat came on lop of me So I was trapped under but after I don't know how long I got out and just bobbing up and down inside of it Kara asked if wc would go get them (ml Lee answered that if wc did wc would not he able to get back out We made it out of Skull and there were our two other boats up on shore along with another small T happen Different people took the experience in different ways “You feel really close to the people after you have done the river with them" Kara said “At least for me (lie reason I do it is because it is dangerous I mean if it is sale what is the point of doing it?" John Barrett said Lise Kortcback said that she doesn't plan on going on another river run but she might change her mind Others said that (hey would not go hack Martin said that he is going on the next run the Green river but it will probably be easier “So when is the next one because I will he there Me against the river the fight the revenge number two" Karim Lallali said I myself would love to go back I enjoyed the camping the relaxation and the genuine thrill of the ri vcr Also Lee said the river is usually warmer and safer than the day wc went It is really a matter of personal choice what is right for one person may not be right for another What one person considers fun may not sound enjoyable to someone else To me the river is another world that awakens al of the many moods of life I M K 4 I v-- U s u :: W A I k V stayed with the boat" "You realize" said lisc Korleback "how you arc and how little you can do in that water" After a long time that was probably just a moment the other raft caught up with us and the three rafts joined Wc were hoping that wc could hold the raft steady for people to jump back on Students relax and try to stay warm in the cool wet afternoon sunshine i v |