Facts To Consider Before You Raft
A rafting trip can be a perfect solution for a family trip. It met and exceeded my expectations as we watched our grandchildren rise above (and conquer) adversity, inconveniences: being filthy, wasps, cactus, coping with the outdoor "groover" (toilet). They learned new skills, developed new interests and had many unusual experiences: erecting tents and camping in the wilderness, kayaking,...View image... running rapids, ...View image...seeing petroglyphs, map reading, hiking, catching fish, seeing snakes, to name a few.
They learned to pull together - loading and unloading rafts, sharing toothpaste, playing games and finding things to amuse themselves. Yes, they had: no I-Pods, Television, cell phones, Ps2, gameboys, internet, computer games...nothing to do but talk to each other and amuse themselves. What a novel situation! And, most surprisingly, they never complained! I'm sure they hated every minute when the going got tough (and hated me for bringing them) but no one ever whined..."I want to go home." It might have been a different story with parents along.
Grandchildren's best parts of trip?
- Rafting, taking hikes, eating, kayaking, small plane ride, discussing "stuff"
Grandchildren's worst parts of trip: #1 - the bugs, and rain
What I should have done (in hindsight) to make the trip more pleasurable?
- Been more prepared for rain! When it rains on the river, everyone gets cold very fast even though the temperature was in the high 90's. The cheap throw-away ponchos were not sufficient. If you are considering rafting, bite the bullet and buy quality raingear for all.
- Triy to find some sort of repellent with more DEET in it. Nothing worked keeping those bugs off us.
On using Western River as a tour organizer - I was not happy with them for the following reasons:
- Western River made a big mistake in changing 2005's 5 day-4 night Green River to a 4 day-3 night trip. This trip is marketed as a "family trip" but the river days were way too long and there was never any down time other than a brief 30 minutes at the most. Also, everyone was just getting into the hang and routine of camping by the 3rd night. The trip would have been more pleasurable with some time to relax on the beaches without the constant hurry of unloading, making camp, getting ready for dinner. By that time, everyone was exhausted and it was late at night.
- Their brochure said we would have "forks, spoons and knives." There were never any knives and you try to eat a chicken breast or entire steak without a knife. Impossible!
- Their brochure always said "camp stools" were provided. They were provided for the other group that launched at the same time as us! Our crew dragged their cots on the sand and we bunched together to sit on them. But don't advertise something...if you aren't going to deliver.
- I never asked, and Western River, never indicated that this was PARTICIPATORY camping. We had six children to deal with and the stress of "participating" left even less time for relaxing. We had major "crabmeisters" after rafting all day in excessive heat. Once again, the trip could have been even more enjoyable - definitely for us adults.
And, last, Western River never even bothered to answer back when I expressed these complaints to them by letter. There are too many other operators to check with. I would try Sheri Griffith or OARS, (be more pro-active about asking exactly what they include and if it is participatory camping) but cannot recommend Western River based on the above. Unfortunately, the crew is not responsible for what the ownership does and they did their very best for us, but Western River didn't deliver what we had expected.
Talk to different operators and try this as a family vacation. The bonding experience was worth every inconvenience and our grandchildren rate this as an "amazing" vacation. Happy Rafting!
