rafting trip – Meanderings & Mind Munchies

Tidal bore rafting trip

Ever since we arrived in Nova Scotia, Greg has wanted to do this rafting trip. He finally got his wish today. I was significantly less enthused about it. I tried to convince him to leave me behind, but he wasn’t having it.

I’m so glad I went! It was amazing.

After signing our lives away and getting our life vests on, we all trooped down to the Shubenacadie River to wait for the leading edge of the tidal bore to pass.

(Many of the following pictures were taken from TripAdvisor. We were not able to bring our camera phones on the boat. The guide had a GoPro, and she took some video and photos for us, but she didn’t get photos of everything I would have taken a picture of.)

At low tide, most of the river’s muddy bottom is exposed. Then, as the tide rushes in, the water rises 3 inches every minute for the next 4 hours. (Photo from TripAdvisor)

We stood on the muddy floor of the river and waited for the tidal bore to arrive.

This is what the leading edge of the tidal bore looks like. (Photo from TripAdvisor)

After the leading edge of the tidal bore passed, we all hopped into our powered rafts and headed off to follow it. As the water rushed over the sandbars, it created large standing waves.

For about an hour, our guide powered us through the rapids created by the rising water. Some of the waves were about 6 ft tall. At times, there was so much water in the bottom of the boat that I thought we might sink.

We had three little kids and their parents with us in our boat. The littlest kid, Evelyn, was absolutely petrified. The two older boys were having the time of their lives. It was so much fun to see their excitement.

As the water started to settle, our guide stopped the boat and gave us an opportunity to hop out and swim. (Yes, the water really is that muddy!) Getting back into the boat was quite a challenge!

Greg and I. Photo taken by our guide, Steph.

And finally, we headed a little further up the river to where there were muddy banks. Everyone got out of the boats (except me) and went sliding down the banks.

Greg, the intrepid adventurist, decided to give mudsliding a try. I would have given it a try as well, except that I was concerned about getting mud in parts of my anatomy that were already giving me a challenge. 😆

Me, watching Greg slip-slide in the mud like a beached whale. I haven’t laughed this hard in months.

By this point, the water in the river had calmed down quite a lot. We raced the boat back to our starting point and called it a day.

When we first walked down to the river, the area underneath this bridge was completely dry. (Photo from TripAdvisor)

Colorado River rafting trip

Today was a relatively quiet day. We took our time getting ready this morning. So nice!

At noon, our tour guides picked us up at the campground for a 3-hour rafting trip down the Colorado River that included lunch.

Our tour guides serve up Chicken Caesar Salad in tortillas wraps shaped like ice cream cones.

Unlike the Snake River, the Colorado River was very muddy. One of the other tourists said it was like floating on chocolate milk. I would have described it more as café au lait.

And I can’t say the scenery was especially thrilling, but it was still nice.

Snake River rafting trip

On Thursday, our plan had been to get up and out the door by 6 a.m. so that we could take photos of the Teton mountain range at sunrise from Oxbow Bend Overlook, which was about an hour away.

But when Greg’s alarm went off at 5:30, he admitted that he would rather go back to bed instead. The hike around Jenny Lake had wiped us both out. Consequently, we decided to relax for the morning. There was nothing in the park that we felt a strong need to see by this point.

In the afternoon, we headed to Signal Mountain Lodge because we had tickets for a rafting trip down the Snake River.

On the way, we stopped to take a few more photos of the Teton mountains.

More *plein air* painters! These weren’t even the last ones we saw. So jealous!

Signal Mountain Lodge is beautiful. The lobby area has a huge picture window overlooking the Teton mountain range and Jackson Lake.

The rafting trip didn’t start until 4:30, so I knew that we would not be getting great photos of the Teton mountains. It is simply impossible to get good photos of them in the afternoon because of the direction of the sun.

But I love any opportunity to get on the water, so off we went.

It did not disappoint.