Our Division III students just returned home after a week long rafting trip on the Colorado’s Green River. The section of the Green River that these students conquered is called the Gates of Lodore, which is the entry to the Lodore Canyon in northwestern Colorado. The trip started off on Monday with students loading up their gear in vans and driving four hours to Craig, Colorado. Once they were there, they set up camp at the Gates of Lodore Campground for the night where they met their raft guides during a meet & greet session. Tuesday, after covering safety aspects, equipment, river etiquette, and other information pertaining to geology and history of the surrounding area, students boarded their boats and started floating down stream. The day on the river ends around 5:00pm where they then set up camp for the night at a designated campsite where they made dinner and had campfire conversations until going bags in.

On Wednesday, the group of Division III students came up on a section of the river that had more rapids than the previous day. Guides pulled their boats to the shore to get out and scout the river and made sure they knew the route they wanted to take was safe. Once getting through the white water, the day looked pretty similar to Tuesday with a lunch stop, getting back on the river for a while, then pulling off to set up camp. Thursday offered very sunny skies and gave the group the warmest weather of the trip. Students enjoyed the weather by jumping in the river to swim and cool off.

The group ended their four days on the river at Split Mountain in Jensen, Utah around 1:00pm on Friday. Once they arrived at their destination, students gathered all their gear and loaded in back into the vans to return home to Frisco.

The annual Division III raft trip was a huge success, as usual, and was a great outdoor educational experience for these students. Upon going on this trip, students read the book Desert Solitaire by Edward Abbey to help give them insight on the land they were about to adventure in to. Not only did students learn about the river and the land surrounding it, but they grew relationships, made memories and shared plenty of laughs.