The car ride to the Denali Rapids involved a 2-1/2 hour, 150 mile car ride. I finally managed to snag some company this time via my co-worker Ruth. We both had a good time talking about random nonsense during the trip and it definitely made things go by faster. We arrived near the signin area and were greeted by torrents of wind and rain. We had some 45 minutes to spare so we grabbed some pizza at the Lynx's Pizza & Pub (where we found an '03 Aggie) and bought hats to deal with the downpour. Thinking back on it, I should definitely have brought warmer clothes and water proof gloves. A note for next time I suppose.
After we signed our lives away, they set us up with drysuits, boots, helmets, oar, and life jackets. The guides were really great and pointed out a lot of interesting stuff and bits and pieces of the river's history. We had signed up for the combination scenic and rapids tour which would take us down a 22 mile streach of the Nenana River split evenly between the the two portions. I could probably forgo the first half if I had to choose. I mean, it had some great views, and was a great way to get Ruth adjusted to rafting, but it was a slooow two hours. We did see a moose, but that portion of the ride was designed for the younger crowd (minimum age = 5). I will admit I'm slightly bias seeing as the gloves I was using held water like a camel. Yes, my hands were a nice, balmy 33 degrees (think english units) for the first two hours. Not fun, but it would have been a ton worse if we hadn't bought hats. Even with the hats you could still see steam pouring off our everyone's head!
The break after the first 11 miles was spent shivering and wishing I had brought more clothes and better gloves. Fortunately for me some some very nice people from another group gave me a set of their old gloves as they left. That was my saving grace during the second part of the rapids. We did a lot of paddling and the rapids got everyone! We went through some 10+ rapids in this canyon including (and I'm not making these up): "The Coffee Grinder," "The Ice Worm," "The Train Wreck," and "The Cable Car." These rapids were levels III and IV, but more on the calmer side of the scale than several I've done in Costa Rica. Still, everyone has to start somewhere, right? The route goes under several bridges, along the Alaska Railroad, and wraps up right at a coal power plant. We had a blast during the entire thing!
One last note, I've included the name and website of the rafting company we used at the bottom of this post, as well as one last parting gift. I know I said we didn't post any pictures, but we found this last item on the way back from Denali. Ruth spotted it sitting on the top of a hill as we went speeding down the road. I don't know what it means, who constructed it, or how long it has been there, but it just isn't right.
Do you see it? Look closer.
Still not close enough to see it? Fine, but You've been warned.
Do you see what you have done?! Gaze upon this mass of darkness and dispare!!!
It seriously doesn't get much more screwed up than that. Enjoy the nightmares and peace out.
- TiH
Denali Raft Adventure
http://www.denaliraft.com/
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