49.1

I was up at Lower Lewis River falls one day when I overheard a gentleman say..."See, we are going over right there" . When I asked what he meant, he said he and his friend were going on a "first descent". He explained they were going to be the first ones to go over this falls in a raft! This is a 28' waterfall, and what you see here are two crazies from the Oregon Rafting Team going for a little ride. I had to stay around to catch the action. Before I go any further, let me just say that both men survived. Did they make it over successfully, without any trouble or without scaring their family to death? No. They placed their raft in the first little drop at the top of the falls with a rope tied to a nearby tree. After securing their helmets and other pads (don't try this at home kids) one of them reached back and cut the rope. Just as the reached the lip, the raft kicked to the side and that's exactly how they went over...sideways. On the way down, the raft flipped over and slammed into the water below upside down. What followed was a 30 minute adventure where one of the men had to be rescued by his friends because the eddy had pushed him under and beneath the falls. During this entire event I was shooting from up above, standing next to the mans family and wondering at what point I should stop shooting and try calling for help but the lack of cell phone coverage made my choice a little easier.....Oh who am I kidding....I would have probably just kept shooting anyway. ;)

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