To start off here's the personnel in my raft.
Front
Donovan (Cousin) / Me
Rich (Donovan's dad) / Aunt Tammi
Left Side Right Side
My dad / Ryan (Brother-in-law)
Uncle Ron (Rutterman/guide)
Back
Ok, thats a pretty excellent crew. All of us had had a taste of rapids, were in good or excellent physical shape, and most were eagle scouts or had raised eagle scouts and so they knew everything about that anyway. Not to mention, our family went down the same exact river last year.
We start our way down the river, Uncle Ron is in back doing a fantastic job of calling commands "Left side row!" "Right Side Row!" "Both Sides, Forward!" We are able to catch all the waves served to us with success. Its like any other raft trip, the water is cold, in the low 40's or 30's and you get a little wet from some rapids here and there.
As we continue, we look ahead to see a wave section with waves higher that I remembered last time on the Snake River. However, even if we'd wanted to, we couldn't paddle back up stream with such a heavy raft. So we try to increase our speed to go over the waves. We approach the first wave, which afterwards we estimated to be about 10 ft. high., instead of sailing over it, we crash through it, and it engulfs us. By this time, water is shooting through all directions so fast you only have a couple of half-second moments to open your eyes and get a snapshot of the order of events.
The first thing I remember is the big wave engulfing us, causing me to brace for it and turn my head to my left just in time to see Donovan disappear into the raining water. That same wave also shoves me into the row behind me in between the seats. When I open my eyes again, I see that the raft is full of water, and thats when my fear kicks in, but not for too long because the next wave strikes. I see my aunts legs out of the corner of my eye leave the boat, and then the wave is carrying me off the boat too. I obviously can't give an accurate account of how long I was underwater. But I felt the time was significant. The rapids spun me in a circular motion, disorienting me to where I didn't know if I was facing up or down. At first, I simply relaxed my body, depending on my life vest to bring me to the surface. But when it took longer than expected to break the surface, I began to panic and swim as hard as I could in whatever direction I was facing. When I began to realize that wasn't working, I began to think I was going to die. I accepted death, and began to relax my body again. But in that split second of thinking, my life preserver did its job and my head broke the surface, feeling nauseated from ingesting the water.
After I surface, and get a hold of my surroundings, I see my aunt Tammi swimming next to me. She offers her hand, but its too far out of reach and the river is carrying her faster than me. Donovan swims up beside me. We make sure each other is alright. After a couple of minutes in the water, Donovan mentions he's feeling pins and needles, and for me my body gets so numb, the water begins to get warm. We both realize we need to get out of the water, and begin breast stroking to the next raft. I guess the Lovell survival mode is pretty laid back. On the way to the next raft, Donovan and I made some comments about the more precious parts of our body being frozen and some other things that were kinda funny.
There were some other rather fearful moments on the ride. But thats the fun of rafting! Along with the more positive side of our trip, it was definitely an event that made you reevaluate your reason for living, if you were getting the most out of your life, and if you were being the person your Heavenly Father wants you to be. I woke up the next day to a penetrating sun shining right in my eye, and I have to admit I was grateful that I got to see another sunrise, even if it incinerated my retinas! I am also more grateful for the family I have, and the friends I have come close to. Truly, everything we have is a blessing from God. Surely, it shouldn't take a near-death experience to show us that.
