The following comes from Brittni Tanenbaum, our Educational Advocacy Coordinator, and Erika Dirkse, our Program Director, who both attended our white water rafting trip this weekend. Read out to hear about the amazing time they had with some lucky young people!
This past weekend, SFCASA embarked on the second annual whitewater rafting trip down the American River with Environmental Traveling Companions (ETC). This year, we also had the wonderful opportunity to partner with SF ILSP! We hope to do so again next year to share in this fabulous opportunity for outdoor education and positive risk-taking with more young people!
After the early morning drive, all seven of us came together for introductions, games, and safety talks by the wonderful ETC guides. After some light swimming to get everyone comfortable in the water, we were ready to go!
Our five hours on the river started out with calm waters, but quickly developed into some class 2 rapids. After a wonderful lunch on the side of the river, we were ready to test the techniques we had gotten down before lunch and launched out into some class 3 rapids. Between our two rafts, there was non-stop laughter and fun, particularly when we were rolling through some large rapids or perfecting our techniques of splashing each other between the rafts. Looking at the joy in our group, you would have never thought most of us were new to whitewater rafting or that anyone had felt anxiety at the beginning of the day.
At the end of the day, youth were inquiring about how to get out on the water more and volunteer with ETC! Our group will never forget the wonderful day we spent together in the beautiful outdoors and we are all eager for more rafting next summer!
