Immersion Research 2008

This Fourth of July weekend took quite an interesting turn when I headed up to Fort Collins on Thursday the third. I was out in Colorado for a friend’s wedding in Vail, so I decided to take a quick trip up to Rocky Mountain Adventures to say hello. I had never been up there, and it seemed like a good idea to check it out. When arrived, I was greeted by two friendly ladies who turned out to be guides as well as check in staff. They told me that they had a spot open on the rafting trip, but I told them that I left all of my gear down in Denver as I had anticipated a quick stop and return to Denver.
After a few more tries at convincing me to go rafting, I thought they had given up, but, just in time, David Costlow, who runs the joint, suggested that I join the trip. Next thing I know, I am peeling off my comfy street clothes for a damp, delightfully aromatic wetsuit, booties and splash jacket. To top it off, I got this lovely pink faded helmet.
After the intial shock of going from an IR sales person with seven years of guiding and safety boating experience, I settled into my role as a blissfully ignorant rafting guest.
Our guide for the day was Kelly Harrington, and we had a family from Indiana along for the ride on the Mishawaka section of the Wild and Scenic Cache la Poudre River. It is a rowdy class III/IV run with the level being 4.1 feet, still pretty high for this time of the year. Check me out in the back left, my home away from a kayak, getting her done!
We had a smooth day with some cool lines, save a minor hiccup just before lunch. You can ask Kelly about that one if you ever meet her! We finished off the afternoon with a who slew of really fun whitewater, and before I knew it, I was stuck in traffic trying to get back to Denver. Thanks to all of the guide staff at RMA for a sweet afternoon: Erinn, Sean, John and Ryan. If they make it out east, I’ll thrown you in raft and show off some of the east coast goods.

The rest of the trip went swimmingly, and the wedding was amazing. I’ve included a picture from the ceremony from the top of Vail Resort.

See you on the water, perhaps going icognito as a custie!