you never know ahead of ...time, when this change is going to occur. And when it does, time is the last thing on your mind. I was a recent stowaway on a river trip on the Arkansas River near the town of Buena Vista, CO. It was a great trip full of the usual fun and adventure that accompanies white water rafting, till we reached the end of pinball rapid in Browns Canyon. We floated around the bend cheering and laughing only to come across a scene of confusion and chaos. There were three boats full of somber faces that had pulled ashore river right. Just downstream was a river guide with a rope thrown across the river. We weren’t sure what he wanted us to do, so we tried to ‘eddy out’ river left to get out of his way. He, very sternly, told us not to stop and to push on downstream. Just in front of us a raft had been pulled out of the water and up some twenty feet of the embankment onto the abandoned railroad tracks that ran parallel with the river. The raft was on its side with six people around it. As we passed it I looked back fully aware that something was seriously wrong. A man was on his knees pumping another’s chest over and over. Not one of the kids on our trip realized what was going on. When we finished our trip, I was told that the CPR was not successful, and the stranger I knew nothing about died right there on the side of the river. It was a day of both physical and mental extremes, a day that will stick with me for a long time to come.
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