SALIDA — The Bertelsman family sized up Seidel’s Suckhole — a Class IV rapid about 13 miles north of Salida.
“It’s big.”
“Fun. Exciting. . . . A little scary.”
“It’s pretty rad.”
“Power.”
The St. Louis family members were taking in the Browns Canyon stretch of the Arkansas River while on a rafting trip last month with commercial outfitter Wilderness Aware.
The suckhole is carefully scouted by raft guides after beaching their craft upstream on full-day rafting trips through the canyon.
As guests clambered up the sandy slope from the willows, their faces said it all. Formerly concentrating on maintaining footing on the trail with cold, wet feet and sea legs somewhat asleep from being tucked tightly in the boat, the rafters’ expressions quickly changed to varying shades of interest, nervousness, fear and terror as the sound of crashing water filled their ears and their eyes trained onto the whirling froth of the suckhole.
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