Last week my family concluded a recent rafting trip with Arkansas River Tours (ART). This was our first multi-day rafting experience that far exceeded our expectations. Although ART offers camping gear, we elected to bring our own gear since we made the round-trip drive from Michigan to Colorado. We camped directly next to the river for a couple of nights. The sound of the river, literally steps from our tents, offered continuous white-noise for sleeping. Wonderful location within the canyon walls of Cotopaxi. The other side of the rivers offers a dormant railroad, where the occasional large-horn sheep walk by. We actually saw 6 all at the same time during our brief stay.
The team-members of ART were all great towards us. Both Chris and Sarah who helped us with check-in and other details were very friendly and helpful. After check-in, we were able to meet our rafting guide named Kyle that we had for 3 days. Little did we realize how fortunate we were to have Kyle as our guide. He worked out great for our family. He’s very knowledgeable of all the rapids in the waters and history of surroundings. He’ll make your rafting-trip enjoyable and establish wonderful experiences for a lifetime. We can’t say enough positive things about Kyle. He’ll be the person putting on coffee at 7am, setting gear and loading boats to even cooking. That’s right, doing most of the cooking for breakfast/dinners. Kyle’s dedication towards his craft come through how he conducts himself both on and off the water. You can tell he thoroughly enjoys what he does. Special shout-out assists go to Mariah/Kasin on the steaks and Marshall on the chicken fajitas we had for dinners.
All great people, helping create great experiences!
I can’t forget Kasin. On our last day we had the opportunity to shoot the Royal Gorge, as it was closed commercially for the past 5 weeks due to high water volumes over the 3200 cfps cut-off limit! We got to run it at just under the 3000 mark. Kasin was a real dynamo with a paddle and a tremendous asset to our boat for the extra power needed. (great arm throwing a football too!). Between Kyle and Kasin we successfully navigated the Gorge and stayed out of the “keepers”. Everyone remained in the boat (barely), although totally soaked. If anyone reading this is looking for boundless experiences and a great operator, you won’t be disappointed choosing ART. Be sure to ask for Kyle as your guide!
Odpowiedź od gospodarza
Jul 2019
Our hearts are fluttering with gratitude and appreciation over your amazing review! Multi-day trips are great in that you get to see a lot of what the Arkansas River has to offer. We are so happy that Kyle gave you such a memorable experience. He is a phenomenal professional that takes safety seriously while still providing fantastic whitewater fun! We are also happy that you were able to meet and interact with some of the other guides! All of our guides love to help one another, and it sounds like you experienced the love from Kasen, Mariah, and Marshal, as well as from our office staff! We are going to pass along all of your thoughtful, endearing compliments to everyone who made your trip exceptional! Please come back to visit us and Kyle again! :)