white water rafting…..

[moonpie23]

you know you wanna share those fotos……..bring em on.!!!!

me and the fam risking certain death on some river in a place that i can't even pronounce..


(that's me and MRS moon pie in the front, with the little moon pie in the middle behind us….

[DUKIECB]

you know you wanna share those fotos……..bring em on.!!!!

me and the fam risking certain death on some river in a place that i can't even pronounce..


(that's me and MRS moon pie in the front, with the little moon pie in the middle behind us….

I don't have any photos but we have been a few times and I LOVED it! The reason we haven't been in a while is on our last trip we completely flipped in a class IV on the Gauley river in West Virginia. Now my wife doesn't want to go again.

We've been down the New River gorge several trips and it is just gorgeous. Most folks say the upper section of the Gauley is the best whitewater east of the Mississippi. Several class V's and several class IV's in one trip. It's an adrenaline rush for sure!

[-jk]

The Nantahala is fun (but cold). Being dam controlled, they have good water even in dry summers. There's a reason the NOC is so popular!

Some rivers (the Gauley among them) are nice in the spring, but dry up in the summer.

-jk

[DukieInKansas]

Did the Snake River through Hells Canyon a few years ago. Fun 3 days/2 nights - gourmet food & wine, tents set up for you. Even had a chance to try an inflatable kayak. They said I went through a Class III+ rapid in it but I have no idea how accurate that was. I just know they lied to me - told me they would let me hike a bit to observe the rapid and decide if I wanted to try it. Instead, they just pulled me to the side, told me to aim for where the water made a v and sent me on my way. Told me later that that was the rapid they had discussed earlier.

Highly recommend Hughes River Expeditions - not a cheap trip but very well run, safety is a huge concern, and they really take care of their clients. Watched our guides chew out guides from another company about not watching their clients on the river carefully enough.

[bjornolf]

I've done the Colorado and the Snake. Awesome. So fun.

[hurleyfor3]

The river of choice here is the Arkansas (say "are-KAN-sass"). Although CW McCall sang about the day he ran the rapids on the Green.

[OldPhiKap]

French Broad River near Asheville has some nice runs.

Snake River west of Jackson Hole is major whitewater.

One of my favorites as the Rio Chama in New Mexico. Absolutely gorgeous, prettier than the. Grand Canyon IMO although "only" thousand foot escarpments.

[Dev11]

The river of choice here is the Arkansas (say "are-KAN-sass"). Although CW McCall sang about the day he ran the rapids on the Green.

I don't know, I've run the Royal Gorge and recently did part of the Class IV section of Clear Creek, and I found the creek to have superior rapids. Also the water was about 40 degrees, so it really gets the adrenaline flowing.

[DUKIECB]

The Nantahala is fun (but cold). Being dam controlled, they have good water even in dry summers. There's a reason the NOC is so popular!

Some rivers (the Gauley among them) are nice in the spring, but dry up in the summer.

-jk

Yeah, the Gauley is only super intense in the fall when they release massive amounts of water from the dam upstream. Otherwise, it's a fairly benign stream.

[hurleyfor3]

I don't know, I've run the Royal Gorge and recently did part of the Class IV section of Clear Creek, and I found the creek to have superior rapids. Also the water was about 40 degrees, so it really gets the adrenaline flowing.

If you're gonna go there, I have the Blue closer to (my) home, which apparently had the best water in years from all the snowmelt

[Rich]

I don't have any photos but we have been a few times and I LOVED it! The reason we haven't been in a while is on our last trip we completely flipped in a class IV on the Gauley river in West Virginia. Now my wife doesn't want to go again.

We've been down the New River gorge several trips and it is just gorgeous. Most folks say the upper section of the Gauley is the best whitewater east of the Mississippi. Several class V's and several class IV's in one trip. It's an adrenaline rush for sure!

I did the Gauley a number of years ago and it was a blast, but somewhat dangerous. I recall there being Class 4 and one Class 5 set of rapids that a woman died in the week after my trip.

We have a family trip planned to Costa Rica (Guanacaste) next Spring Break and I'd love to take a day to take my family white water rafting. If anyone has any suggestions concerning rivers or excursion companies, let me know. I haven't done any research yet.

[lotusland]

The Nantahala is fun (but cold). Being dam controlled, they have good water even in dry summers. There's a reason the NOC is so popular!

Some rivers (the Gauley among them) are nice in the spring, but dry up in the summer.

-jk

My son is rafting at NOC this week with our church youth. Last week I slept in a tent at Boy Scout camp in FL. Boy did I pick the wrong trip to participate in!

[wilson]

The Ocoee River in southeastern Tennessee is a great deal of fun...just about a 2.5-hour paddle from start to finish, with several Class IVs and the occasional Class V if you hit it right. I prefer the Ocoee to the Nantahala because the whitewater is much more strenuous and the river is much warmer. There is also a newer, "upper" section that you can raft, which was constructed for the 1996 Olympics.
Though I don't go much anymore, I love rafting and have had a good chance to do a fair bit of it.

[moonpie23]

when MRS moonpie checked around, the NOC was the only one that would allow a 7yr old to go…..Class 3 is the most you get….


it WAS dang cold…. (in the water)

[wilson]

Small quibble: the river is the Nantahala River. The NOC is the Nantahala Outdoor Center, one outfitter doing business on and around the river.

[lotusland]

when MRS moonpie checked around, the NOC was the only one that would allow a 7yr old to go…..Class 3 is the most you get….


it WAS dang cold…. (in the water)

My son and I did a run on the Nolichucky near Erwin. TN when he was 6. It was the calmer of the 2 available runs with only a few class III rapids. I don't remember the name of outfitter but we had a great time.

[lotusland]

Small quibble: the river is the Nantahala River. The NOC is the Nantahala Outdoor Center, one outfitter doing business on and around the river.

I think that's right but NOC (Nantahala Outdoor Center) is also the common term for the actual collection of facilities in the Nantahala Gorge including the restaurant, store, etc. For instance you can take a train ride on the Great Smoky Mountain Railway line from Bryson City to NOC.

[sagegrouse]

I did the Gauley a number of years ago and it was a blast, but somewhat dangerous. I recall there being Class 4 and one Class 5 set of rapids that a woman died in the week after my trip.

We have a family trip planned to Costa Rica (Guanacaste) next Spring Break and I'd love to take a day to take my family white water rafting. If anyone has any suggestions concerning rivers or excursion companies, let me know. I haven't done any research yet.

I have done whitewater rafting in Costa Rica, but it was on the Caribbean side, not too far from La Selva, the famous site of the Organizational for Tropical Studies (Duke houses the OTS headquarters). Our white water guide was an American, whose previous white water experience was in Colorado -- much warmer water in CR. He got a work permit by being an EMT instructor in Costa Rica.

Costa Rica, which is only about the size of West Virginia, has an incredible array of climate zones. I think of Guanacaste, where I have birded, as dry and hot, but there are certainly some rivers. Good luck! You may want to fly into San Jose instead of the remote airport at Liberia in Guanacaste and get better access to wet mountains and lowlands.