"It's wild and uncivilized. Here you are in control until you make a mistake. The river is neither for you nor against you, it just doesn't care. Civilization isn't like that. It might bite you in the butt for any or no reason if you give it a half a chance."

"Below the funnel that Tara had gone into was a roaring fall. She went over it, plunged into the pool below the falls, and was sucked down by the hydraulic vacuum. As Ian was swept past the hole he glimpsed a flash of orange beneath the surface. Instantly he knew it was Tara and her orange lifejacket.
Frantically he stroked against the river. Just when it seemed he would be propelled down the river, the hydraulic vacuum caught him, pulling him into the depths of the river."

"Slowly Ian crept toward the tree where Wing was tied. She seemed to be tied where there was the most nearby cover. He was ten feet from her when Ben walked by and fingered the knots binding her. Ian held his breath until Ben was thirty yards away, then he crept to the tree where Wing was tied
Quietly he whispered her name. Her head rose sharply as she gasped. "

"The name didn't tell much but the roar of the water said plenty...The weight of the raft caused it to respond too slowly. This put it on the ragged edge of the first standing wave. Slow response again and being on the edge rather than in the center of the wave turned the raft backwards as it crested the wave. All Bill and Gary could do was strain at the oars and hope for the best."