written and photographed by Mary L. Peachin
Jan 1999, Vol. 3 No. 3
Pablo Blakely perches high on his seat in the rubber pontoon boat, a position that allows him to analyze every riffle, eddy, and rapid of the river spread out before him. The water is relatively calm, and he allows the raft, which has just caught in a swirling eddy, to spin in circles, eliciting whoops from the rafters within. Seconds later, the frothy, churning waves of a rapid drench us with 65-degree water. More whoops, followed by goosebumps that fade quickly in the sun.