6/22/19 - White water rafting scares & thrills
/Day 6. Justin’s big request for the week was a white-water rafting adventure down the kicking horse river (guess how the river got its name – no, not a trick question – in 1853, a horse kicked a guy in the river and the name stuck). It’s a 2+ hour drive so we set a goal of 6:30am departure time. I say goal because it’s not easier getting a group of 7 people out the door that early is no easy feat. We are on the road at 6:45am – 15 min late is not bad – I’ll take it.
White water rafting is one of the most popular activities in Banff and we didn’t have any time to plan ahead so the only rafting trip available last minute was the “Gentle River” trip. Suffice to say the kids are not pleased as the groups are divided into the exciter (aggressive), classic (gentle + exciter) and (the just) gentle groups. The kids look longingly towards the expedition group and say, “I think the lazy river at the water park might be more adventurous than the gentle trip.”
It was 7 of us on a raft with the guide in the middle steering us. The guide Rocque (pronounced “Rocky”) was super cool and from La Fortuna, Costa Rica. Everyone was excited as Costa Rico is on our list for the 2nd half of the trip. He does guided trips in Costa Rico and comes to Canada to do them for 3 months to earn more and save more money. Tough trade-off as he doesn’t see his wife wife and three daughters for three months.
The gentle river turns out to be one step above the lazy river. The kids like it but are still wishing they were on the exciter rapids when Rocque says that we could upgrade to do the exciter run and get lunch. The vote is 6 yes to 1 I’m not so sure about this. After much lobbying and cajoling, the 1 (shall rename nameless) gives in and cheers are heard.
The exciter trip was no joke. We did a class IV rapid that had a lot of screams, adrenaline and freezing water but more importantly, no-one fell into the river and the raft didn’t capsize. Everyone agrees this is the highlight of the trip so far.
On the way home, we stop by Emerald Lake in YoHo national park (adjacent to Banff NP). Absolutely gorgeous – we agree, we’d take this over Lake Louisa any day. The canoeing is $70 for 3 people. This is a rounding error compared to Lake Louisa’s prices. Unfortunately, the day is running long and we don’t have time to canoe but are glad we stopped.
We get home and everyone is way tired but Justin, Corey & I make it into town for dinner. Justin lobbies for Mexican for dinner and we eat at El Toro which is supposed to be the best Mexican food in Banff. Food is good but not great and we are happy to fall into bed after a long day.
