middle fork river rafting

Rafting or white water rafting is a challenging recreational outdoor activity using an inflatable raft to navigate a river or other bodies of water.
This is usually done on white water or different degrees of rough water, in order to thrill and excite the raft passengers.
The development of this activity as a leisure sport has become popular since the mid-1970s.
The modern raft is an inflatable boat, consisting of very durable, multi-layered rubberized or vinyl fabrics with several independent air chambers.
The length varies between 3.5 m (11 ft) and 6 m (20 ft), the width between 1.8 m (6 ft) and 2.5 m (8 ft).
The exception to this size rule is usually the packraft, which is designed as a portable single-person raft and may be as small as 1.5 metres (4.9 ft) long and weigh as little as 4 pounds (1.8 kg).
Rafts come in a few different forms. In Europe, the most common is the symmetrical raft steered with a paddle at the stern.
Other types are the asymmetrical, rudder-controlled raft and the symmetrical raft with central helm (oars). Rafts are usually propelled with ordinary paddles and typically hold 4 to 12 persons.
In countries like Russia, rafts are often hand made and are often a catamaran style with two inflatable tubes attached to a frame. Pairs of paddlers navigate on these rafts.
Catamaran style rafts have become popular in the western United States as well, but are typically rowed instead of paddled.
Rafts in white water are very different vehicles than canoes or kayaks and have their own specific techniques to maneuver through whitewater obstacles.
Punching - Rafts carry great momentum, and on rivers hydraulics that are dodged by canoes and kayaks are often punched by rafts.
This involves the rafting crew paddling the raft to give it enough speed to push through the hydraulic without getting stopped.
High Siding - If a raft is caught in a hydraulic it will often quickly go sideways. In order to stop the raft flipping on its inside edge, the rafters can climb to the side of the raft furthest downstream, which will also be the side of the raft highest in the air leading to its name.