Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Francois Maeder isn't the only chef to encourage foodies to see the Milky Way. In
fact, many rafting companies now offer gourmet trips. Here are a couple more of
the best:
Bill Dvorak's Kayak and Rafting Expeditions.
Besides gourmet food and wine,
Dvorak's offers an eight-day Classical Music River Journey that floats down Utah's
Green River. After you're finished rafting, you cozy up to the campfire while cham-
ber music is performed by a Santa Fe Symphony flutist and a string quartet from the
Los Angeles Philharmonic. This three-day trip takes place in July and runs $1,975.
Bill Dvorak's Kayaking and Rafting Expeditions, 17921 U.S. Highway 285, Nath-
rop, CO 81236, 800-824-3795, www.dvorakexpeditions.com.
OARS (Outdoor Adventure River Specialists).
This company, one of the first
and biggest in the country, offers Wine on the River Adventures. These trips pair
white-water rafting with sommeliers and five-star cooking. Its wine series offers
trips to California's Tuolumne, Idaho's Lower Salmon, Oregon's Rogue, and Brit-
ish Columbia's Chilko Rivers. OARS also offers what it calls Wilderness Gourmet
Trips down the Rogue and Main Salmon. Most trips are three to six days in length
and range from $1,041 to $1,955.
OARS, P.O. Box 67, Angels Camp, CA 95222,
800-346-6277 or 209-736-4677, www.oars.com.
Of course, rafting the Rio Grande is available pretty much year-round, something rafting
outfitters in, say, Colorado or Idaho can't claim. Granted, the Rio Grande is not the fast-
est or scariest river in the United States, but the views are stupendous. Your adrenaline will
get pumped up, not from a long string of Class V rapids that will churn you around like a
washing machine but from floating along a wilderness waterway that passes through tower-
ing cliffs, sculpted stone spires, and a unique, inspiring desert landscape. As it says in Big
Bend's official National Park Service handbook, “The land is so vast and so wild that you
can feel your human smallness and frailty.” That's a valuable lesson to remember. Far Flung
Outdoor Center offers a whole lineup of rafting trips in Big Bend, from one-day to multiday
trips through Mariscal Canyon, Temple Canyon, and Boquillas Canyon.
