This might be my favorite thing we did. We hauled their raft upstream, floated down to their dock to pick everyone up, then floated down over some whitewater rapids. Amber volunteered to stay at the cabin with the four-and-under crew, who expressed a preference for napping and watching cartoons. I had woken up in the middle of the night gripped with the realization that whitewater rafting with an infant is idiotic, and I would probably need to not go, so I really appreciated Amber’s sacrifice!
With my kids along, the rapids would have been a lot scarier and a lot less fun, even though the likelihood of anyone falling overboard is practically zero. If anyone hopped overboard, it would be my two. And an 11-month-old in a life vest is really hard to hold.
Anyway, it was SO PRETTY. It had rained earlier, but the clouds lifted to where wisps curled around the mountainsides and hid the upper slopes. Golden birches, aspen, and black spruce came right down to the water. Underneath a life vest, down vest, fleece, cashmere sweater and t-shirt (complete with wool socks, leggings, waterproof waders and a fur hat), I was not cold. We pulled the raft out at the end, Luke tossed his line in the water, and he immediately snagged a salmon. A crowd of Italian tourists sprinted over to film and photograph LUKE: Alaskan Wilderness Man.