Taking the Kids: Getting unplugged in a super fun way

No need to navigate yourself or look at a guidebook, though I found the Belknap’s Waterproof Dinosaur River Guide, a great way to mark the more than 70 miles we are traveling on the Yampa and Green Rivers, our campsites (no one but us) -- and the famous rapids. The guides are a wealth of information about everything from the famous dinosaur "Wall of Bones" in Dinosaur National Monument to the geology of the rock formations dating back millions of years to the ancient Fremont People, who lived here thousands of years ago, taking us on side hikes to see the pictographs and petroglyphs this area is famous for, even to a cave where we see their ancient stone containers used for storing corn.

That's not to say a trip like this is "glamping," where you don't have to lift a finger and have every comfort of home and then some.

We still did need to put up and take down our tents daily and form "fire lines," to get the gear on and off the boats. We washed our plates in pails of hot water, didn't bathe, except in the river and that waterfall, peed in the river (that was a learning curve) and used an outdoor latrine called a "groover," always placed with a spectacular (and private) view of the river.

The lack of creature comforts served to add to the adventure and for kids, certainly, a lesson in team work -- on the river and off.

But be forewarned that "river trips are real adventures that involve real risk. These are active participatory adventures that take place in wild and remote settings where exposure to the elements is a given," said Steve Markle, a spokesman for OARS, now celebrating its 50th anniversary.

(Some trips, like down the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon, are so popular it is necessary to book as much as a year ahead. On others, including in Utah, there is still availability this summer.)

The Yampa River, we learn, is the last wild tributary in the Colorado River System that sustained ancient peoples, inspired exploration by John Wesley Powell in the 19th century, drew ranching and farming homesteaders and saw the beginning of the commercial river raft industry pioneered by Bus Hatch and his family in the 1930s.

Today, suggests Stephen "Doc" Nicholson, a retired dentist and legendary rafting guide, this is a great trip for first-time rafters -- less than a week long, affordable (starting at under $1,000 per person), beautiful with plenty of spectacular sites (how many faces and creatures can you see in those canyon walls?) and thrills.

Nicholson adds he can't wait until his two grandchildren are old enough for the experience, especially getting them away from all of their devices. "They'll see you don't need all that stuff to be happy. I can't think of anything better for children."

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