White Water Rafting

I hope this info is not repeated. Last Sunday, I went for white water rafting in the Middle fork of the American river. This is in Auburn, about 2.5 hours from Bay area. The difficulty level in the middle fork is 4. I must say, it was a great fun. Although 4 might seem a little scary to some, it really isn’t. There is a guide in every raft and they give you life jacket. So even if you don’t know to swim, you wont drown 🙂
You start rafting at 9 am and it ends at about 3.30 pm. The total rafting distance is about 17 miles. But you don’t have to row for 17 miles. The river current does most of the work for you 🙂 I think one would have to row for about 2 hours in all, maybe less. And its spread out, so you wont row for more than 10 minutes continuously.
There are some good rapids and really still parts in this river. Overall, it is a very good experience. I would recommend this even to those who havn’t been rafting before. We were 6 people and 3 of my friends had not done rafting before. But that didn’t matter at all.
If any of us are interested and want more details, let me know. I will be more than happy to share my experience with you 🙂

4 Comments:

  1. Need more info
    July 15, 2007 at 9:33 pm

    Hi Gaurav,

    I am planning to go for something similar and want to know what’s the name of the place, the cost and any pertinent details that you can give out.

    Thanks
    Samir

  2. prashant
    July 16, 2007 at 11:18 am

    Some of these whitewater companies also have overnight camping trips along with rafting.

    I have done whitewater rafting on the American river 8-9 years back and it was great fun. I forgot the name of the place thru which I did it.

    Anyway seems like its almost time to try it one more time. :-).

  3. BhaveshG
    July 16, 2007 at 12:52 pm

    I have done both a one day one with the Guide and another one with overnight camping but in a 2-person kayak with no guide. Both were fun. It is good fun. Yes it is time to try ti one more time 🙂

  4. gauravsalia
    July 16, 2007 at 11:14 pm

    Hi Samir,

    A few details about my rafting trip:
    1. We went rafting in the Middle fork of American river. Its in Auburn, about 130-140 miles from Bay area.
    2. There are many companies who will take you rafting in this river. We went through ‘Adventure connection’.
    3. The charge is $159 per person. We got a discount since we were a group of six – we paid for five people only, sixth was free 🙂
    4. Our guide was Justin. He was very good and has a lot of experience. And since the Middle fork is of difficulty level 4, each raft has a guide. I think it is required.
    5. They provide you with lunch and have some veg options. You can take our own food it you want.
    6. Make sure to take sun screen. It gets quite hot in the afternoon.
    7. Like Prashant and Bhavesh said, you can do a one day trip or two days trip. There are many companies which will take you rafting, you can just search online and will find a bunch of them.
    8. You will have to reserve atleast 3-4 days in advance. Earlier the better. Generally Saturdays get reserved much quicker than Sundays.
    9. Anyone above age 12 is allowed.
    10. If anyone wears glasses, make sure to take eyeglass cord.

    This is all that I can think of. Let me know if you need more details. You can also call me on 408-368-3351

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