Raft trip down a river
As many of you may already have figured it out from simply reading the title, the inspiration to undertake a raft trip came to me when I first read Huckleberry Finn many years ago. I am a young adult now, but the idea still fascinates me and I very much want to go on a river trip in similar fashion to Huck and Jim. So I am looking for a river that satisfies the following criteria:
- I could float down it for at least a week or two.
- Has towns or villages dotting the shore so that I can get off at certain locations along the river.
- A raft is allowed on the river.
- I would prefer it to not have a lot of commercial traffic.
- I would prefer the river to be in a place that I could visit (or obtain a visit visa to) with either my Canadian or Pakistani passport.
- It would be a plus if the river flows through places that are culturally different from one another.
So why not simply choose the Mississippi? An answer on this very site recommends against it. Therefore I am looking for an alternative river on which a journey such as this would be feasible. I know stack exchange sites demand that users ask questions that are as specific as possible and I tried to make my question as narrow as possible. I am open to any suggestions to make this question better.
Best Answer
Scandinavia (Norway and Sweden) are well suited for this type of activity, with large areas of wilderness yet with some dispersion of villages. However, few rivers in Norway are navigable across long stretches.
Klarälven in Sweden, however, is well suited to the type of raft journeys you propose. It even has several operators offering packages, including rafts; one random such operator can be found here. Not much in terms of "cultural diversity", though. And "several weeks" is probably out of scope. I did Sysslebäck to Edebäck in the 1990s over the course of a week or so (organized independently); according to Google Maps this is a distance of 85 km.
This is surely not the most spectacular such journey in the world, and Sweden is an expensive country. However, if one is not capable of organizing everything oneself this is a convenient and safe option for such an "adventure".
Pictures about "Raft trip down a river"
How do you pack a raft for a river trip?
This approximately three-hour half-day rafting trip will give you about two solid hours of river time during which time you will be, getting wet, hooting and hollering, paddling and laughing your way down rapids like Meatgrinder, Triple Threat, Maya culminating with Troublemaker Rapid \u2013 the biggest Class 3 rapid on the ...How long is a 1/2 day rafting trip?
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Rafting is a sport in which rafters use an inflatable raft to race with other teams. The team that reaches the destination first wins the race. The racing is done on white water or rough water of different degrees. The rafters use double blades to paddle the boat.Rafting the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon
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Answer 2
I would suggest that the Potomac River meets several of your criteria. Up river is very rural, it passes by Washington, D.C. and ends in the Chesapeake Bay. You would pass by quite a variety of cultural styles.
Harper's Ferry, WV would be a good place to put in for a week long trip - further Northwest for longer trips. You can stock up on food and gear as well as take in the local history.
Before getting to D.C. you would have to portage around the Great Falls which is a nice place to do some easy hiking, rock climbing and see the C&O Canal.
Of course D.C. has many great places to visit and Old Town Alexandria just across the river has a great vibe.
Further down the river you have some very nice suburban homes and further down it gets rural again - but different from the up river rural.
Up river there is very little commercial traffic. You might have some company once getting past D.C. but not very much - mostly recreational.
Answer 3
The Connecticut River might suit your needs; it travels from the more rugged & remote parts of New England through some of its larger population centers (Springfield and Hartford). As one of the major rivers in an area that was settled before the automobile, it has a large number of towns along its length. Conversely, the fact that it has a wide and heavily silted mouth means that there is not a huge amount of shipping on it today — ocean-going vessels generally can't get up it, and there is not a major city at its mouth. (Old Saybrook, CT is at the mouth, with a population of only about 10,000.)
The above link leads to advice on doing exactly what you're describing in the upper river (Vermont & New Hampshire), and provides some references to off-line guides on how to do it for the lower river as well (Massachusetts & Connecticut.)
Answer 4
The mighty 1800km (1130 mile) Mackenzie river is one that might suit your purposes. It's not for the faint of heart- a sat phone and survival training would be advisable, and proper research is essential.
Most Canadians never get an opportunity to visit the far North- Inuit culture etc. The river empties into the Beaufort sea near Inuvik and Tuktoyaktuk on opposite sides of the delta. Daylight will be 24-hours.
Expect costs to be high, everything in the North is expensive.
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