The River Wild: Rafting the Wenatchee

A friendly Seattlite informed me that Washington received more snowfall than any other state this year, which, in the summer, translates to great white water rafting.

I liked the sound of this.

I decided to hit up the Wenatchee River that runs through Leavenworth (seriously, check it out — the entire town is modeled after a Bavarian village, which is reason enough to visit) with Blue Sky Outfitters.

My guides, Tom and Owen, were a riot, and invited me to ride in the “sweeper” boat, which hangs back behind the main raft to pick up anyone who gets tossed out along the way.

They wanted to surf the standing waves, get into the roughest part of the rapids, and duck into caves. Definitely my kind of people.

Together we navigated rapids like the Drunk Tank, Fluffy Bunny, the Pipeline, and Granny’s.

Here’s a short little video from the day.

Follow Shannon’s adventures on Twitter @CuriousTraveler and on Instagram @ShannonSwitzer

Shannon is photographing with an Olympus PEN E-PM1 and an Olympus Tough TG-820.