Arkansas River Rafting

Our original planned trip included a four-day backpacking loop in the Maroon Bells/Snowmass Wilderness, described by expert Coloradoan Denali B. as "the most phenomenal 4 day backpacking trip in the United States of America." However, when Katy called the local rangers, they informed us that the trail was covered in 6 ft of snow and we should bring our backcountry skiing gear. Which, of course, is non-existent, not to mention our lack of skills. Due to record snowfall last winter, most of Colorado is still covered in significant snow. Most of this snow is melting fast, which makes whitewater rafting really spectacular.

We signed up for a full day of rafting the Numbers, with Four Corners Rafting, a company run by Katy and my WFR instructor, Darren Stokes. The Numbers is a series of class IV-V rapids labeled 1 through 7. Unfortunately, Numbers 1 through 6 were closed to commercial rafting due to the high water level - the river was flowing around 3400 cubic feet per second (CFS), and the Numbers close around 2400 CFS. In the words of our river guide Jesse, "The Numbers is class VI right now." His description of class VI whitewater: "If you raft it and survive, it becomes a class V." Instead of the Numbers, we rafted a series of rapids up to class IV, starting with Number 7 and winding 24 miles through Wildhorse Canyon, Buena Vista Falls (an 18-foot drop) and Browns Canyon.

Four Corners had only one boat on this trip, and the other four people in our boat signed up for a half day only, so lunch and afternoon boating was a private trip with the three of us and Jesse. This was much more relaxed and fun than my last whitewater rafting trip on the Riviere Rouge in Quebec, where we were part of a fleet of 20-something boats.

Bottom line: rafting the Arkansas at high water level is awesome. A good way to acclimatize a little before ascending 14ers. [Picasa]