Surfing Smelter Rapids by Pete Kornoff

It is the second week of camp and we are off to a good start, but if you are in the Kayaking program it is a great start.  We ran Smelter Rapids on the raft trip the second day or camp and then have gone back every day since.  I was lucky enough to draw leading the "River Runners" outdoor pursuit program this week and it has been awesome!  We ran it twice in rafts and were able to surf the boats for a while but yesterday we took the smaller "rubber duckies" (single seat inflatable kayaks) and played in the main wave for almost an hour.  We would try to paddle in and hold the duckie on the wave, it takes a lot of practice and Smelter does not give up a good surf easily.  We were all flipped by Smelter numerous times but that is just as fun as surfing.  We all look forward to our next chance to challenge Smelter!