Near Death Experiences

Most of you know that I thrive on adventure. The scarier the better in my book. I'm always looking for new thrills and ways to push the limits. I know, that probably makes me sound pretty stupid but I have fun with it. I do have one fear though...Water! Crazy I know considering I can never get enough of the ocean and swimming is my favorite sport. Maybe it's because every time I've almost died doing something stupid it has always involved water. Like the time my dad though it would be a good idea to take us to the wedge off of balboa peninsula to go swimming. A huge wave crashed right on top of me and then I kept on getting sucked out to sea until another one would crash on me. I felt like I was stuck inside a washing machine. Finally my brother Larry dove in a dragged me out.

Then, when I was about 12 Larry thought it would be a good idea to take me with his friends to tube Big Cottonwood Creek at the peak of spring run off. There was this rope strung across the creek that we were supposed to grab onto to pull ourselves out. Well, I got the rope but then my tube slipped out from underneath me and the rope was caught across my neck. It took everything I had just to hang on and not strangle myself until once again Larry jumped in and pulled me out.

So water has always had my respect; I still push the limits but it just freaks me out more than anything. Last weekend I decided it was time for me to conquer my fears; everyone in our group decided to go raft the Nile and there was no way I was going to miss out on an opportunity like that. I played it cool and pretended like it didn't bother me but inside I was secretly sick.

The section of the Nile that we were rafting is supposed to be some of the best white water rafting in the world. Most of the rapids we went over were class five which is basically the highest you can do on a raft. There are technically class six rapids but those are more for kayaking.

As we got on the river our guides explained to us how to paddle through the rapids and how to stay in the raft. Just in case that was too much to ask they also showed us what to do if we were thrown out of the raft or if it tipped. I thought I had it down but then we hit our first rapid and I went flying. I managed to stay in the raft but some how me and the guy next to me got all tangled up in each other. I think I hurt his knee pretty bad while I ended up with a huge goose egg on my shin. It freakin hurt!! Still, it was like the coolest thing ever!!

After that I learned how to better handle the rapids and our raft made it through all of them without losing a single passenger (which is actually quite an accomplishment, one that no one else in our group accomplished).
Then we came to an end... a spot that the locals call "the bad place." We asked our guide how bad it really was and he said he had never actually made it through it without the whole raft tipping. "How many times have you been through it?" we asked. "Twice," was his response. Needless to say we weren't a whole lot comforted. He asked us if we would feel better if we changed it's name to fluffy bunny, the water was all white and fluffy after all. Once again, we weren't comforted.

Our team had been following behind the other rafts the whole day so we always had the chance to watch everyone else hit the rapids before us. When we saw all the other teams go through "the bad place" we decided it really didn't look that bad after all. "We so got this!" we told ourselves. Yeah, they all tipped, but they all came up eventually.


Finally it was our turn to go for it, I asked my team members one last time if any of them wanted to take front. I had been sitting in the front all day and quite honestly I was a little bit weary of it. No one stepped up though so I decided just to go for it. We paddled with everything we had until he heard our guide yell "Down, down, down" we all ducked just as a huge wave overcame us. There was no hope of hanging on, bodies and paddles were flying all over the place as the raft tipped and crashed upon us. I'm kinda scared of being under water with my eyes closed so I opened them. I was being sucked down and all I could see was the raft on top of me getting flipped over and over again. At first I saw other bodies but then it was just me, I couldn't breath and I couldn't make it to the surface. I could see it but I just couldn't kick myself free. "This isn't very fun" I remember thinking to myself. Finally the current spit me out and I was able to get one small gasp in before getting swept into another rapid. I got pushed down again and with every second I was getting more and more panicked. Finally I was able to swim underwater to the side where the current wasn't so strong. I came up gasping for air and freaking out because I couldn't see anyone from my team. Finally I saw Ally, she had gotten swept under like me. Everyone else was about 30 yards down stream, apparently instead of getting sucked under they all just got swept down. It took me a while but finally I was able to reach the safety raft and pull myself out of the water.

All in all it was hands down that was the freakiest thing I have ever done in my life. It didn't do a whole lot to help me conquer my fear either. At the same time though it was probably one of the coolest things I have ever done!! I would totally do it again in a heartbeat. What can I say? I'm a glutten for punishment!