The River Wild

The River Wild

The day began as another gorgeous summer morning in Anchorage, the sun ascending over the mountains; at worst you could say that the view was priceless. Today, I was going to get the chance to do something that most people from the state of Florida and definitely from my neighborhood don't get the chance to do often, and that is going white water rafting! I was so excited that I couldn't stop talking about it. The best part was that I get to experience this with my wife and some of my closest friends.

We got out of bed and put on some of our warmest clothes because the water would be cold for sure. On the drive up to Palmer to meet up with our friends, I had a permanent smile on my face from the excitement. We made our way up to the Matanuska Glacier where our adventure would take place. After all the safety briefings, the question that kept popping up in my head was "what do I do if I were to fall in"? Little did I know that the answer that I would get from the guide would soon be used to save my life and stick with me for the rest of my life. As we geared up for the ride we were all enjoying the nice weather and the joys of friendship.

We head down the small creek that leads to the Matanuska River. Upon reaching the convergence of the creek and the river you could visually tell the difference in the water color, the creek was clear and the river water was full of silt and about 20 degrees colder! Right as we enter the river, not even 100 yards in we hit a very small rapid and with a great splash I go in! I am told that the look on my face was one for the ages between the look of shock and absolute fear. As I hit the water I began to instantly drift away from the boat, I thought to myself "I could have sworn that he told me what to do if I were to fall in; what it was?" So I reached my oar out to one of my friends, he was able to grab me and pull me closer