Taming the Snake River, Jackson, Wyoming

I'm in front in yellow

Air paddling

   I enjoy a good white water rafting ride. You can judge that by my exploits down the Zambezi River and the Nile in Africa. So when my dad mentioned the possibility of some early season high water rafting down the snake river here in Jackson I thought it sounded right up my alley.

  I didn't expect too much craziness from the way everyone was talking, especially since the entire trip takes less than an hour, but due to the high water caused by all the snow melt from the Grand Tetons it was a blast, and enough to get my nerves going!

About to get a face full of ice cold water

  I went with Lewis and Clark rafting company and the guide Aaron was great. He had just gotten back from a big rafting trip through the Grand Canyon and was gearing up for his 15th season on the Snake. He was really excited for the water to come down a little so the standing wave at Lunch Counter would start working for river surfing. He had just gotten a new board and was pretty jazzed to talk to another surfer about it.

  Lunch Counter is the big rapid and there were some massive waves that we hit, almost flipping the entire raft. After hitting the first big rapid which you can see in the pictures above, we were hit by a side wave which is the one which raised the safety kayaks eyebrows. I noticed he came close after and softy said, 'that was close' to our guide in the back. But Aaron was jazzed up as were we all. It may not be the Great Zambezi but this is what rafting is all about!