Crab Apple Whitewater, The Forks Maine

by Sandra
(London, UK)

Our Maine vacation was our honeymoon and took place in July 1998. My husband being the adventures type talked me into trying whitewater rafting. He had done it before and loved it, so I said okay.

After writing to several places for information, we decided to do our rafting on the Kennebec River at a place run by Crab Apple Whitewater in The Forks, Maine.

We flew into Bangor, Maine on Monday and rented a car for the 90 miles or so drive to The Forks. We did spend Tuesday and part of Wednesday exploring Bangor. The Forks is so small that if you blink when driving through it you will miss it completely.

Wednesday afternoon we checked into the Crab Apple Resort for two nights. We had to meet at 8:30 AM on Thursday morning with our guide and the rest of the rafters.

First there was an introduction to the area - this spot has famous rapids including Magic falls and Three Sisters Falls...

...and then there were the instructions on how to paddle the raft, and a fitting for safety gear - the helmets and life jackets.

At this point I was starting to have a case of nerves but the guide was reassuring stating he “hadn’t lost any newlyweds so far!”

We then boarded a van about 9:30 for a short ride, about 20-25 minutes to Harris Station Dam where we got into the raft with helmet and life jacket on carrying our paddle.

There were 6 other people and the guide in the raft. The nerves started again for me. We rafted for about 4.5 to 5 miles before getting to the whitewater. The water was cool, clear and calm in spots, and then there were the rapids where we rushed through.

The experience of the rapids is something I will never forget. It was thrilling, exciting and scary all at the same time.

The water hits you in the face as you literally bounce along, sometime actually being lifted off your seat. The rock formations and scenery along the river was fantastic.

Around noon we all got out of the raft and had a bag lunch by the riverside. I ate mine hoping I could keep it down for the afternoon. After about an hour watching the water and passing birds it was back into the raft for the afternoon.

We continued down the Kennebec River to Crab Apple Resort where we started and took the raft out there. It was now about 4:00 PM or so. We had dinner at the Crab Apple restaurant (Crab Apple on the Kennebec) that evening and later went to watch the video and slides of our trip.

We have a copy of the video and show it to our children. They can’t believe that Mom and Dad really did this! Instead of a honeymoon, maybe next time we can have a family trip to Crab Apple Whitewater in The Forks, Maine.