Hi, my name is Brianna. I’m 13 years old and I’m about to share with you my favorite moments of my epic six day and five night raft trip.
Through the Sierra Club Inspiring Connections Outdoors Program (ICO), seven other kids and I rafted down the Yampa and The Green Rivers in Dinosaur National Monument. We rode 72 miles in rubber rafts through beautiful striped canyons. We launched in Colorado and ended up in Utah. We were very lucky because very few people get to experience river rafting trips due to their high cost and often low water. I took the trip with my brothers and got to meet other kids from ICO.
Our daily routine was to wake up really early to eat our breakfast, then pack up our stuff to continue going down the River. We floated till about noon, when we pulled over to eat lunch and swim in the river. We often had big water fights for fun. In the late afternoon we would stop at our campsite and have dinner; because of the nice weather and no bugs we slept outside in the open on a big tarp.
At meal time we split up in teams and had jobs to do. I myself liked washing the dishes because it was an easy task. One of my favorite suppers we had was tikki masala with pita bread, but we also had spaghetti, teriyaki noodles, pulled pork, burgers, and hot dogs. The food on the trip was delicious. On the first day, I spent the entire time on the water in the inflatable kayak where I would get splashed and soaked. Paddling the kayak I got to flit around because I was much quicker than the big rafts. I learned to manage it pretty well.
This summer rafting adventure was a huge opportunity that I will always remember. I want to give a big shout out to the Sierra Club for saving the Canyons in Dinosaur National Monument so I could enjoy their beauty.
Learn more about outing opportunities in Colorado here.