Rafting the glacial rapids of the Nenana River at Denali is an experience we will never forget. We were dressed by the outfitters who zipped us up in special dry suits that had rubber gaskets around the wrists and neck Special boots and gloves rounded out the survival suits before we donned our helmets.
Our rafting guide Micah had us practice some paddling commands before we took off onto the river. He instructed us to be sure our feet were securely strapped under the footholds or we would likely be propelled from the raft.
When we hit the second set of rapids, called “Razorback”, our raft was tossed around and shot up into the air. We thought the whole thing was going to flip us over into the raging frigid whitewater. The man sitting up front went flying and landed a row back on top of Alex. We all got completely soaked over and over again with the freezing milky glacial river. The rapids were great and we loved it.
Micah pointed out the wreckage of underwater train cars that had fallen many years before from the cliff side above. Near the end of our wild ride in calmer waters, Jim and Alex purposefully fell out of the raft for a float in the frigid glacial waters.
Earlier in the day we enjoyed the dogsledding demonstration at Denali national park. The dogs were very fast, and so excited at the opportunity to run. They were leaping in the air and looked as if the were saying “Pick me! Pick Me!”
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