Tag Archive for 'flipped raft'

High water

The Animas flooded its banks today,

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and with the high water I went to Smelter Rapids, the town’s best white water. 

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It was big water today, one of the highest flow days of the year.  There was one kayaker out there, and maybe twenty people watching.

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Can you see the joy? 

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The balancing of immense forces?  This guy is likely Olympic caliber–there are a lot of world champion and Olympic kayakers living here

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and I assumed everyone was there to watch his perfect form.  Instead,

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the main attraction was a group of four commercial rafts due at 2:15.  Two rafts made it through intact, one raft lost and recovered a passenger, one raft flipped…

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and it was really entertaining.