Day Two

Today was a day of uncontrollable laughter and childlike delight. We went whitewater rafting on the Colorado River through Glenwood Canyon. It was amazing; completely exhilarating. Most of the rapids were right away in the first two miles. They were fairly mild class 3, the most difficult possible are 5+, however, they were thrilling. The last eight miles of the trip was mostly a scenic float, with a few milder rapids mixed in, but we learned a lot of interesting facts about the river and the land and history surrounding it and we got to jump out and swim down some mild rapids.

 Passing a mountain that had been burning underground for fifteen years, we learned that there had been an accident in a coal mine which started a fire, as a result they blasted the entrance closed and shut the mine up. It was still full of coal though, so it keeps burning slowly, leaving dry spots in the snow during winter, and occasionally spitting up sparks on hot summer days. We passed “million dollar bridge,” which was actually a rickety cable car. A hermity old man went to the state asking them to build a bridge so he could more easily access his house, they said it would cost three million, which was way too much. He kept complaining and then asked for one million to build his own, they granted him his request and he used some of the money to buy a cable car, and the rest to buy a mansion in neighboring Aspen. He has since passed away and his home, as well as the cable car, still sits on the banks of the river. His wheelchair can be spotted outside, still perfectly polished, and mysteriously shifting spots every day.

Several different times, we were allowed to jump out and swim in the freezing water, even getting to float down some of the milder rapids. We also played some raft games in the deepest stretch (90 ft. deep). I stood on the front of the raft and tried to balance while my raftmates spun me around and inevitably spun me off. 

We passed a spot where another river merged with the Colorado and you could see the separate waters, refusing to mix together, for about a mile. The canyon walls soared around us, sometimes completely surrounding us with their ragged rocks. When we got closer I could see that they were covered in spider webs.

The guide offered to let us try steering for a deeper, milder stretch and I tried. It was fun, a lot like steering a canoe from the back only more difficult. We then passed some hot springs, but didn’t have time to stop and explore them. They boarder right up to the river, and we got to feel the difference in temperature, and smell the sulfur (yum, like rotting eggs). 

We shared the raft with two people from Colorado and our guide was from Ireland.

                We’re now headed for Southern Utah, where we’ll spend the night before heading to the Grand Canyon tomorrow.

Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get any pictures of the rafting, but I got some pretty mountain pictures in the car. Shoutout to Elizabeth and Jasmine for getting some of these pictures, and basically I'll be uploading some they take from here on out.

Gorgeous rainbow, but of course they never show up well on camera.