My wife and I did the full day of rafting on Memorial Day 2015, which was the lower Penobscot in the morning and the Upper Gorge Penobscot in the afternoon. Their high level of professionalism and customer care started from the first time the owner, Maureen, answered the phone when I called for rafting details and didn't end until we left at the end of the day.
I called several places to inquire about rafting while on vacation in Maine. When I talked to Maureen, it was a no-brainer that I was going to raft with Penobscot Adventures. The reason is because she worked with our schedule, she thoroughly answered all of the questions I had, she gave us a great price (half that of some other companies), and she genuinely wanted to help us have a great day of rafting and not just sell us a rafting trip.
When we arrived the morning of the trip, all of the guides (including a super cool dog, shotsy) greeted us nicely, were happy, energetic, and I immediately knew that I was going to enjoy my day with all of them. The check-in and setup was fluid and simple. I've rafted 15+ times on other rivers, and it doesn't always go that way.
Our guide du juor was Brian. It was my wife, 2 other fellas, the guide, and me in the boat for the morning session. Brian did a top notch job of giving his safety speech, giving the paddling basics, and getting us started. The other two guys in our raft struggled with a language barrier and with their paddling technique, which had to be frustrating for Brian, but he remained professional and calm and worked with them to the best of his ability. Impressive.
The morning rafting was really fun. I'd call the rapids a medium difficulty, but definitely enjoyable. We had an incredible view of Mt. Katahdin throughout and saw several Bald Eagles. There was a lot of flat water floating, but we enjoyed exchanging stories with Brian and the safety kayaker. We swam, too, for as long as we could stand the chilly water in our wetsuits. Brian did manage to have me ejected from the boat while going through the last rapid, Big P, which my wife found humorous.
Next up was lunch. GET THIS...STEAKS AND BBQ CHICKEN grilled riverside! It was delicious! A typical rafting lunch is lunch meats and PB&J. I was totally pumped about this lunch and was absolutely stuffed after. Kudos to the P.A. for this bonus!!
For the afternoon, 3 more joined us for the Gorge section of the river, which made for a total of 8 in the boat. Turns out that we needed the paddle power for these rapids, so they were a welcomed addition! It was uber cool to put in above and raft through the exiting water from the hydroelectric power plant. The first two rapids, both class V were quite intense and exactly what I had hoped for! Brian's prep for hitting these was a class act and one of the best prep talks I'd ever had on a river. He was thorough, clear, a little humorous, but made it obvious that listening to him and paddling hard was definite necessity to be successful. We did have two get tossed out in the first rapid, but he quickly pulled them back into the boat and we made it through both rapids full of adrenaline and with big smiles. The rest of the river had some awesome rapids and great scenery and we really really enjoyed it.
Lastly, to go along with my comments about Maureen, who is the owner, I'l add that our guide had nothing but great things to say about her, her husband, and their rafting company. That says a lot for the company, how they run it, and how they treat their employees. As with any company, its there to make money for somebody, but with Penobscot Adventures, it's obvious that their absolute goal is provide a great job for their employees and an amazing trip for their customers. This company is the real deal and if you're questioning which company to select for your trip, you've found them.
-Robbie R read more