Rapids

Rapids

               Scout Camp is always memorable. Whether it be for good or bad, there is usually some fond memories from the great outdoors. Stories vary from the awesome fifty miler that sounded fun for the first ten miles to the camp gone wrong when you forget a jacket and it starts to rain. Some have a great time catching twenty fish or eating steak for dinner. Most leaders in the meanwhile fretting whenever one of his scouts tries starting a fire or uses his razor sharp knife to carve something out of wood. Lucky for me one of the many scout camps I went to was a thrill and very memorable.

                We went to Moab for a summer scout camp two or so years back. It was nice and hot and we did a lot of things up there. We did things like hiking biking and even cooked crawdads. There are many memories that will last up there, but one of the best and most thrilling ones was the day we went up rafting the rapids.

                We were all jumping off the tin metal walls of the bus as the driver gave us instructions that sounded something like: blah, blah, blah. As the leaders showed us cool formations on the rocks our bishop told us a story. He told a story of when him and his family went up to Moab and did the same rapids as we were about to do. He told us that his wife was sucked under the water and was down for quite a while they were freaking out trying to find her. Finally they got her and refer to it ever since as the day she almost died.

               Well, being teenagers for about three seconds we felt a tingle go down our spines. Then we went back the excitement of the rapids. When the bus driver stopped we stampeded down and got our life jackets on and headed for the rafts. We had a guide that went with us to help us through the water. We were a big group and wanted to stay together. When I saw the raft this guy pulled out I looked around and saw the only thing comparatively close to the size of this thing was the bus. We were the elephant of the group and were excited to go on the water.

                The water was crazy and fun. It was rough and bumpy giving us some crazy air. We switched around spots and eventually I ended up on the very front end of the raft. I was so excited to be the first to feel the big waves and have water splash on my face. As I looked ahead I saw what looked like a water version of the grand canyon. At first I started, along with my fellow scouts, to yell in excitement. When I got up to it I started to scream. There was this big splash and one of the kids tried grabbing onto my life jacket. He couldn't hold on as he was engulfed by the monster. I felt my self in the air and thought I was a goner. I closed my eyes embracing the landing. When I looked up we were in half and I was in an unknown spot of the raft. We popped up out of the water and everyone looks around accounting for each other. They look at me and realize what had happened. They realize it before me as I stare in disbelief. I was on the other side of the raft laying down. That rapid had thrown me all the way across the raft to the other side. Again, being a scout I laugh and climb on to the front again waiting for another big wave.

               Now I really am glad we had the bus raft after all. River rafting is so fun and I would love to have that experience again. It's moments like these when you realize how fortunate we can be in this life. We can do some crazy things and somehow we live to tell the tale. This experience has helped me appreciate life and the fun things we have the opportunity to do.