a day in the life
of a whitewater raft guide
6:45 am – I wake up to the sound of my alarm in my tiny camper. All the guides live on company property in campers and RVs of various states of disrepair. It’s not luxe, but it’s better than a tent. I brush my teeth, put on sunscreen, and change into my river clothes.
7:27 am – I head up to the company house to make myself breakfast. I’m a guide on the daily Split Mountain section of the Green River, so I get to come home every night. Multi-day guides will spend 3-5 days camping along the river, but I get a shower and a kitchen every day.
8:00 am – It’s time to rig for the daily trip. The other guides and I gather all the gear we’ll need for the day (first aid kits, rescue gear, tables, hand wash buckets, dishes, food, water, etc.) and make sure the boats are fully inflated. We double-check that we have everything and have a quick team meeting before the guests arrive.
9:12 am – Guests always show up a little early and with lots of questions. We fit them for PFDs (life jackets) and helmets and explain how the day will go. There’s usually a little bit of chaos as everyone scrambles to refill water bottles and wrangle their kids.
9:52 am – Everyone is finally loaded onto the bus and we set off for the river. It’s a 45 minute drive through rolling hills of sagebrush and fields of alfalfa. As we drive, we point out some of the sights: a tiny “ski hill,” a private home with a giant waterslide, rainbow-colored hills where thousands of dinosaur fossils have been found.
10:33 am – We pull over so we can take a short hike to see some petroglyphs. The Fremont people occupied this region from 300 – 1,300 C.E. and left behind beautiful art etched into the sandstone. We see a dozens of petroglyphs – an invaluable example of history and culture – within a short 20-minute hike. One of the guides gives an interpretative talk.
10:50 am – We’re back on the bus and we arrive at the put-in for the daily section. There are other groups starting daily trips, so it’s a little hectic, but the team gets the boats off the trailer and onto the river’s edge. While the trip leader gives the guests a safety talk, the rest of us rig all of our gear. Each boat gets safety equipment and extra paddles, and one boat has a frame for all of the food and lunch gear.
11:27 am – I finish rigging my boat and take a quick river dunk before putting on my PFD and helmet. I apply a final layer of sunscreen and refill my water just in time for the guests to walk down to the boats.
11:35 am – After some logistics and topping off of water bottles, the guests load into the boats and we push off. I give my paddle talk, an overview of all the important safety information and paddling instructions my guests will need. We float down a section of flatwater and practice maneuvering the boat as a crew.
12:11 pm – We enter Split Mountain Canyon, an impressive geological feature where rock layers were uplifted up into a mountain while the ancient Green River continued to cut through the center. We see striations of red and gray rock, pushed up by tectonic action into a wave shape.
12:28 pm – We hit our first Class III rapid, Moonshine. I navigate my boat through the whitewater, shouting commands at my paddle crew. At lower water levels like these, we usually skate through Moonshine. It’s a great first rapid for guests to build their confidence.
12:35 pm – The next few rapids come in quick succession. S.O.B. (Stuck on Boulders, of course) is the most technical rapid of the day and a good test for my paddle crew. We have to navigate a huge turn in the river while avoiding a garden of boulders. Next is Schoolboy, always fun at low water. It’s like a rollercoaster, and I can’t help but grinning as we hit wave after wave of Class III whitewater.
12:53 pm – We’ve descended into the deepest part of the canyon. All around us are sheer, brown limestone cliffs, almost 500 million years old. Far above us rise the same layers of red rock we saw at the beginning of the trip, and above that, towers of white sandstone. We might see an osprey or an eagle. It’s amazing how remote and isolated we can feel on a single-day trip.
1:28 pm – We pull over to have lunch on a nice beach. The guides set up tables, food, and a handwash system, and prepare lunch. We have chicken Caesar salad wraps every day. As a vegetarian, my lunch usually consists of a tortilla, hummus, and lettuce, with a few emergency Oreos for dessert. I’m always hungry doing this job.
2:21 pm – Once everyone has eaten and splashed around in the water, we begin taking down our lunch setup. Gear is rigged back into the boats, PFDs and helmets go back on, and we get our guests back into the boats. We float downstream for a while, talking about the history of river-running in Utah. Commercial rafting got its start on the Green River, and we have the privilege of running Split Mountain on that same original rafting permit.
2:40 pm – After some chill Class I water, we finally hit our last Class III of the day: Inglesby. There’s a massive rock in the center of the river that you have to skirt just left of. It’s a short rapid, with little time to make mistakes, but my line is clean and we cruise through the rapid.
2:49 pm – We catch an eddy and let our guests jump off a rock into the river. There are some kids on this trip and they’re super excited. One of the highlights of the day trip is getting to cater the activities to the guests.
3:08 pm – I guide my boat through the last rapid of the day, a Class II with a big hit toward the end. It’s the last bit of excitement we’ll get today. As we start to come out of Split Mountain, I point out how we’ve lost the oldest rock layers, which are now below the level of the river. We end the day in some impressive white sandstone cliffs.
3:32 pm – We float into the boat ramp and our guests disembark. The chaos begins and we derig our boats, load the gear back into the bus, and stack our boats on the trailer. There’s usually about 5 other groups doing the same thing, but we make it work.
3:50 pm – I tighten the last ratchet strap and board the bus. The drive back to base is uneventful, but we get beautiful views of Split Mountain on the way out. I take the first moment I’ve had to relax since the bus ride this morning.
4:11 pm – We pull into base and say goodbye to our guests. But the day is far from over – it’s time to derig our trip. We unload all of our gear and divide tasks. Today I’m scrubbing and bleaching the coolers and dry bags, but some days I’ll do the dishes or clean the PFDs and helmets. If we’re lucky, the guests will tip us before they head out.
5:15 pm – The derig done, now it’s time for us to meet with our managers and discuss the trip. They ask us about time management, safety, food, and crew dynamics. This trip went smoothly, so there’s not much to talk about.
5:32 pm – The work day is finally done. I’m tired and dirty and hungry. My first priority is to shower and get out of my river clothes. Then I head up to the guide house to make myself dinner.
7:06 pm – The sun is still up for a while – it doesn’t set until 8:00 in Northern Utah – so I catch up with friends. There’s always someone hanging out on the porch of the guide house, usually with a beer in hand. We talk about the river, the work, what we’re looking forward to this winter, what we’ll miss when the season is over. The people are really great here. I’m lucky.
8:56 pm – Night has fallen so I brush my teeth and get ready for bed. I try to go to sleep early, especially if I have another trip the next day. Raft guiding is demanding, exhausting work, but I love being out on the river, paddling through the whitewater and teaching people about the canyon. I’m excited to do it again tomorrow.
