Sensei Hallie, I leave with you a short haiku to capture our time on the river together:

Four friends go rafting.
On the raft, Sensei leads them.
Five friends leave the raft.

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10/10 experience. You will have a great time, especially if you are fortunate enough to have Hallie as your guide.

First time whitewater rafting and I can’t say enough! This rafting company is totally awesome! Our guide Scotty was fabulous and made us all feel like we were experts....even though we were nothing of the sort! He was so thorough and so knowledgeable about the river and the rapids, but also about all of the surroundings along the river. There were 6 of us...my son and his wife with their two kids 18 and 12. Then my husband and myself who are recently retired. It was such a great family adventure! We will definitely do it again, and would recommend Mild to Wild Rafting to everyone!

We booked the all day rafting trip. The half day is an option but basically you lose out on the provided lunch and an additional 1.5-2 hours of rafting (the half day is probably only a good option if weather is questionable and you worried about bing cold). Provided for all were wet suits/boots/splash jackets and helmets. Guides also offered up sunscreen if needed. The price at first may seem a little high but when you compare it to other similar rafting adventures it was very fair.

The location is very remote and their is no cell reception, so print a map ahead of time to help guide you in (this is recommended on their website). The drive in is beautiful and breathtaking.

This trip is fine for beginner thrill seekers. We went through some class 4 rapids (the class can very dependent upon the water flow) and my eleven year old was fine, as well as my wife who won’t go on a roller coaster. I also saw people in their 70’s taking the ride. The motion is a jostling shake you around motion so if you have a bad back or something of that nature you might want to pass.

The guides were all friendly, polite, very helpful, and entertaining and shared out some great historical/nature points through the trip. When you picture a modern hippy in your mind that is what they all look like (there is no semblance of a uniform or even a guide shirt) but as they explained they all camp out for 2-3 months and then move to the next rafting area most often in other states or countries and work as guides there.

The lunch provided was tortilla chips, salsa, apples, oranges, water, orange juice, and chicken fajitas. For the fajitas they and shells, refrained beans, chicken, grilled peppers and onions, lettuce, cheese, jalapeños, and tomatoes. Cookies were for desert.

The bus or open air modified Jeep transport trip back was about 40 minutes. The ride is a bit bumpy but nothing more than what you experienced rafting. The guides still kept us entertained with jokes and pointing out sights to see. It was also nice being able from an elevated cliff side view being able to see where you just rode down the river through.

After they offered some pictures from a location in you trip. The pictures were offered to you on a thumb drive for $25. I thought price was more than fair. There have been some other excursions I have been on where they offered up a single pic for $10 or $20.

The only down side I can think of on the whole trip was if you have to use facilities portapotties are the only option. This didn’t bother me but for a my wife was the first time in her life she has ever had to use one and was an eye opening experience.

Conclusion: Great trip, book it.