An old mountain man friend of mine recently turned in his official mountain man badge, as he made the decision to go ahead and tie the old knot. Yep, the fellow is getting married, and reckons his days as a Canadian Rockies mountain man are over.
From what I hear, he’s already cut his hair, bought a business suit, and researched tying a necktie on the internet. Rumor has it, he’s even going to take a shower before the wedding. But before we lose him, his mountain man buddies get one last crack at a good time, and a last chance to pull him away from the edge. That’s right, the stag party, also known as the bachelor party down south.
For a couple days now I’ve been thinking about exactly what we should do for a good old mountain man time in the Canadian Rockies, before we hit our favorite pub. Of course last week I was reminiscing about my first experience on a guided raft tour, and that made me wonder if rafting might not be the perfect activity for us. It seemed like a good combination: we’d all get in a little mountain man bonding time on the wild waters, and my poor friend would get his first taste of what a shower might be like.
With that in mind, I gave Ted Bilton, my old buddy at Wild Water Adventures, a call. Ted and his buddies at Wild Water Adventures have been doing these tours for a long time, and were voted number one raft guide by Canadian Rockies locals. Ted told me that lots of people choose raft guide trips, both for their stag and stagette parties, and even for their weddings. He even shared the comments of a former stag who took a trip down the Kicking Horse River with Wild Water Adventures last summer:
My friends decided that for my stag last summer we would do something different. None of us had done whitewater rafting before so it was the obvious choice. Right from the moment we were picked up we had a great experience. Once we got into the water we all loved it. We saw some great scenery at first and then we hit the rapids!! What a great rush that was, we were all loving it!! It was a great day that we all still talk about now. We are already looking forward to the next time one of us gets married!! Jason Strudwick, Edmonton Oilers.
That pretty much took care of it for me. What could possibly beat a wild day on the wild water, surrounded by the Canadian Rockies, and a group of your best friends? Should this old mountain man ever get married, and that day may yet come, he’s hoping his friends will have the sense to send him on a river trip.