1. Arkansas River Rafting gives us the opportunity to bond with our loved ones on an awesome adventure!
Arkansas River rafting is one of those activities that provide opportunities for everybody to see the river from a unique
perspective. Too often as a society, we get sucked into the screens in front of us, warping the reality of the world we live in. While on a raft you work as a team, with friends, family, colleagues or new friends that you just met that morning. Your four, six, or eight paddles combine to create a formidable momentum downstream.
2. Arkansas River rafting allows you to immerse yourself in nature!
While your whitewater rafting the Arkansas River in Colorado, you may spook a Great Blue Heron, or cause a group of geese with their goslings to speed up as you float by. You may see a Red-tailed Hawk, Osprey, or Belted King Fisher perched on a tree nearby that you certainly would have missed if you were just driving by, and not in sync with the five-mile-per-hour current slowly drifting downstream. You can let the professional guides accommodate your limitations and help you conquer your fears!
3. Let the professional guides get you down safely and help you conquer your fears!
If you worry about your physical limitations, don’t. I cannot emphasize enough the word TEAM in rafting, or the phrase “we are all in one boat.” The very first thing your guide will do is tune your family into a well-oiled machine of paddlers. It is not anyone “stronger” paddler that gets the raft down the river, but everyone’s paddles together. One overbearing paddler will only turn the boat, making it harder to keep online. This one paddler’s strength will not be felt however in a boat full of scouts that are perfectly synchronized.
Modern boats displace a lot of water. What this means is that we can take five or six two-hundred- plus pound men down the river with ease. Your guide will seat you to balance the weight, usually with extra weight in the front to smash through those whitewater waves. Don’t let weight be a concern, it’s a momentum advantage.
4. Age is just a number, there’s an Arkansas River whitewater trip for all ages and abilities!
If your grandmother doesn’t want to paddle, then she doesn’t have to. After all, she has had the experience of birthing you and your kin. With such sagacity of age is the ability to enjoy a care-free float.
Another option to be paddle free is to request that your guide “row” you down the river. With long oars mounted to the frame of the boat,the guide will have the leverage he or she needs to put the raft in the right spot on the river without the assistance of paddlers (or with minimal assistance). Often there will be at least one person in the boat who wants to paddle; who gets a front row seat in order to pull the boat downstream from the bow.
Don’t want to fall out?
In the event that somebody worries about falling out of the boat, we have a little something we like to call “sitting princess,” meaning everybody else is paddling you down the river, and you are in the center. This is great if you have four and five-year-olds that worry. It’s especially nice for grandparents who want to enjoy Arkansas River rafting with the next generation of adventurers. There are straps to hold on, and this area is generally clear of the big splashes.
Looking for something a little more exciting?
For those of us that have a more fearless mentality, god made Royal Gorge Rafting. Downriver from the more mellow sections of the Arkansas, the river cut’s through a steep granite and gneiss canyon. The water here is faster, the action more continuous, and the waves potentially boat flipping. This is the trip that all dads should take their rambunctious youth on; perhaps as a consolation for not letting them have a motorcycle. Here your guide will be yelling at you loud to paddle so you can hear him over the roar of the water. Take his or her advice and paddle well.
5. Rafting gives us spontaneous energy and a connection to our surroundings!
Overall, the wide variety of sections on the Arkansas River provides a trip everybody will enjoy. The water levels this year look to exceed the expectations of surround whitewater rafting rivers. No wonder it is one of the most popular commercially rafted rivers in Colorado and the country! You certainly won’t be upset that you set the time away to go outside, and see all that the Arkansas River whitewater has to offer.
