Tick It Before You Kick It

Rafting the Royal Gorge Gone Terribly Wrong

September 05, 2024 • Alexandra Lauren | The Bucket List Mermaid • Season 1 • Episode 13

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Check out the show notes for resources to get you rafting the Royal Gorge (if you dare😎) by clicking here. You can also see the footage of our perilous rafting journey...

❌DISCLAIMER for this episode: In this episode, we discuss a travel story that is very serious. We talk about injuries and close calls, one of which involves a teenager. Please listen at your own discretion☺️ 

Still with us? Let's get adventuring! 

💦What happens when a thrilling whitewater rafting adventure takes an unexpected turn? 

📸Picture this: my mother and I, filled with excitement, set out to conquer the rapids of the Royal Gorge, Colorado, only for nature to show us (very harshly) that it was always in charge. 

This episode of "Tick It Before You Kick It" is packed with adrenaline, unexpected detours, and valuable lessons about the raw power of nature.

🛶Imagine the sheer terror of being ejected from a raft, trapped beneath it, gulping for air while the rapids roar around you. We found ourselves in that exact situation, and the chaos that ensued was nothing short of a nightmare. 

😰With emergency whistles blaring and guides shouting instructions, we were in a desperate struggle to rescue everyone, including a young boy clinging to a flipped raft. 

🏞️Reflecting on our near-miss adventure, we share the story of a young boy, who narrowly escaped drowning, thanks to the heroic efforts of our guides. 

😇This harrowing experience underscored the importance of safety and caution, despite the thrill of the ride. 

The intensity of the experience highlights the perilous beauty of whitewater rafting and the need for utmost respect for the river's force😱

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Alexandra:

That little voice, full on, barged in and said girl, you are almost not with us anymore. One more fat chicken in the water going over the line. Hey there, adventurers, this is Alexandra with Ticket Before you Kick it the podcast where we talk about everything that should be on your adventure bucket list, as well as some travel stories. So in this week's episode, we are going to be talking about a travel story. That's not necessarily a good travel story. I mean, it's good as in entertaining. However, it definitely was a close call and we, as adventurers, we always take a little bit of risk when we are adventure traveling, and this is a very good example. So it is definitely a story that we can tell and we can learn from it. And it's Whoo.

Alexandra:

This one is a bit of a doozy, I am NOT gonna lie. So I am joined here today by my mother who, as you know, travels with me in an RV, and we decided that we wanted to go rafting. And a bit of a disclaimer before we get started. This might be upsetting to some viewers. What we are going to be talking about is quite serious. There was a happy ending at the end, so keep that in mind as you are listening to this story, but it could be a little bit unsettling for some of you, so just keep that in mind. Anyway, let's get started.

Alexandra:

So, rafting, rafting. I love rafting. We're Coloradans, we love to raft, we love to get outdoors, we love to hike, so, and Colorado is known for its rafting. I would hope so, right, yeah, or we could just be biased, yeah, maybe, maybe we're just biased because we love it so much. But yeah, in Buena Vista, the Royal Gorge is known for its rafting. Yeah, we've got a lot of really great kayaking rafting spots, and so we actually planned the spot so that we could go whitewater rafting In Buena Vista, beunivista this debate again. Buena Vista, buena Vista. Just let us know how y'all locals did, please let us know how to say this.

Alexandra:

As I said, we are Colorado locals and we are confused by this. So we were in whatever Beuny, peuny, beuny, that's are confused by this. So we were in whatever beauty, puny beauty, that's what somebody told us, and we were going to go rafting the yes, the browns canyon, browns, canyon, I think there's. The numbers are pretty intense as well, of course. We want the most intense that we can give, of course. So that's what we do, you know it's what we do. But so we were going to go.

Alexandra:

But then, uh, if you've listened to a couple episodes back, we got evacuated by a forest fire. So shout out to Viator. Because I called him about two hours before we were supposed to get there and I was like, hey, listen, we are supposed to be rafting and we're evacuating. And he was like, oh well, I need to check with the company first, just to make sure that you're telling the truth. And I said, bro, just Google it, just Google the forest fire. And 30 seconds later he comes back. Oh yeah, we'll give you a full refund.

Alexandra:

So we got relocated to Cripple Creek, which Cripple Creek is amazing, by the way, yeah, and awesome. We did a podcast on Cripple Creek, so listen to it. Because we didn't mean to go there. It was just halfway between one point that we were at and one point we wanted to be, and it was just super fun. But they also have Royal Gorge there, which is, wow, about an hour away, yeah, but it's pretty close to the Royal Gorge, out of all things, considered Great place to raft. You know, you've got these walls that are just Walls of rock and amazing views and just this little river that just goes down the middle and it's supposed to be some pretty good class three, class four, rapids.

Alexandra:

And for those of you who don't know, the class system of rapids goes from one to six, and they explained it to us like this so number one is you're just like sitting in a bathtub splashing around. Enjoy, enjoying the view taking 101 year old grandma yep, it'd be great. A family float, yeah, yeah. And class six rapids is you're going off niagara falls, except you are fire. The water falls on fire and everything is on fire. It's just pure chaos. So that's how they explained it. Commercial rafting normally stops at four. A class five is pretty intense for a commercial rafting company, so keep that. A class five is pretty intense for a commercial rafting company, so keep that in mind.

Alexandra:

Another thing that you should keep in mind as we talk about this is another rafting term for the water level that's going in there is the cubic feet per second and basically, if you draw a line across the river, if it's 600, that means that 600 about. They said big chickens or basketballs. I like big chickens, so we're gonna go with that, with that. So if it's 600 cfs, that means that 600 big fat chickens are crossing that line at one time. So, at 3200 cfs, that means that they have closed the real gorge because it's just too dangerous. They're just a commercial raft. Just a commercial raft. If you are crazy and I know some people who've done it they raft it when it's 4,000, 4,500. That's insane. Yeah, yeah, yeah, that, yeah it's.

Alexandra:

We're not even that brave, but, as I said before this incident, I would have, oh, I would have done it. Yeah, I think I would have so anyway. So we went to go raft the royal gorge. We drove all the way down there and it was cold, rainy. It was like 52 degrees fahrenheit. It was really cold and they told us that the royal gorge was closed because it was too dangerous. This was in June and we had a particularly long, snowy winter, so all of that snow runs down, fills up these rivers and just makes them too dangerous to raft. I said it's been the highest water since 2019. Yeah, so, of course, all the rafting people are loving that. Yeah, they're loving that. So it's definitely high water season and it was just way too dangerous for us to go.

Alexandra:

So we ended up doing another canyon, the Bighorn, which a little bit down from the more family friendly one, but they said that just because it's so high. You know, everything is more intermediate at this point. And yeah, what did you think of that one? I actually liked it it was. It was, it was three and fours, not a lot of fours, but and there's also more time between the rapids, yeah, and so you know, you did a really fun rapid and then you just get to sit and talk and joke, which would have been a lot more fun if it were 80. Yeah, not 52. And not raining, um, but you know, we're still on the water, we're good, we're optimistic, oh yeah. Yeah, no one fell out. It was very kind of like uneventful, but it was still fun, you know, it was still a good time.

Alexandra:

But you know, we went back in and we said, listen, it's really lousy weather, we really want to do the Royal Gorge, what can you do for us? And he said, ok, I'll couple days and we'll let you know where the water level is and we'll see if we can't get you on the gorge before you guys leave. Yeah, it was very, very nice of them, oh, yeah, to offer. Anyway, we called back the next day and it was too high. Called back the next day and it was barely open, but they weren't. They weren't happy about it.

Alexandra:

And then the next day we called back and they said it was, however, and the guy you gotta love when you go in there and they're like we're gonna need you to sign extra paperwork and you guys are very strong swimmers, correct, like you know that. I mean, you could just tell the hesitation and that should have been our first clue, but they basically said that this was the highest that you could go without it shutting down for commercial rafts in the Royal Gorge and we had to sign all of this paperwork, just stating that all of the classes of the rapids were dipping into the lower ends of the next class up. So all the fours were starting to dip into lower fives, not total full blown fives, but just lower, on the lower end of a five, and then all the threes were going to fours. So it was just there was just so much water it was going to be a wild ride Again. So we were at about 3,100. So if you're imagining that line 3,100 fat chickens are crossing that line at one time. That's a lot, and he just said that we're just going to need you to sign your life away, basically saying that this is going to be the scariest rafting trip of your life. And we looked at each other and went we were like, bring it on, this was exactly what I could have hoped and dreamed for. You can decide if we're mentally stable, okay, or just idiots. Or just idiots. Maybe we are just idiots, but we were pumped, we just. I just. You know that little voice in the back of your mind. I have no little voice that's like, hey, this might be a little dangerous, maybe you shouldn't do this. We don't have that voice. That voice is not there for us. It has never been there for us. I think mine has come out a little bit more since that incident Uh, since the incident, maybe a little bit. So we go raft and we're pros by this point. We're like we know what gear to get because we've been here three days ago.

Alexandra:

This time it was a little bit hotter, so there were more boats. There was like five boats it was. It was really fun. It was more, more people, warmer, and we split up into those five boats about five to six people per boat, and then we each had a guide, obviously, and we were paired with the main guide. So we were the one who actually went first. Amazing, amazing guide. Like this whole company is awesome. Yeah, they do not mess around. Yeah, they do not mess around. Yeah, they do not mess around.

Alexandra:

So we start going on this trip, we do a couple fours and it was amazing, like we got to learn a lot of history. We were in the middle of nowhere. We saw, like the train tracks, we saw some old buildings. It was amazing and the view was just incredible. Incredible mountain views here by the Royal Gorge was just amazing. So then we start to get to this one rapid and she goes okay, guys, I'm not sure what this is going to look like. Oh, and also, there were a couple of places where she was like that's not even a rapid and we still felt like we went down like a class two. So the water level is high, it's fast, it's angry water. So we start to come up on this one and she goes okay, this is sunshine. I'm not really sure what the conditions are going to be like, but it's possible that we could dip into that lower five here.

Alexandra:

So I need you guys to be on your a game and she was really pushing us like you need to paddle, you need to be on your a game. And she was really pushing us like you need to paddle, you need to be aware you need to have your feet tucked, you need to be into this, into this. And you know, like we would go down like a three and she, she'd full-on, call us out, she'd be like that's not good enough, like if we're gonna make it through these bigger rapids, I need you guys to step it up to your a game. Like it it's not an option. Paddle together, watch the front. Two people, yeah. And she was like I don't want to be mean to you guys, it's just like this is a safety thing. And you know we're like okay, they're just CYA. Like you know we're like it's going to be fine. That little voice was not talking. That little voice is tied up in the back room, like he is no longer in the building.

Alexandra:

So we get to this one called Sunshine and we start to go through it and about three-fourths of the way into it. Actually, if you see in the video, they gave me a jacket and a pantsuit that was so big on me I looked like Violet from Willy Wonka, so I am as big as an Oompa Loompa. I don't know why. They gave her like xl and she came out in their bright blue. So we were joking that she looked like violet beauregard from willy wonka. Oh, I did, eating the blueberries, so blew up by the blueberry. Regardless, that has nothing to do with the story, it was just funny.

Alexandra:

And so in the video I'm smiling, we're paddling. I'm smiling, we're paddling, we're having a grand old time going down this crazy rapid in the royal court, yeah. And then alex looks over and my feet are above my head. I'm out of the boat. The guy in front of me is out of the boat. We're in the boat all over, just sprawled everywhere.

Alexandra:

And I actually went under the boat and we timed it. On the video I think it's 14 seconds. It felt like way longer than that man. It did feel so much longer. You're just getting turned underneath of that boat, like longer. You're just getting turned underneath of that boat, like how terrifying.

Alexandra:

But I really wasn't scared. I just couldn't figure out why my life vest was failing me. You know, its sole purpose in life is to make sure that I get air and I couldn't figure out why I had no air. I didn't realize I was under the boat. It just why don't I have air, you dumb life vest? So anyway, I popped up the guide, you know, held out the end of her oar and said you need to grab this because you do not want to go down the rest of these rapids. You know how we said in the previous rafting trip that we had, you know how. We said that there was a rapid and then we waited 20 minutes. That was not what we were doing. It was like rapid, rapid, rapid, rapid, rapid, rapid, rapid and I don't know it. Just it just felt a little different.

Alexandra:

I wrapped in Tully and I fell out in Tully and I had enough where with all to even go down these rapids and have all of us look at the photographer. But you look at these pictures and we all look terrified and there's just something different about it. And it was funny because when we did the bighorn one that actually two of the guides rafts because remember we were alone but they did have two guides where they were training people and both of them flipped and I just remember looking at them going. They, they look terrified and they're guides. Yeah, isn't being flipped out of the water? Kind of fun, yeah, and that's what I said, because, like, when I got flipped out of the water in Tully, like it was scary but I still had a great time, I was like wee, you know, point your feet downstream, got pulled back in, it was fun.

Alexandra:

I think when we went to buena vista because we did noah's ark in buena vista, I even, like fell out alone and it was like immediate, like it was fine. This was different, this, like you could see the panic and the fear in everybody's eyes. I wouldn't really categorize it as a fun experience. No, the water was angry, it was aggressive, it was like violent. The water did not want us there, let's just put it that way. Okay, but we're also in a high four, low five out of the boat, with more coming, yeah, and so they got us both back in the boat and we're all just laying in the middle of the boat. I've never seen you look like that before. I mean, she was just like puking up water. Oh no, I was the picture of serenity and peace.

Alexandra:

She got back into the raft and started meditating yes, that's how it was. No, I wasn't puking up river water and my eyes were all crazy. She didn't have bloodshot eyes and she literally walked in there kind of like a beached whale and was just like this little guy said get in the front of the boat like I don't know where it is, I don't know where the boat is, I don't know where we are and all the rest of us are in the boat too, like nobody in the middle, nobody is in their seat, everybody got jostled around like crazy. So we, we start going, we're trying to get our bearings and then all of a sudden I just hear the guy just start screaming on the top of her lungs and just whistles, emergency whistles. And we look back and we were not the only ones. The only way I can explain it is pure chaos and not in a good way.

Alexandra:

Yeah, there were 13 people that have fallen out of the five boats, so two boats flipped, everybody including the guide, and then with us and everybody else who had fallen out, there was 13 people in the water in this really dangerous rapid. So I mean, there were people screaming, there was the emergency whistles going off, the guides were trying to get people out of the water and I just look back and there's a flipped over raft with six people just clinging to it and they don't have a guide and they can't get back in the boat because you need somebody in the boat to get you back in the boat, yeah, so they're just screaming swim to shore, swim to shore. They're throwing those bags to try to get people Rescue bags. I mean, people are panicking and it was at that moment where I was like this is really dangerous. Oh no, and it's, it's hard Cause, like as I said, you see them and you're like, oh my gosh, that's so funny. They fell out.

Alexandra:

And I thought that previous to this, but this was the moment where I looked out and I just thought, oh my gosh, these people are gonna die. Like I just don't even know what to do at this point. So after that, um, the people started like they let go of the boat. There's some people on top of a flipped raft that are trying to get to shore. I mean it's just absolute chaos here, just panic, mass panic over here, as we all were all trying to grab people and as I were in front, and so a lot of these people start to swim to shore or get pulled into different boats, and you can even get pulled into a boat. That's not even the company you're with. I mean, they're so great up there, yeah, they're like just get to any boat, just get safe. Because, you know, I think they they try to kind of scare you and I always thought that they tried to scare you just because they were trying to cover their butts, yeah. But this was like I finally realized. I was like, oh, maybe they weren't over exaggerating this. Yeah, maybe maybe this is actually super dangerous right now. I love how it's taking us this long. It's taking us this long. The guy in the back is it has freed himself from the ropes and is just cracking the door going. Hey guys, yes, I'm your little voice, your conscience, I'm the little voice of reason. You are not in a good situation right now, so we're still trying to get in the boat. Everything's moving so fast. We watch.

Alexandra:

We did learn later that a lot of those people we had one guy get a concussion. One guy got them in that little riptide thing and he kind of explained it how the water would go over a rock and it just turns in a circle. So if you get caught in that, it's like a riptide in the ocean, like a washing machine, yeah, so one guy got stuck. That One guy got a gash on his back, it was just. It was really scary and but they did make it to shore. We watched them make it to shore and then all of a sudden, we see this boat go down with nobody in it except for one kid that was hanging on to the boat. We thought it was chaotic before. It was extra chaotic because our guide just started screaming at us like absolutely furious, was just like Get on the boat, we need to get that kid right now. And we're all just so dazed and confused and we've all hit our heads and she's just fallen out and gotten back in. Another guy's just fallen out and gotten back in. And she just fallen out and gotten back in and she was like you need to paddle for your lives right now. And we did, and we did. We all got back in our seats the quickest we ever had, as we're literally chasing.

Alexandra:

What we later found out was a 14 year old kid. He was actually in the water holding on to the boat and like we have cousins, like you have a nephew, and I'm just thinking like the whole time I'm like that's my cousin, right there. Yeah, he's so young, he's pretty scared to death. He has no idea what he's doing. Right, you know, you could tell him all day long to let go of a boat, but that's got to be a terrifying thing. Yeah, and he was awesome. I mean, yeah, this and the kid went through about a mile and a half, two miles. He did. We timed it with the gopro footage. We chased him for over 10 minutes, which again doesn't sound like a lot, but this water is angry, this water is not like normal water, and so he is just, we can just see him, and I have never been so scared or paddled or worked so hard. And it was funny.

Alexandra:

One of the girls in the back was praying. The other girl in the back was doing like these motivational things. So, like every time we go, we'd be like Together. We have to get him Right now, right now, push Harder, harder him right now, right at, push, harder, harder. And the guide is just screaming at us.

Alexandra:

It is so chaotic and we, we went through two of the class fours, lower fives, and then two of the three slash fours, and he did it on his butt, and he did it on his butt by himself, and then it was just this moment where he just let go of the raft, just let go go. And of course the other was screaming he's dead, he's died. And I was like, okay, don't panic, don't panic, don't panic. And we are just, I mean, he just goes limp in the water and we are just paddling for our lives, crying, just trying to get to this kid. It was so intense After you've already been in the water, oh yeah. But that adrenaline mama bear thing, oh, it was mama bear for everybody, oh yeah.

Alexandra:

And so finally, the guide is trying to yell at him to get on the side, like, get to shore. But it's not like a, it's not a shore, it's just kind of a rock cliff, you know. So he's kind of stuck on the side, he's going fast, so he would have had to hit the shore hard, yeah. But he made it to shore, he did, and he kind of got. He got hit like he ran into a tree, yeah. And so we got him and I and I started screaming. I was like he's moving, he's moving, like because I I was just scared to death that we were going to get to him and he wasn't going to be there anymore.

Alexandra:

So, um, so he was on the tree and then he kind of stood up a little bit on a rock, which she told us not to do. But it's an emergency, we're happy he's not shot, we're happy he's alive at this point. And then she goes you need to jump. And we're on a rapid moving towards him and he's just shaking his head and crying no, no, no, no, no, no, no. And she was like you jump in this boat right now. And I'm screaming and I was like jump on me right now. You jump straight to me right now.

Alexandra:

And he literally uses the last of his energy to swan dive on to our moving boat, our boat. After what he's been through, I can't believe that he had enough to do that. Oh my gosh. Yeah, I mean and, as I said, I'm sure you guys listening to this podcast are like what's the big deal? He was just going down a giant water slide. He explained it to us later is he would go under and then he would have a tiny bit of breath, just a little bit, and then he'd get churned again and then he'd go underneath and then he'd get hit by a rock. For him to do this for 10 minutes. The guides call it swimming and they said it was one of the largest swims they've ever seen and it's. It takes everything out of you to go through these rapids at high water and not drown. Yeah, I did 14 seconds. 14 seconds, yeah. So for this kid to do 10 minutes.

Alexandra:

And it was funny because he, he jumped it. He jumped right on top of me and he went down in the front, curled up into a little ball and just started screaming. It was like I'm going to die. I'm going to die. I mean just having a complete panic attack, I'm drowning, I'm drowning, I'm going to die. And I think it scared the heck out of everybody in the boat. But for me, who was previously an EMT, that was music to my ears to hear him freak out like that, because that means that he's moving air. It's the people who can't talk or can't do anything that you need to worry about. So I heard him panicking and I just went oh, praise God, thank you, he's alive and he's breathing. And he's breathing. I mean he definitely, definitely.

Alexandra:

He was not in good shape. We pulled over the boat. His eyes went to the back of the head. He was passing out. He was, you know, he passed out in the boat. We got him to shore. He was freezing. She just was like she used to be an emt and I was like, well, but now I'm a traveling mermaid blogger, so it's been a hot minute. And she was like we'll take what we can get, like we're in the middle of nowhere, and I was like, okay, I'll do what I can, even if it's just giving him a little tlc. Sometimes that's what you need is tender, loving care. So I just went over, you know, I checked his breathing.

Alexandra:

He threw up for about an hour, hour and a half on that shore. Where he was just throwing up, we were trying to get him to throw so much river water, just so much water, that he swallowed. It was. It was not, not ideal, and so I was just trying to keep him warm, I was trying to distract him. He again was just freaking out, just saying don't, don't get me back in the boat. I don't want to get back in the boat. No way am I getting back in that boat. And then he told me it was his 14th birthday and for his birthday he went rafting the royal gorge and I just, I just put my hand on his shoulder and went oh, buddy, happy birthday, happy birthday. And he's just puking. And oh, my gosh.

Alexandra:

So then, um, the rest of the people in his boat, because part of his family was in the boat they come running down the train tracks and it's probably like a mile, so it took him a while, and they have no idea. He's a lot. They have no idea and they just come up and he's laying on the side so they just start screaming. You know, when I go over there, I'm like no, no, no, no, he's fine, he's fine, he's just resting. You know, he's, he's really shaken up. I'm not gonna lie to you, he's, he's rattled. And yeah, we need to, we can take care of him. But man, they, they were worse for wear too. I mean, they were bleeding, their eyes were bloodshot. So they all just went through the ringer with with this. They were so funny. They said, okay, well, you can hike out of here, but it's going to be a tough hike. I have never seen life come back into a body so quickly. Then, when that kid realized he didn't have to get it, I mean he was like crawling up the side of the shore. He was like yes, yes, yes, do not put me in that boat, do not put me in that boat again. So yeah, he was just he was not feeling it, but he was totally fine by the end. He was standing, he was walking, and then we left him.

Alexandra:

We actually did the rest of it and it was so funny because the girl in there was like I don't think I want to be in this boat either. Like everybody was so rattled and, um, you know, when we were like no, you're doing the rest of this raft, we haven't gotten to the gorge yet. So we went back into the gorge. We saw the row gorge, which was one of the most amazing. Oh, it's phenomenal, oh it was stunning. Yeah, I mean, yeah, that mean you can see it from up there. And we actually did drive after this to go see the gorge and it was just kind of I don't know. We were just like, okay, like it's fine, it's much better, but it's just much better from a raft. So 10 out of 10 recommend doing this when it's not high water, like during the summer. Oh yeah, it's phenomenal, it's phenomenal, absolutely phenomenal view. So we got out of there, we went in the bus and then we went back to the, the main area.

Alexandra:

Trevor's family was actually waiting for us and and he was cute with his family, you know he said Thank you guys for saving my life. Yeah, I mean, he actually personally thanked, he thanked all of us, you know, and we talked about it for a while and it was very interesting and I also did get his permission to share his story on here. So he was like, yeah, please to share his story on here. So he was like yeah, please, please tell my story. He's a trooper, he's a trooper and that kid is a stud. Yeah, oh, my gosh, for doing a swim like that when you're 14. Yeah, there's not a lot of adults that come out. Oh, yeah, no, he was so lucky.

Alexandra:

And yeah, just kind of talk to him about his experience, know, and he said that he it was very interesting for him because he remembers it a little bit, but he described it as if his whole world was turning black and white and all he could think about was just like his mom and you know, he was starting to go in and out of consciousness. And you know, I talked to, I talked to his family and they were like I I don't know if he could have held on much longer. And he did say he said it was like going down like a washing machine, like he was like you know, it looks like I was just going down and having a grand old time, but I couldn't breathe and the water was so aggressive that every time I would go down I would just swallow and just and just get an inhale more and it was going down my lungs, it was going down my throat and he just said he was like I think that's the closest to death I've hopefully will ever be, will ever be until the very end, yeah, and the girl one of the girls in the boats like went and shook his hand and just said you're extremely lucky and I just hope you live the best and the most full life you possibly can. Yeah, and yeah, they were like I don't want to make you feel weird, but I think you saved my life. It was definitely a good outcome to this story, but wow, that that was an intense one.

Alexandra:

That was an adventure story that had a very good ending, but could have easily not. Well, it's because we all fell out the exact same place that he did, and so it could have been any of anybody. Yeah, it could have been me, it, you know, and I was really, really okay with it until about two o'clock in the morning and it just kind of hit me, that little voice full-on, barged in girl, you are almost not with us anymore. Like that could have been you and I don't know if I could have done it as well as he did. Yeah, you know, he was a trooper, luckily, he was just such a strong swimmer and made it to shore, you know, yeah, and it was funny because we called some of our friends who are huge kayakers and they've done this so many times and they've rafted this so many times and they said they were like there's been times where we've actually gotten out of the water and walked that rapid and then gotten that in and they're like, and I'm gonna be honest, we've walked sunshine, when it's less than that and they just, they just said they were like, oh, that water's that is white water river erupting right there.

Alexandra:

And so, yeah, and, um, my, our uncle is, we used to be a guide down in Buena Vista and here, and yeah, even he was like I don't think you guys realize how lucky all of you were, not just, not just the kid it was, it was all of you who were really lucky to to get out of there. And then there was one, uh, boat of ours that didn't flip at all. Yeah, they made it through, they made it, they made it well, or two boats, I don't remember. Yeah, I think there were two boats, I think so.

Alexandra:

Anyway, but I do have to say that I still would 100 recommend rafting the royal gorge, absolutely like oh gosh, this story is not meant to get you off of rafting. I just think it's meant to give you a healthy respect for the river, because you have to respect it. You have to realize that this is not a controlled water slide. This is nature and the guides are very, very trained. However, it's a very unpredictable sport, so it's meant to just, you know, just give you a little bit of a healthy respect for it. And I think it's amazing Maybe don't go when it's just below the limit of being closed. Go in July or August. Maybe go in like July or August or September, I think they're open until Labor Day.

Alexandra:

It was absolutely amazing and I am glad that it happened, because it introduced that voice a little bit in the back of my head again, being like, um, excuse me, girlfriend, you're not invincible, sorry. And shout out to the, the rafting company, those guys, yes, I have to give, because that was a very chaotic and intense situation and you could tell that they were trained to the max to handle it. They were calm, they were motivating. They yelled at us quite a bit, but it trained to the max to handle it and they were calm, they were motivating. They yelled at us quite a bit, but it was to save people and it worked. So definitely recommend that.

Alexandra:

Yeah, if you are into rafting at all, I definitely think that it should be on the top of your bucket list. Just be safe about it. Don't go in thinking that you're invincible. You know, if we can do it in high water, you can do it in normal water. Yes, and I would definitely, because if that right, there was a just touching the tip of a five, a class five, oh gosh, I would be very hesitant to go on anything with a class five. Yeah, and she also said she'd never go with me or anybody she likes. Yeah, I think.

Alexandra:

I think, moving forward, because a lot of people have asked me well, are you going to go rafting again? And I said absolutely I'll go rafting again. I don't think I'll go rafting with anybody I care about, but I will go rafting. I would do the same trip all over again, even with the 3100 CFS. I would do the whole thing over again, but I wouldn't do it with you.

Alexandra:

Yes, that was a little stressful, watching your feet go over your head and watching you get sucked underneath of the boat. Yeah, that was a little much. That was a bit much, even for my adventurous soul. That was a bit much. Just like one more fat chicken in the water going over the line. I have 3101 chickens going across the line in the water. Oh my gosh, that's so funny. So huge thumbs up. Just respect it. Huge thumbs up, yes.

Alexandra:

So I think it's a good lesson for us all to keep adventuring, keep pushing ourselves out of our comfort zone, keep going on these adventure travel. However, just remember, know your limits and stay humble. I think it's a very good lesson for all of us, this one. So thank you so much for listening to this story. I know it definitely wasn't the most fun story to listen to, but again, I think we can all learn a lot from it and I really hope that this doesn't scare you off of rafting. Seriously, rafting is so cool and if you do come to Colorado, you do need to raft because it's amazing. Just just don't do it at high water when there's a bunch of warnings.

Alexandra:

So what did you think of this story? Would you still go rafting? How would you react in this situation? You still go rafting. How would you react in this situation? Would you go rafting the royal gorge? Definitely. Make sure to let me know and check out my website, thebucketlessmermaidcom, and me on socials at the bucketless mermaid, if you do ever go rafting, because I would love to see how it went and I would love to see all your photos because it's absolutely stunning. Thank you guys, so much for listening and we will see you next time. Keep adventuring and stay safe in the water.