White Water Rafting Trip

[drbrock]

Has anyone had an amazing outdoors guys trip? I want to hit up Colorado or Utah for a white water rafting and camping trip. We are in pretty good shape and are pretty solid in the outdoors.

I don't know where to start really. It would be nice to buy a package (like they have Euro trips) but I found that I was able to add much more value by planning things myself. Any and all help is appreciated.

My budget for the actual fun side of the trip is about 1500 excluding airfare.

Thanks!

 

[skyking]

Hell's Canyon on the Snake is great, but so is the main fork of the Salmon. Both are in the eastern Oregon/Idaho area. We did the Salmon late in the year with low flows, but still had a great time. It was a guided trip, just my wife and I and the guide in a big framed boat. He did all the work, cooked us a gourmet dinner over the fire.

 

[LordMorpheus]

I did the Gauley River in West Virginia, and it was a pretty wild ride. Lots of class V rapids, but even though it's got crazy water it's safe enough for novices to run (with a guide steering the boat, anyway).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gauley_River#Whitewater_paddling

 

[Kadarin]

The first time I ever did this I went here: http://www.ohiopyletradingpost.com/uppryok.htm

It was insane and amazing at the same time.

Since then I've rafted at the Royal Gorge in Colorado: http://www.royalgorgerafting.net/index.html (not nearly as hard)

And at the Middle Fork of the American River in CA: http://www.americanwhitewater.com/middle-fork-american-river.php

I'll be doing the American River again next month. We go camping for a weekend and have a great time. I have a girlfriend who's new to this and she's scared to death, but is totally down for an adventure.

 

[RadiclDreamer]

I did the Gauley River in West Virginia, and it was a pretty wild ride. Lots of class V rapids, but even though it's got crazy water it's safe enough for novices to run (with a guide steering the boat, anyway).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gauley_River#Whitewater_paddling

I grew up in this area, Whitewater is fantastic in WV, let me know if you have questions or suggestions

 

[GagHalfrunt]

I've done all the major northeast rivers like the Hudson, Moose and Penobscot as well as the Cheat and Gauley in West Virginia. I've never done the western rivers, but I think you're going to need to go through a whitewater company and get a complete package deal. This isn't the kind of thing you can plan yourself as there are safety issues, ingress/egress to/from the put-in and take-out points, permits and a whole host of other things. With serious whitewater you can't get 6 guys together, tie a raft to the roof of the car, drive to the river and hope for the best.

 

[RadiclDreamer]

Dont discount the New River in WV, gauley isnt too bad unless its "gauley season" where they let out the water from summersville dam

 

[ringtail]

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[lxskllr]

I did the Gauley River in West Virginia, and it was a pretty wild ride. Lots of class V rapids, but even though it's got crazy water it's safe enough for novices to run (with a guide steering the boat, anyway).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gauley_River#Whitewater_paddling

Reputable companies won't take you on the upper Gauley without doing the lower first. It's a very dangerous river and should be treated with respect, and a little dose of fear.

 

[GasX]

River Futalufu in chile > *

 

[ringtail]

from http://www.thepoke.co.uk/2012/06/28/150-hilarious-summer-pictures/gallery/image/ngg-image-4443/

 

[vailr]

There's lots of Colorado River rafting companies. Near Glenwood Springs, CO or further downstream through the Grand Canyon, Arizona. The Arkansas River near Buena Vista, CO has some organized rafting companies that can provide multi day rafting, with camping, equipment, meals, etc. included.

 

[SirStev0]

Reputable companies won't take you on the upper Gauley without doing the lower first. It's a very dangerous river and should be treated with respect, and a little dose of fear.

Actually a lot of the deaths on the river happen outside of Gauley Weekend's when the river is lower and more unpredictable.

I did the upper gauley with Ace and thought they and their guides were great. Really with a guide you aren't doing much of anything.

If there is a guy named Donnie still with them I recommend the hell out of him. The first thing he asked was what kind of ride we wanted and when my buddy responded "wild" he took us down the first set of rapids, The Initiator (a class IV), backwards. It was a hell of a trip.

There are 5 official Class V on Gauley Weekends. Sweet's Falls is a 17 foot water fall with a big rock in the middle that you have to avoid called Dildo rock.
My favorite is a set of 3 rapids together, which they consider one continuous Class V called Lost Paddle. It is wild.
The last 3rd of the trip is pretty tame compared to the first 1/3 especially but there are still some good ones to have a good time and a fair amount of great spots to go whitewater surfing.

EDIT: The lower Gauley is a good river but nothing on the upper. There is a cool rapid early on that will shoot your guide straight up in the air. The teams usually try to see who can shoot who the farthest.
The New River is right near as well and has an upper and a lower as well.
On Gauley weekends you can also do all day trips that do the Upper and Lower Gauley or The Upper twice.