What Level of Rapids Can a Family Travel
Take the Kids Whitewater Rafting? Is it Safe!?
I was seventeen the first time I went whitewater rafting on the Kennebec River, and in my mid-twenties when I ventured to the more challenging Penobscot River. To this day, I tin recall the exhilaration and excitement that came with great head-on into a huge rapid and then gliding over and through the swells until we reached calmer water. I recollect the flutters in my stomach as we approached a small waterfall, and the fleeting fear of existence thrown from the raft. But more than annihilation, I remember how fun information technology was, how audacious I felt in those moments, and how I'd do it again in a heartbeat. Fast forward most 20 years, and four children later…. is whitewater rafting really rubber for kids?!
When my hubby suggests a family rafting trip with Northern Outdoors for summer holiday, I hesitated. Our four kids range in age from 10 to 15, with varying levels of swimming strength and abilities. Our 10-year-erstwhile son is pocket-sized for his age and, based on his height, there are still plenty of entertainment park rides he's too brusk to enjoy!
My married man had never been whitewater rafting, so I told him he clearly didn't know what he was suggesting. All I could imagine was our family raft, plunging sideways over a waterfall, and our children being launched from the raft in every management and so drifting downward the river away from us. Even if I am a natural thrill seeker, and even if I do encourage the kids' sense of adventure and dearest for the outdoors, I am also a mom and this idea just fabricated me nervous.
Not wanting to be a buzzkill, I decided to look into the idea before killing it outright. I expected that at least one of our kids would not be former enough to whitewater raft downward the Kennebec, which is the mellowest trip of the three rivers Northern Outdoors offers. But I was wrong. The minimum age for the Kennebec trip is ten, and Northern Outdoors could tailor that trip to accommodate children equally young equally eight. While I felt more comfortable taking us down the section designated for ages eight and upwardly, our x-year-old wanted to do the whole thing. Despite my anticipation, it looked like we were taking the kids down river.
Taking the Kids Whitewater Rafting.
Northern Outdoors has been guiding people downwards the Kennebec, Penobscot, and Expressionless Rivers in Maine for over forty years. Not only did Northern Outdoors pioneer rafting in Maine, making them Maine'south most experienced visitor, but all of their guides are rigorously trained, spending full days on the river and nights in the classroom, where they larn well-nigh the geography and nature of the rivers and gear up for the exam. They are all certified whitewater rafting guides. To go to the next level and become a trip leader, a guide needs to take mastered avant-garde get-go aid through another twoscore-hour course. Many Northern Outdoor staff are certified every bit trip leaders, enhancing their ability to provide a rubber experience. Northern Outdoors also supports swift water rescue training in the leap, and many of the staff have Maine Recreational Guide licenses.
Rafting Solar day
Our day started off with a quick meeting at the lodge, where the guides walked the states through what to await for the solar day, basic rafting commands, the safest and most efficient fashion to agree a paddle, and proper life jacket and helmet fit. While the guides acknowledged that rafts can – and do – flip over, and people autumn out, they emphasized the depression probability of either of those things happening. In fact, of well-nigh 850 of their rafts that go down the Kennebec per year, only two or three actually flip over! And, in the off chance your raft does flip or happen to autumn out, the guides brand sure you know how they volition help you get back to the raft and how to respond safely (and without panicking).
"Stay calm, endeavour to swim toward the raft and grab on, or float on your back with knees and olfactory organ pointed to the heaven. Anxiety first and do not effort to stand upwardly. Yous don't want a foot caught on the riverbed. Lastly, don't close your eyes or you won't be able to fourth dimension your breath between rapids."
I was nervous again, merely nosotros kept going. Soon later on our orientation, nosotros were outfitted with helmets and lifejackets and then sent to the busses for our 30-minute drive to the dam, where nosotros would put in. During the ride, a few guides stood at the front of the bus and helped pass the time by great jokes, sharing interesting tidbits nigh the region's history and geography, and and then by reviewing the cardinal safety tips from the forenoon'south meeting. By the time the ride was over, I felt prepared and at ease equally we made our style to the river.
We put in at the dam and began rafting on v,000 cubic feet per second, which is the norm for most rafting days on the Kennebec. We got our bearings and had the chance to practice paddling every bit a team, and how to steer and turn the raft before we approached some of the most impressive rapids in the entire trip.
The River
The get-go big rapid was Big Mamma (Class Three) and before long after we fabricated it through that section, we approached Magic Falls, a Class IV rapid. It was probably the "scariest" role of the twenty-four hours. Yes, it'south a waterfall, and yep, as you approach it, the river seems to disappear on the horizon, leading you to wonder how far of a drib you lot are in for.
"We're gonna die!" my xiii-twelvemonth-sometime girl yelled with nervous excitement.
But, before we knew information technology, our guide told us to "Hold On" and we lifted our paddles in the air and leaned into the center of the raft to grab safety ropes. Then, following a lot of splashing and rocking back and forth, coupled with screams of delight and excitement, nosotros made it over Magic Falls.
"That was awesome!" my daughter now exclaimed.
If you actively listen to your guide and follow his or her commands on when and how to paddle, y'all will exist taken for a thrilling ride, and the worst that will happen is y'all will get very wet, very speedily. Equally nosotros floated downstream and looked back at Magic Falls, feeling proud of what we'd simply accomplished, I scanned the kids' faces – null to see but wide grins.
The rest of the trip was wonderful; we had a delicious beach-side lunch followed by a relaxing 2d half of the day. After dejeuner, when the river flowed more gently, the kids all jumped off the raft and floated downriver on their backs, taking advantage of the 70+ degree water and tossing aside any anticipation they'd previously had about the river. I did as well. My fears had turned out to be quite unnecessary. The river offered just the right level of excitement for our family.
Back at the Lodge
Once the trip was over and nosotros had laughed at our outrageous facial expressions from the pictures during the post-trip slide show, the kids all asked when they'd be able to exercise the more advanced and intense Penobscot or Expressionless Rivers (not until they're xiv). I have no doubt we'll exist hitting the rapids once more in a few years! When asked to summarize their experience rafting down the Kennebec in one give-and-take, the kids declared: "terrific," and "extraordinary," and "fun," and "exciting!"
Whitewater rafting with kids certainly is a fun and memorable family activity, and the risk for anything unfortunate happening is truly quite low. (Co-ordinate to American Whitewater, nationwide, the number of fatalities ranges between six and ten per year for an estimated two.five million user days on guided trips.) Follow your guide's instructions, relax, and permit get; it's certain to be a not bad experience!
These days, kids spend too much time inside and inside the confines of structured play and low-hazard activities. It'south critical for kids (and parents) to explore their adventurous sides and push button the boundaries a scrap – and rafting downwardly the beautiful Kennebec in the waning days of a Maine summer is the perfect style to do that.
If this postal service has calmed your nerves and yous recollect you're gear up to volume an hazard, check out Northern Outdoors' beginners' tips for whitewater rafting, and make plans to book your whitewater rafting trip with Northern Outdoors!
Still not convinced? Check out the reviews from previous customers as well!
Have you been on a family rafting trip with your kids? Tell us nearly your experience rafting with your family at Northern Outdoors!
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Source: https://www.northernoutdoors.com/is-whitewater-rafting-safe-for-kids/
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