L URE OF THE E L AHO

RACING RAPIDS IN THE SQUAMISH VALLEY

“Forward, forward!” screams our guide Tanya from the back of our SOTAR SL raft as we accelerate around a section of the Elaho River known as the Steamroller Rapid, our team of six paddling as strong and as close to a rhythm as we can. “Never get out of the boat.” The gruff voice of Martin Sheen narrating the 1979 Wagnerian war film Apocalypse Now repeats this line over and over in my head. I may not be sailing upstream on the Nung River on the search for the renegade Colonel Kurtz on this cool day in late May, but my desire to stay on the inside of this raft remains firm. The raft bobs up and down as we float over the small waves, then all of a sudden I’m staring at a wall of flowing water. I reposition myself a few inches closer to the inside of the raft and brace against the upcoming rapid, while Tanya’s booming voice is briefly muffled as the wall of ice cold water crashes over me. I shake it off with a loud “Woohoo!” and plunge my paddle back into the water, ready for the next surprise the Elaho has in store for me.