slgwv's photos with the keyword: rafting

Middle Fork of the American River, Sierra foothills, California, USA. Third-party photo--I'm in the boat under the spray somewhere, along with my wife, son, and nephew. We're all holding our paddles up so as not to bang them (and maybe lose them) into the sides of the chute. This is a man-made rapid--during Gold Rush days, some of the 49ers decided to bore a tunnel thru a ridge, cutting off an incised meander in the river. The idea was that the gravels in the now-dry meander bend would be easier to work. Unfortunately for them, after all that work they found the Chinese had already extracted most of the values! But to this day the Middle Fork drops thru this chute and into the tunnel.

Lower Deschutes River, Oregon, USA. This is the most extensive runnable stretch of whitewater on the Deschutes. Third-party photo of our boat; that's yours truly in front on the left (as we're looking at the pic). This was a little Class III IIRC.

Lower Grand Canyon, Arizona, USA. As part of a US Geological Survey expedition in May, 1976. The blue flag on the boat has the USGS logo. So I got to do as part of my job what people _pay_ to do for fun ;) Lava Falls is the largest rapid in the Grand Canyon. It occurs toward the end of a river trip, in the lower canyon, so you have the feeling it's "hanging over your head" most of the trip!