 |
May 2003 Volume XV Issue 1 Abridged Edition |
|
Grand CanyonBy Cindy Piro When I started out on the trip down the mighty Colorado River through the Grand Canyon, I figured I'd be doing it all from a motorized raft. Then I was introduced to the Shredder. I describe the Shredder as a mini raft in which two people sit on it's two side tubes to paddle and put their feet in the middle cavity to brace themselves. It just bounces over the water and is the most forgiving water vessel I have ever been on. I started right out in it the first day and was rather enjoying myself. One of the young crew members, Bob, thought it looked like fun and asked if he could go with me. I was pleased to have him as he is a good strong paddler with knowledge of paddling rafts. We were doing quite well. So when we came to the first big rapid of the trip -House Rock- and he said we'd have not problem, I didn't even hesitate . We found the tongue and entered right on and then we were in the rapid. I'd never seen water this big before. I think I might have even started to panic, but I kept paddling hard, as that is what Bob was directing me to do. I could hardly tell where I was. We seemed to be doing fine; and then the Shredder went sideways, and we hit the next wave broad side (my side). The Shredder bounced up: I fell into the cavity of it, and bounced Bob right out. That young man kept his wits about him, and held on to his paddle with one hand, grabbed the rope on the side with his other hand and pulled himself right back in . We finished the rapid. As I said before, the Shredder is most forgiving.
|
||
