{"id":4950,"date":"2012-07-04T10:00:49","date_gmt":"2012-07-04T17:00:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aorafting.com\/blog\/?p=4950"},"modified":"2018-05-14T13:31:58","modified_gmt":"2018-05-14T20:31:58","slug":"a-river-guides-morning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.aorafting.com\/blog\/a-river-guides-morning\/","title":{"rendered":"A River Guide’s Morning"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>

\"\"<\/a>It\u2019s early in the morning. You wake up, somewhat begrudgingly, somewhat excitedly, and\u00a0 go through your somewhat truncated morning routine. You wake your kids or your roommates and load up, bleary eyed, into the car yawning and wiping the sleep from your face. It\u2019s still dark outside. Maybe the first bit of morning light is tinting the sky.\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

A couple hours later you are more awake. The sun\"\"<\/a> is bright and hot as you pull up to the meeting place for your whitewater rafting summer vacation. Some paperwork, a PFD (Personal Floatation Device), a paddle, and a pre-river orientation later and you are down at the cool water of the river meeting your guide, who introduces his or her-self and assures you that you\u2019re going to have an awesome day.<\/p>\n

But what has this sun-branded, messy-haired \"\"<\/a>reader of currents been doing while you\u2019ve been yawning down the highway, telling your kids to stop hitting each other, and wishing to God you had a second cup of coffee?…<\/p>\n

I\u2019m not sure when or where I heard the phrase \u201churry up and wait,\u201d but it never made much sense to me until I started guiding rafting trips. It is the perfect cliche phrase to describe the average morning of a river guide. One moment you\u2019re rushing, panicking, stressing that you have the right amount of safety gear. The next \"\"<\/a>you\u2019re all set for your trip laying in the bottom of a boat, looking at your feet masking the sky as the sun creeps up above the last of glorious morning shade.<\/p>\n

A guide\u2019s morning starts with breakfast and a guide meeting. Who\u2019s on what trip, who\u2019s in charge of food, gear, greeting people, what the logistical complications of the day are,\u00a0 \"\"<\/a>etc. It all gets hashed out in the morning meeting. There\u2019s lot\u2019s of joking, lots of laughing, lots of lounging.<\/p>\n

Then it\u2019s ready…set…break! and flurry of motion breaks out. Boats get blown up, gear is divided, water bottles are filled, paper work gets prepared in one big hustle. Each guide addresses his or her-self to a task, either rigging boats with food and gear or preparing for guests to arrive. And nobody, absolutely nobody, wants to be caught out jobless, doing nothing, looking like a lazy, slacker, newbie.<\/p>\n

On the best days it feels and looks like a well-oiled machine. It\u2019s fast, efficient, and, dare I say it, even fun. We get our laughs in and our work done all in good measure and order. On the worst days it is a mad, paranoid rush. Are we sure everything\u2019s in order? Did we forget anything? Why are there four people filling up water bottles while nobody is on the truck blowing up our last two rafts?<\/p>\n

But inevitably, with varying degrees of anxiety, the preparation work gets finished. Then the trip manager looks down at his or her watch and finds there is some incredible amount of time left before guests are even supposed to arrive.<\/p>\n

So we fret a little more. We gather our personal rafting gear here. We make small adjustments to our rafts there. It takes a bit to get the edge off. Finally, we kick back, find a comfy spot and affectively relax, waiting for guests to arrive and the trip to start.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s early in the morning. You wake up, somewhat begrudgingly, somewhat excitedly, and\u00a0 go through your somewhat truncated morning routine. 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