Adventure Log

Rafting the Arkansas River Royal Gorge
Our second Arkansas River raft ride was a full-day run to the Royal Gorge in July of 2006. The narrow canyon is more than 1,000 feet deep, cut from solid granite by 3 million years of water and wind erosion. This section of the river is a bit more challenging than Brown’s Canyon, as it contains a couple class IV rapids, so helmets are required. Over the years, there has been a fair amount of construction in this section of the river, especially close to the present day Royal Gorge Bridge. As a result, there are piles of concrete boulders, barbed wire, and other construction material littering the river banks. Although the Gorge itself is awesome and beautiful, we found the litter spoiled some of the experience. My daughter further spoiled the experience by freaking-out over our guide’s stories. Apparently, the Royal Gorge Bridge is a favorite spot for jumpers, with the most suicides of any bridge in the U.S. Because the bridge is so high and the canyon walls so narrow, the jumpers typically don’t make it down to the river, at least not in one piece. They usually end up bouncing off the walls of the gorge, landing segmented and scattered over the river banks below. Our guide personally witnessed one of these grizzly suicides earlier in the summer and shared the details of her experience with us. Did we really need to know that? My daughter definitely didn’t! From that moment on, she begged to get off the raft, crying and covering her eyes, not wanting to look around or even paddle! Things got worse for her when we hit a class IV rapid that spilled over close to some of that nasty construction litter. The guide tried to prepare us for this rapid, letting us know that we should listen closely for her commands, because she didn’t want anyone falling out of the raft in this potentially dangerous area. We hit the rapid, and although I was worried about my daughter, I paddle just as the guide requested, but then we snagged a rock and my feet lost their hold and I flipped backward, out of the raft right into the water. It was almost silent under water, and very dark because I still had my sunglasses on… I couldn’t see a thing! I could feel though, and I knew I was trapped under the raft. I tried working my way to one end of the raft by feeling the underside of the raft. Finally, I got to the side where several hands were waiting to pull me up. My daughter was a wreck, crying and panic stricken! Thankfully, she had seen me go in, and started screaming right away. The guide barked commands to everyone, forcing the raft to remain stationary in the middle of this dangerous rapid. Awesome teamwork everyone, thank you for your quick work and perfect rescue! All and all, I don’t think we will be rafting the Gorge anytime soon. I am perfectly happy with a tamer ride down the Arkansas, one without body parts and barbed wire! Enjoy!

Rafting the Arkansas River
Royal Gorge

Our second Arkansas River raft ride was a full-day run to the Royal Gorge in July of 2006. The narrow canyon is more than 1,000 feet deep, cut from solid granite by 3 million years of water and wind erosion. This section of the river is a bit more challenging than Brown’s Canyon, as it contains a couple class IV rapids, so helmets are required.

Over the years, there has been a fair amount of construction in this section of the river, especially close to the present day Royal Gorge Bridge. As a result, there are piles of concrete boulders, barbed wire, and other construction material littering the river banks. Although the Gorge itself is awesome and beautiful, we found the litter spoiled some of the experience. My daughter further spoiled the experience by freaking-out over our guide’s stories.

Apparently, the Royal Gorge Bridge is a favorite spot for jumpers, with the most suicides of any bridge in the U.S. Because the bridge is so high and the canyon walls so narrow, the jumpers typically don’t make it down to the river, at least not in one piece. They usually end up bouncing off the walls of the gorge, landing segmented and scattered over the river banks below.

Our guide personally witnessed one of these grizzly suicides earlier in the summer and shared the details of her experience with us. Did we really need to know that? My daughter definitely didn’t! From that moment on, she begged to get off the raft, crying and covering her eyes, not wanting to look around or even paddle!

Things got worse for her when we hit a class IV rapid that spilled over close to some of that nasty construction litter. The guide tried to prepare us for this rapid, letting us know that we should listen closely for her commands, because she didn’t want anyone falling out of the raft in this potentially dangerous area.

We hit the rapid, and although I was worried about my daughter, I paddle just as the guide requested, but then we snagged a rock and my feet lost their hold and I flipped backward, out of the raft right into the water.

It was almost silent under water, and very dark because I still had my sunglasses on… I couldn’t see a thing! I could feel though, and I knew I was trapped under the raft. I tried working my way to one end of the raft by feeling the underside of the raft. Finally, I got to the side where several hands were waiting to pull me up.

My daughter was a wreck, crying and panic stricken! Thankfully, she had seen me go in, and started screaming right away. The guide barked commands to everyone, forcing the raft to remain stationary in the middle of this dangerous rapid. Awesome teamwork everyone, thank you for your quick work and perfect rescue!

All and all, I don’t think we will be rafting the Gorge anytime soon. I am perfectly happy with a tamer ride down the Arkansas, one without body parts and barbed wire!

Enjoy!