swiftwater adventures

Great guides... professional and competent. Our rafting trip was a first for most of us in our group and it was a trip that will always be remembered! We will be back!

Cliff Langley guided me on a Kayak outing Saturday morning in late summer of 2014 on the St. Louis River at Thomson Dam. I am an experienced canoer (and a good swimmer) but had only been in a kayak a few times. Cliff provided me with basic instruction in the Lake behind the Thomson Dam: a wet exit, kayak strokes and bracing. I had never heard of many of these concepts but with an hour of instruction on the lake I felt I was ready for some river kayaking. Cliff’s plan was to take me to the Upper St. Louis and do some Class I whitewater. I had seen the lower St. Louis and it’s Class II whitewater and had already decided that’s what I wanted to do. We discussed the differences in the Upper and Lower St. Louis River and what we thought I could handle and decided we would do the Lower St. Louis. We spent some time talking about safety, the specific part of the St. Louis River we were going to kayak and off we went. It was an eye opening experience for me. Much more difficult than anything I had done in years. I flipped three times, wet exited safely each time, Cliff was right there making sure I was alright and helping me get the kayak to shore and the water out and off we went again. After each start Cliff explained the next section we were going to kayak run, how to run the drops, where the eddies were (and what they were) that we would stop at and reset. It took us an hour to go about a mile, but it was well worth it. Cliff is an excellent guide not just knowledgeable and skilled but patient with excellent communication skills. I am planning at least a couple trips in 2015 on the St. Louis River with Cliff as my guide. I have purchased my own kayak and equipment (Cliff provided me with the equipment on our outing and the equipment was excellent). I have joined Minnesota’s Rapid Riders and have been preparing for 2015 kayaking in the Rapid Rider open pool sessions in Brooklyn Center. I am 58 years old and if I can do this, so can you if you are looking for a challenge. If you are an experienced kayaker Cliff knows the St. Louis River area well. Later in the fall I contacted Cliff with the plans to do a second trip. We couldn’t make our schedules work with the weather so I asked about a good whitewater canoe run I could do alone and with Cliff’s recommendation did a 7 miles stretch of the Cloquet River. It was an excellent recommendation and day trip that fit perfectly with what I wanted to do.

I'm well traveled and have spent time with several adventure companies. Swiftwater Adventures is top notch. Our trip was a blast. The guides are knowledgeable of the river, wildlife, and nature. This is far more than a whitewater trip, it is a fun, adventurous, learning experience.