There’s nothing like the relaxing feeling of floating down a river, unless there are rapids and someone who has never rafted before.

During the Labor Day weekend, the Outdoor Recreation Program took four trip leaders and 10 participants through three days of white-water rafting on the Peshtigo and Wolf rivers in northeastern Wisconsin.

The excursion was the first of at least six such weekend trips planned this semester by the Outdoor Rec, which is located at the west end of State Gym.

Murali Subramanian and Chandrika Mulakala, graduate students in chemical engineering, saw the trip on the Web site and thought it seemed exciting. Neither had gone white-water rafting before.

“The instruction and experience [of the guides] was really good,” Subramanian said. “They really emphasized safety.”

Mulakala admitted to being nervous, but once the rafts were heading toward the first rapids, “There was no time to think,” she said.

The first-timers enthusiastically endorsed their first experience in Wisconsin’s wild water.

“We will do it again,” Subramanian said.

The group left early Saturday morning and drove eight hours to a relatively easy stretch of the Peshtigo River, where they launched two rafts and four white-water “safety” kayaks for the guides.

Starting on an easy stretch and working their way up to more difficult water was important for participants who had never rafted before, said guide Brian Huebner, senior in liberal studies.

On Sunday, the group made two trips down the same five-mile stretch of the Peshtigo, taking time to scout out the rapids and plan for safety, said Outdoor Rec program coordinator and rafting guide Jerry Rupert.

Monday’s stretch on the Wolf River held the most challenging portion of white-water on the trip, but it was also the most rewarding.

Although the rafters had to carry their boats through shallow portions of the Peshtigo, more water volume in the Wolf provided “one continuous ride” for participants, said guide Steve Prosise, junior in agronomy. “It ended the trip on a high note.”

The Wolf proved its difficulty to the group at a stretch called Big Smokey Falls.

One raft flipped over and dumped all of its riders, and the other raft lost all but two.

Due to an extensive safety orientation that told participants what to expect in that type of situation, everyone was calm, Prosise said.

The safety kayaks played a crucial role in the cleanup from the spill, Prosise said.

“Our job [as safety kayakers] is to do the rapids first and then park on the shore and be ready with safety equipment,” Huebner said.

Huebner, Prosise, Rupert and guide Tyler Leggett, senior in aerospace engineering, rotated between safety kayaking and actually guiding the rafts.

Also on board in the safety kayaks was Whitney Sanford, director of religious studies and faculty advisor to the ISU Canoe and Kayak Club.