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As one of the worst winters in New England finally draws to a close, outdoor enthusiasts are anxious to dust off their hiking boots, mountain bikes and kayaks and enjoy the warmer weather. In Northern Maine, springtime marks the official start of the white water rafting season as guide training begins in the frigid waters of Maine’s rivers and rafting companies begin booking trips for the coming months. From bachelor parties to high-school field trips and everything in between, New Englanders of all ages and demographics flock to the Kennebec, Dead and Penobscot Rivers to experience the thrill of white water rafting.

For the past six years and counting, a group of college friends and myself have faithfully made the journey north for a relaxing vacation in the great outdoors and also to hit the rivers and do a little rafting. Each year in early spring, we book our trip with Windfall Outdoor Center. A friend recommended Windfall for our first trip back in 1997 and we had such a great time that we booked every future rafting trip with them!

Founded in 1982 by brothers Tim and Jim Blake, Windfall is a rafting company based in Jackman, Maine offering day trips on the Kennebec, Dead and Penobscot Rivers. Their motto is "the best of both the outdoors and the indoors". According to co-owner Tim Blake, "Windfall seeks to provide the best in a variety of accommodations as well as a choice of restaurants to complement the excitement of the local rivers." And they don’t disappoint!

Jackman is located eighty miles north of Waterville, Maine about five hours from Boston. It is a bustling metropolis when compared to the neighboring towns, but Jackman is still very small compared to towns across New England. Despite its size, Jackman offers a plethora of outdoor activities as well as a fair share of quality restaurants and lodging alternatives like Sky Lodge and Cedar Creek sporting cabins. But don’t think that you’ll be "roughing it". These cabins are sweet, with kitchenettes, satellite TVs, maid service, a barbeque pit in the middle of a huge grassy knoll, and hot tubs!! If it’s a nice meal you want, Moosehead Tavern, on the shores of Atean Lake, offers a great selection of entrees as well as a decent wine list and it is just a five minute drive from either of the cabins mentioned above.

Our trip typically lasts five days and includes at least one day on either the Dead River, the Kennebec River or both. Rafting on consecutive days is known as a "double-dip" and most outfitters, including Windfall, offer discounted rates for booking two days on the river.

All rafting activity on the Kennebec and the Dead starts and ends at a town called The Forks. The Forks is a tiny town [population of 80] twenty miles south of Jackman on Route 201. Located at the confluence of the Kennebec and the Dead, the Forks serves as the "take-out" location for both rivers.

Starting at Indian Pond and twisting and turning through Maine to the Atlantic Ocean, the Kennebec River is the most popular for rafting. About 70% of all commercial rafting in Maine, or about 90,000 people annually, is on the Kennebec. "The Kennebec is a guides dream…it is high flow, big waves and really pretty clear cut for runs. The customers have a good time, the flat water is a moving float so you don’t have to paddle and it’s not overly technical which means everyone from the experienced paddler to the first-timer can enjoy the trip." says Dave "Skinny-D" Gebben, a guide from Windfall.

Kennebec's popularity is the result of guaranteed daily water releases from Harris Dam. Harris Dam is a hydroelectric power plant, owned by Florida Power and Light, which produces electricity for Boston, MA. There is a minimum three-hour release every day that ranges between 4000 and 5000 cubic feet per second or "cfs". "Imagine 5000 basketballs coming at you every second, and you’ll get an idea of how much water 5000 cfs is," says Tim Blake.

The Kennebec flows through a natural gorge of high granite walls unique to New England. The Upper Gorge has Class II-IV rapids, while the Lower Gorge is much calmer with rapids only reaching Class II. Rivers are rated by a classification system of I through VI with VI being extremely dangerous and unrunable commercially.

A day of rafting begins by rolling out of bed early to meet at the Windfall base lodge for 8:00 am. After signing a liability waiver and making a trip to the equipment shed to pick up a paddle and a life jacket, everyone is given a brief safety lesson before boarding the bus to the river. During the safety lecture, you learn about commands that the guides use on the river. Phrases like "All Ahead" and "Back on the left" are used to steer the raft through the rapids.

The lesson also includes tips on what to do if you happen to fall out of the raft and become a "swimmer". "Swimming in the Kennebec is not as dangerous as swimming in some rivers, because of its relatively high water depths and lack of exposed rocks," says Tim Blake. However, it is still a terrifying experience, the first time you find yourself neck deep in water moving at 5000 cfs! Especially, when your guide’s nickname is "Skinny-D" and you’re tipping the scales at over 225 pounds!!

When the bus arrives at Harris Station, the guides divide everyone into groups of six or eight and it’s time to wait in line behind hundreds of other rafters and a dozen or so other rafting companies. As you put your boat in the river, you’re instructed to sit on the edge of the raft and wedge your feet under the rubber tubes in the middle of the boat. While this may sound counter intuitive at first, this positioning allows for the best paddling. And good paddling is paramount to running any river successfully.

After a quick warm-up through Class II "Taster Rapids", the action begins almost immediately with a set of Class III waves known as "Rock Garden". Next up is "Big Momma", the biggest wave in the Upper Gorge. "Big Momma" is a Class IV wave reaching heights of over 12 feet at larger releases. As your raft approaches "Big Momma", it’s hard to do anything but stare at the awesome amount of water that is about to consume your raft. But as your guide screams "All Ahead! Dig hard!" you can’t do anything but paddle.

Following "Big Momma" is "White Washer". "White Washer" is another set of Class IV rapids with huge, foamy white cap waves. As you emerge from "White Washer" and shoot through "The Alleyway" most guides will "eddy-out" in "Cathedral Eddy". This is the largest eddy in the Upper Gorge and it’s usually the first chance you get to catch your breath. Leaving the eddy takes you through "Z-Turn" where several boats are usually "parked" on the side of the river, apparently waiting in line. For the rookies in the group, this may be the first time they hear about "Magic Falls".

"Magic Falls" is the one of biggest set of rapids on the river and the last big water in the Upper Gorge. As you wait in line, boat after boat heads down the river one at a time and then disappears! Well, they don’t actually disappear. The boats are dropping into "Magic Falls". Some people consider "Magic Falls" a class V rapid but as "Skinny D" says, "Magic is a solid IV in my view, it’s only a V if you screw up." Well, on the second year of our rafting trip, we did screw up….

It was 1998 and we were still relatively "wet behind the ears", pardon the pun, when it came to rafting experience. As we gathered at Windfall’s base lodge for the second day of a "double-dip", we learned that the river was running at 8000 cfs…nearly twice the normal release!! We were both excited and nervous as we stood in line at Harris Station that morning, because we knew that we were in for the ride of our lives!

We made our way to "Big Momma", which was enormous at this level, and hit the wave with a good head of steam. But as we came out of the rapid, some of the people in our raft were launched into the river. Our guide Adam quickly gathered all of the swimmers before we hit "White Washer". But as we came out of "Z-Turn" we all new what was coming and there was a bit of uneasiness in the raft as we approached "Magic Falls".

At levels of 8000 cfs and above, "Magic Falls" becomes huge! We hit the hole and a wall of water seemed to appear out of nowhere and completely demolished our raft. It was a yard sale...our entire raft, including the guide, was tossed into the raging rapids. After several tense minutes of scrambling to get everyone back in the boat, we were all pretty shaken up. Battered but not broken, we pulled ourselves together and made our way down through the Lower Gorge. Click here to view a 2 minute Real Media clip of this action.

After "Magic Falls" most outfitters, including Windfall, provide a riverside lunch before finishing the lower half of the Kennebec. The Lower Gorge provides an opportunity to take a voluntary swim in the river, play some games, or try your luck with an inflatable kayak known as a "Ducky". What the Lower Gorge lacks in excitement, the Upper Gorge more than makes up for and provides any adventure seeker a pure rush of adrenaline.

In addition to the Kennebec, Windfall, as well as most other outfitters in the region, also offer day trips on both the Dead and Penobscot Rivers. With over sixteen miles of non-stop rapids, The Dead offers the longest stretch of continuous white water in the East with rapids like "Hayden’s Landing" and "Poplar Falls". Anyone who has rafted both rivers will tell you they prefer the Dead to the Kennebec. "In early spring the Dead is the most exciting run in all of Maine with huge flows," says Tim Blake. While the Dead offers more non-stop action than the Kennebec, there are only a limited number of dam releases each season so make sure you book your trip early because space is limited and spots fill up quickly.

The Penobscot is located a couple hours southeast of the Kennebec River, but is arguably the best river of the three. "The Penobscot is just fun – a kick in the head done wrong and a dream done right. There are two solid Class V rapids so you really have to paddle or the river will NOT forgive you", says "Skinny-D", and recommends that first timers try their luck on the Kennebec or the Dead before hitting the Penobscot.

Click here to learn more about white water rafting and Windfall Outdoors Center.