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 It
happens suddenly - that first roar, a sound like distant
thunder, the guide straining to see over the drop. The
boat seems to float across the "tongue", a quiet spot
at the head of a rapid like a lull before the storm.
The first wave, your heart races, your fists clench
and you are in it: whitewater.
Just as suddenly you are out,
the boat floating gently in the tail-waves. No one is
talking. The last waves settle like a song fading to
silence. You look back over your shoulder as the boat
drifts around the bend and think back, reliving the
run for the first of what will be thousands of times
for the rest of your life. Long after, you notice your
heart is still racing and your fists are still clenched.
 But
river running is more than whitewater - deer
feeding quietly in the shadows of a cottonwood, old
trappers' cabins where the wind whistles with history,
the sight of a hawk carving circles in the Colorado
blue sky.
Whether you choose whitewater
or quiet water, a kayak or raft, a day trip or a week,
a safe trip with the professional
members of the Arkansas River Outfitters
Association (AROA) will leave you suntanned, excited
and filled with good stories.
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