You have three choices in boating through the Grand Canyon:

1. motor
2. oar (guide rows; you hang on)
3. paddle (you and your mates lean over the edge with paddles; guide steers)

A motor-powered raft is noisy. With a paddle-powered raft you are certain to fall over the side into the 48-degree water. The terror of swimming through whitewater should not be underestimated, though because there are few rocks in the Colorado you probably won't die.

What does that leave? An oar-powered boat. I went rafting with OARS (www.oars.com). The OARS guides are among the most experienced on the river. Bruce Helin, for example, had run the Colorado every summer 1967 through my trip (1999). All of our guides were superb, so if you can book a trip with Nancy H., Bruce H., Scott S., or Rob P., you'll be in good hands.

On an OARS trip, the guides set up the camp and the meals while you pitch your tent