Cold and Wet

For the past two days I've been taking swiftwater which is the river form of a wilderness first responder course. The guy who teaches it is actually the owner of Montana River Guides who I had actually applied for before I came out here. down by Missoula. They run rafting and river board trips on the Blackfoot, Stillwater, and the Alberton Gorge on the Clarks Fork. Alot of the crew from work needed it or needed to re-certify for it so we were all there. People who've taken it says that mother nature never cooperates and indeed this yea r wasn't about to break that tradition. It was raining and the river is still at about 38 degrees. We did everything from swim rapids, rescue "unconscious" victims, unpin people/boats on strainers, and hook up all sorts of tension retrieval systems. Although we complained about the horrible weather and cold the only thing that truly sucked was putting on our equipment in the morning. There's just something about putting on wet cold gear in preparation to get wet and cold again that doesn't exactly motivate us very much. Once we got going on scenarios we were all eager to get at it and stay warm. Last night was also a combo of events because Glacier Raft Company was having a guide party/gear night sponsored by NRS and it was free game food at the Dew Drop as well. Ended up going to both and got a bunch of free swag from the gear party. On top of our busy days my new helmet is in route and the replacement knife from NRS showed up today as well. A lot of the people from work need their wilderness first aid this coming Saturday so I guess their short guides. That means Bryant and I have our first commercial trip on Saturday afternoon!!! So pumped to finally get on the board and we even captained the whole 9 mile whitewater stretch today during swiftwater today. Weathers not supposed to lighten up until next Tuesday but the word on the street is that after the big rain summer will officially begin and the rain will be far less. For now I'm staying warm and back on the river tomorrow, it couldn't get any better.