Rafting the Penobscot...Hold On!

I was lied to. "Just a little river...small rapids..." It was not until I was issued a paddle, helmet and an orange lifejacket that my guide informed me imminent death and Class Five rapids would be part of my Penobscot River rafting adventure. The Penobscot offers some of the biggest commercially rafted rapids, and with names like Exterminator and Guide Killer I knew I was in for quite a ride.

After an introductory warning/rules speech the crew was driven to the river. The bus driver had a lead foot and I was happy to be wearing a helmet during the ride on dirt roads. There were six of us: me and the dudes from camp as well as our explosive guide Bryan who used lingo including the words "bro," "dude," "gnarly" and "jammin."

With a short practice paddle under our belt, Bryan said it was time to "blow this popsicle stand" and off we went into Exterminator. "Left side forward. Stop. All ahead..." We crashed forward sinking into the holes and splashing water into the raft. One of our boys fell out and was briefly sandwichd between our raft and a rock. We pulled him back on and continued down the river.

Another Class Five rapid and a few Three's and Four's took us further along and I held tight to the raft, wedging my leg under the inflated roller until it was fully chafed and bruised. Then Bryan said it was time to surf. Surfing involves paddling the raft back into the bottom of a rapid so the rafters get tossed splashed and occasionally thrown out of the boat. I immediately thought of the "Dump Truck" our guide warned us about during the opening speech in which everyone gets dumped from the raft. Great. I say once you are at the bottom of the rapid you keep moving down the river, no need to turn around and try to get worked on the rocks, however, I was outvoted and we paddled toward the wall of water for a surf. It was a good thrill getting shaken and splashed with close friends but I was a bit concerned when our raft stood straight up on its end in the surf.

Once the raft floated into calmer waters I was able to take a dip in the cool river and float downstream with my toes out. The scenery was stunning as the Penobscot meanders near Baxter State Park offering various angles of Mt. Katahdin and forest terrain.

The folks from Moxie Adventures barbequed a hearty lunch on an eight foot-wide grill. We ate salmon, steak and chicken atop a pile of baked beans, stir fried rice, macaroni salad and cookies before continuing on the river.

During the trip we spotted several majestic bald eagles and herrons and took in the afternoon sun. As we neared the end of the river there was one final Class Five rapid to go. We listened to our guide and paddled along until chaos broke loose. As the raft hit a hole our guide was thrown forward and dislocated his shoulder. As he screamed, one of the boys fell out of the raft and no one was guiding the paddle strokes with half the rapid to go. Bryan the guide repeated "This is bad" and not knowing whether he was referring to his shoulder or our ride we thought we were in for carnage. Our crew managed to paddle down without guidance and was time to head home.

The rapids on the Penobscot were not the giant waterfalls I imagined during our guides introductry speech, and falling out of the raft is not in fact a huge deal if safety rules are followed. After a day on the river I was stoked from such wildlife, Northern Maine scenery, good company and thrilling rides in the rapids.