White Water Rafting

Ame set up a fantastic trip for the three of us- white water rafting in West Virginia's New River. Gorge Map The three-day trip was well paced, with swimming and water trampolenes the first day, 13 miles of light rafting for us beginners on the second day, and 13 more miles of rafting intense rapids on the third day. We camped on site each night.

The rapids have great intimidating names, like "Pinball", "Thread The Needle", and "Meat Grinder", so I was a little concerned about Alex's ability to handle the intense stuff. He fell out of the raft on the first rapid, which added greatly to my concerns. Fortunately, he got the hang of it and stayed in the raft for the majority of the remaining rapids. The main thing was, everybody was safe and we all had a great time.

ACE outfitters does a nice job with the tour. They supplied a lot of excellent food throughout the trip, and their guides all have a sense of humor. Side hikes took us through old coal mining and coking areas, abandoned in a kind of ghost town. Active CSX rails were present on the river, which was an extra bonus for me. Definitely recommended. The trip got the highest praise possible: Alex thanked Ame and me repeatedly.