Scott Stoner had never been rafting before, and neither had his family.  His wife, two sons, & their girlfriends joined him for a nice fall foliage river running adventure.

I was their guide, and had no hesitations after meeting them that they would be competent paddlers- after all, they would have to return me safely back to base

Well, the first major rapid had its way with us, flipping the raft and dumping us all in the water.  Not a great way to start (hey, it happens).  I’ve got to say, I had to briefly reconsider that whole “paddling competency” thing I was thinking about before.

We recovered, pulled each other back in, and evaluated the damage.  One wedding band lost, couple bruised knuckles & a bit of a bloody nose. This was the last thing I wanted to happen.

I felt just awful that they were banged up, and my spirits started to sink.  These were rafting newbies, and we had a lot of river left to cover.  Thankfully, their spirits were still high.  No one was the least bit down; in fact, they were immediately ready for the rest of the trip to start.

Away we went.

Little did I know at the time that this fall raft trip would change Scott’s life.  He was excited pretty much the whole time, and by the end of the day, he was proclaiming he would be back very soon.

Well, he did come back.  Again and again.  His wife describes it as a “mid-life crisis–you don’t know how many times I have heard the story about our river trip.”

I guess it was enough for his family to give him his own personalized rafting helmet for Christmas.  They had it airbrushed with his name on it.

Scott describes river trips like being a kid again, rediscovering the power of Mother Nature.  He’s got a new hobby that’s healthy, fun, and exciting.  He  feels cool for going out and getting some, and proud of himself after tackling the river.

So the Stoner family returned again this past weekend for a deluxe cabin rental (way to go big, guys).   They brought some first time rafters with them, and we went out for a Lower New River trip.

There were no swimmers this time (thank you… thank you very much), and Scott was grinning pretty much all day.  It was his brother’s first time, and couldn’t stop talking about bringing his wife back for the Middle New River (on the float trip section- we’ve got to take it slow with her).

Scott’s psyched to have gotten a new hobby.  Who can blame him?  He’s lucky to have found the river, and I’m lucky to be a part of it.  Here’s a shout out to Scott Stoner- my favorite rafter.

-Ryan Wines
Songer Whitewater Raft Guide