David's day on the river

On our last expedition we did many exciting activities. We went caving, canoeing, whitewater rafting and rock climbing. Although the other activities we did were very fun, my favorite activities were caving and white water rafting.
Caving was one of my favorites because we got covered in mud and water. It was especially muddy because it had been raining for about two days. There were some parts in the cave where we had to put our entire face underwater. There was a room in the cave where there was mud that you could put on your face. The mud was better then spa quality.
On the walk back to where we were camping after the cave everyone was freezing cold, because we were all wet and it was raining outside. White water rafting was one of my other favorites because it was a relaxing and enjoyable day on the river. When we went white water rafting I got the opportunity to guide the raft for a couple minutes; it was a blast! It took our group about two hours to raft the river. At times it was intense but fun. We all were soaked by the time we were done. I had a awesome time on my last expedition!

David

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The Lesser Wesser

By Trinity Belcher and James Tatman

“One, two, three, four!” yelled Joe, my raft guide. We were rafting the Nantahala River and were on the last rapid, Lesser Wesser: a level three rapid. The waves threw the raft all over the place. I closed my eyes hoping everything would get better, but opened my eyes to what we had just done. The raft had turned around!

We were headed backwards, straight in to the rapid! Everyone screamed as the raft got tossed between rocks, while water was pouring in! With in a split second, the raft had three kids less and I was one of them. The water was extremely cold and when I hit it, it took my breath away. Then I felt something hit my arm and I grabbed it. It was the safety rope; I held on to it for dear life, and within a couple of seconds I was back on land.
Although I wasn’t scared, I would rather that not happen again. I learned that falling out of a raft can be part of the rafting experience, and getting safely out of the river is easier than I thought.