Gauley River National Recreation Area
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In 2005, I worked with a group who travelled to Summersville, WV to whitewater raft the Gauley River. In addition to the Colorado River, the Gauley River is the only other river to possess Class V rapids. In fact, they are Class V+.
We left Chicago Friday night and traveled to West Virginia. The outfitter had a camp ground at their facility. I humorously thought this would be something like camping adventure, but that's not what "this" was. We had an upgraded campsite on the hill with wood decking and a rain screen. A tent was already set up. Basically the group beer all night long into the early hours of the morning.
The next morning, we received our wet suits and was transported to the base of the Summerville Dam, where 8-person rafts and guides were waiting. There were a number of rapids to cross, "Insignificant Rapids", "Pillow Rock Rapids", "Lost Paddle Rapids", "Iron Ring Rapids", and "Sweet Falls Rapids". Prior to these sections, our guide would advise us which way to swim if we fell in with helpful commentary that other directions would lead to our death. No joke. Fortunately, we never tipped over and no one exited the raft (involuntarily). That night, there was a surf and turf dinner which was surprisingly good. Frankly, I wished there was more of it. At night, there was a little bit of drinking, but not as much as the previous night.
The next morning, I broke out my stove and made lots of pancakes for everyone. After all, I thought this was a camping trip. Obviously, no one else had a camping stove, pots, and food. Funny. It was a long drive back to Chicago, but of course you get there eventually. Afterward, people are surprised when I tell them I would never do that again. The reason is that the consequences are so serious and fatal, but I don't have any control over them. On my usual trips, I have control over the terrain, route, the team I go with, how I respond to the weather, etc. On a whitewater rafting trip like this, you are completely dependent on your guides. For that reason, I'm glad to have done it, but that's it for me.