Whitewater Rafting
The Guided Experience
“We flipped the raft right out of the gate,” she said. “It was the first weekend of the season during a water release, and it snowed. We actually were hot in our wetsuits, though.” After the brief dunking, the crew continued downriver to experience Exterminator Rapids and later several narrow shoots and drops. “We saw some scary rapids, but the guides did a good job organizing and orchestrating our paddling methods, so we got through the rapids no problem. At one point we got out of the rafts and went down
some waterfalls on our butts in our wetsuits. We had safety instructions and were told what to do if we fell out of the raft; so we felt safe.” After seeing a moose and its calf, the group paused for a shore lunch and later beached the rafts at the cabins where they were staying the night. My wife said she got a little angry early the next morning when someone started hammering boards. “Actually,” she laughed, “it turned out to be a pileated woodpecker pecking away, and it just sounded like someone hammering.” The second day the group rafted the Dead River. “It was fun and exciting,” my wife said. “So much so that we did it again the next year!” Another popular destination for rafting trips is the Kennebec River, one of the finest stretches of whitewater in the country. This, too, is a damrelease river, and trips are timed for maximum flow and enjoyment. For a once-in-a-lifetime experience, sign on with a qualified Maine Guide and get ready for a wet and wild ride. —JOE HEALY
Northeast Whitewater
On the scale of perceived degree of difficulty, rafting whitewater rapids may seem a daunting challenge—a freshwater rodeo ride where one wrong move can land you in the drink. Well, that’s actually part of the fun, particularly when you’re led by a professional Maine Guide, who will steer you away from any real danger as much as he or she can. My wife, not known to be a hardcore thrill-seeker, regales me with stories of a guided whitewater trip she took after college on the Penobscot and Dead rivers. Her group was in the safe hands of experienced Maine Guides, who launched them on the Penobscot in the spring during a dam release. She wore the provided wetsuit and the required buoyancy jacket and helmet, but it wasn’t long before she was swimming.
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