PAD40 White Water

Palmer Rapids Trip

Overall, I had an amazing experience on this trip. I found that it was different from most of the other outdoor ed trips. One thing was that we stayed at our site the entire time and were free to go to and from the water. Another thing was that we were able to take each day to continue practicing our skills. We got the opportunity to try different rapids every day to try and improve. I very much enjoyed this because it was more of a relaxing trip with a lot of learning. The first day consisted of getting on the water right away. It was alot different from the canoeing we do at school and to some getting used to we paddled the upper set of rapids on this day and it was great fun. On the second day we looked at the bottom set and looked for any dangers. we carved out the best path for us to take and we went on our way and paddled the bottom set. It was a lot of fun to learn how to move the canoe when under stress and going down rapids. On this day we also switched the bow and stern people to allow for everyone to try something different. I was hesitant to go back to stern but I ended up doing alright. We only flipped about 7 times. On the third day we paddled the bottom set ans the top set. By this day we had been practicing for a while and were working on making it down the rapids upright. We had one run where everyone made it down and it was good for our confidence. Throughout all three days we were given the chance to swim the upper set. This was a lot of fun to do because you get to see how powerful the water really is. Most people swam it and it was a lot of fun. If I was to do this trip again I would do alot the same. There are only a few things i would change. One of theses is that I would not have packed as much as I did. I had to much stuff and it just ended up getting in the way. Another thing is that I would have brought an upper wet suit jacket. This would of protected me from the hundreds of bug bites I received. The final thing i would have changed was not being afraid to get wet on the first day. I was hesitant to get in the water when canoeing but it ended up being great fun. I learned that half the fun  is in pushing yourself and trying to do the best you can. And when you fall you need to get yourself back up and try again. Other than these, I enjoyed everything else on the trip. The food was great and we had a great group of guys for the trip. I would do this trip again in a heart beat and look forward to doing outdoor activities in my post secondary career. I will use everything i learned in the last three years to try and have the best trips possible.