Inside Coolibar

Taking on Colorado Rapids

Spend a moment with Rose, Coolibar’s do it all extraordinaire, as she shares her exhilarating story of taking on the rapids of the Arkansas River in Colorado.

Colorado – what a fun state to visit! In the winter, skiing can be exhilarating and overwhelming compared to riding the relative mounds that we have here in Minnesota. I thought no experience that Colorado offered could beat snowboarding from the crest of a towering mountain, but that was before I tried white water rafting!

This summer, I took a weekend trip to Colorado that was jam packed with a small sampling of exciting activities. Rafting a mighty river, hiking up a mountain, keeping one eye peeled for the nature that surrounded us and perusing a street fair filled our time. Even though we spent the majority of the weekend out in the pounding sun, our friends were shocked that neither my boyfriend Aaron, who is very fair skinned, nor I got a sunburn!

We started the weekend with the most exciting, and most terrifying activity – White Water Rafting! I was pretty anxious about rafting, because I’m not the strongest swimmer, and I was secretly, very secretly, hoping that something would prevent us from plunging into that rapid filled water – a flat tire, bad directions, stomach flu – I would even settle for our rental car getting trampled by a herd of feral elk! But, we made it to the rafting company offices in one piece, ready to risk our lives for a thrill.

After numerous safety and training talks, which somehow only made me more nervous, rather than putting me at ease, we plunged into the cold water of the Arkansas River. I was shocked by the temperature of the water, and by the sudden feeling of calm that came over me. I figured that there was no turning back at that point, so I may as well embrace the adventure. We had an easy morning, getting used to the river and to paddling as a team. Then, after a delicious steak lunch, we took on the big rapids. The counter intuitiveness of paddling into a large wall of water mixed with the disorienting feeling of plunging your paddle into water that suddenly is no longer there, took a while to get used to, but eventually was addictively thrilling. After we tackled the final rapid of the day, I was surprised by the disappointment I felt – I wanted to continue battling that river.

It turns out all the trepidation I had felt was for nothing, and in truth, the most dangerous element that I battled all day was probably the sun. Halfway through the day, our guide remembered that he hadn’t applied sunscreen. Luckily for him, I had some sunscreen with me which I gladly offered to share. After all, he was keeping me safe on the river, so I found it only natural to help keep him sun safe! And besides, though I had generously applied sunscreen to my face and hands, I had plenty of sunscreen to share because I was shielded from the sun by my Coolibar Fitness Jacket (great for this kind of activity because it’s quick drying).

My Fitness Jacket and Aaron’s Short-sleeve Swim Shirt got a lot of use the rest of the weekend, as did our brand new Coolibar hats (he had the Reversible Bucket Hat and I had the Packable Wide Brim). I was really impressed with how well my hat stayed on my head, even when I was exploring the windy area near the Alpine Visitor Center at the top of a mountain! I’m really glad I packed along my Coolibar gear, because it made all the difference between filling our time with fun activities, and spending our weekend inside, nursing a bad sunburn.

We had such a great time, and I can’t wait to go back next summer!

Rose

Coolibar Employee

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August 23, 2011
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2 Comments

  • Krystal

    Heck yeah bay-bee keep them coming!

  • ja

    i like your hat

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