Up around THE BEND

“When running a rapid, I always put on a lifejacket. I needed to start treating sex with the same consistent caution.” She also shares regret about missing out on longer term relationships, and she recounts a violent sexual encounter with a man she had previously trusted.

Life away from the river became darker and more complicated too. While driving in the Chilcotin, Glouberman lost control of a truck and trailer and rolled over. The wreck “resembled crushed beer cans,” she recalls. A co-worker was injured, and Tamar broke multiple vertebrae. Riddled with guilt, she questioned her ability to keep people safe on land or water. Self-doubt, PTSD, depression and physical injuries lingered; her future as a river guide uncertain. (Faulty tires were determined to have caused the accident.)

Much like a winding river, Chasing Rivers meanders with further trauma ahead, including a fatal accident on the Firth River. Glouberman writes: “Rivers. Time. Life. Everything kept changing and moving on. I wanted life to pause while I got better, physically and mentally.… At nearly 35 I was already old on the river. They say time heals all wounds, but I didn’t have time to spare.”

Today Tamar is back on the water, although now as a wilderness guide introducing people to grizzly bears in more placid coastal waters.

9781771623414

Mark Forsythe author/co-author of four books and a former host of CBC Radio’s BC Almanac enjoys kayaking in placid waters with his wife aboard Jensi I and Jensi II, named after their first grandchild.

Tamar Glouberman’s frank memoir of life as a whitewater raft guide in a male-dominated business. Partying hard, her life away from the river became darker.