Whitewater Rafting Research Paper
Jessica McDowell
Ms. Cohen
AP English: Language and Composition
25 September 2011
Please, Get a Guide Sometimes, a guide is needed, especially when you are going on a whitewater rafting adventure on which you have not been. Guides are paid to help you and other newcomers learn what to do. Without a guide, things can go wrong very quickly. One July Fourth, my family, a friend, and I were at my mountain house, as we are every July Fourth. A few years ago, we decided that we were going whitewater rafting down the Nantahala River, in Western North Carolina, on a category 3 course. It was a gorgeous day, but it had drizzled a little that morning; the temperature was perfect, around 70°. The sky was a beautiful Carolina blue and the …show more content…
It was coming out of the water about ten feet high and about fifteen feet wide. Somehow, we ended up on top of this rock. After about a minute, water started rushing in right where my little brother was sitting. I was right beside him, so when he started falling into the water, I leaned over to try to pull him back in. I was unsuccessful; I fell into the water on top of him and was about ten feet ahead of him within 30 seconds. My mother jumped in after us, but she could only get to my brother because he was closer and floating a lot slower than I was. My dad jumped out and ran up the bank of the river to get to the road so he could see where I was. Little to his knowledge, I was picked up after about 2 minutes by some complete stranger in a kayak and was heading down the river toward a little resting spot.
However, my friend was still in the raft. As soon as everyone else left the raft, she fell off the rock, started going very fast down the river, and passed me very quickly. We were both sobbing in hysterics. I was worried about my whole family, because I couldn’t see them and I was worried that one of them had drowned or gotten frostbite since the water was almost at
Ms. Cohen
AP English: Language and Composition
25 September 2011
Please, Get a Guide Sometimes, a guide is needed, especially when you are going on a whitewater rafting adventure on which you have not been. Guides are paid to help you and other newcomers learn what to do. Without a guide, things can go wrong very quickly. One July Fourth, my family, a friend, and I were at my mountain house, as we are every July Fourth. A few years ago, we decided that we were going whitewater rafting down the Nantahala River, in Western North Carolina, on a category 3 course. It was a gorgeous day, but it had drizzled a little that morning; the temperature was perfect, around 70°. The sky was a beautiful Carolina blue and the …show more content…
It was coming out of the water about ten feet high and about fifteen feet wide. Somehow, we ended up on top of this rock. After about a minute, water started rushing in right where my little brother was sitting. I was right beside him, so when he started falling into the water, I leaned over to try to pull him back in. I was unsuccessful; I fell into the water on top of him and was about ten feet ahead of him within 30 seconds. My mother jumped in after us, but she could only get to my brother because he was closer and floating a lot slower than I was. My dad jumped out and ran up the bank of the river to get to the road so he could see where I was. Little to his knowledge, I was picked up after about 2 minutes by some complete stranger in a kayak and was heading down the river toward a little resting spot.
However, my friend was still in the raft. As soon as everyone else left the raft, she fell off the rock, started going very fast down the river, and passed me very quickly. We were both sobbing in hysterics. I was worried about my whole family, because I couldn’t see them and I was worried that one of them had drowned or gotten frostbite since the water was almost at