We take the health and safety of our guests and members of our staff very seriously.  We successfully operated in the 2020 season with zero cases of COVID amongst our staff.  Wilderness Aware stringently follows or exceeds guidelines from the US Center for Disease Control and Chaffee County Public Health.

The following procedures are in place:

• Signs placed at each public entrance to our office to inform customers that they should wear a face covering, avoid entering if they have a cough or fever, and maintain a minimum six-foot distance from one another. Cloth face-coverings will be available to purchase should any guest need one.
• Employees must conduct a temperature check before every shift and will be sent home if they have a fever or exhibit any signs of illness. Employees must present a negative COVID test before returning to work.
• Employees are required to wear a face-covering when interacting with guests at the front desk, rental counter, and in vehicles.
• Guests and employees are instructed to maintain at least six feet distance. Guests should expect brief moments at a closer distance to accept payment, hand over rental items, paddles, and helmets and check lifejacket fittings.
• Employees disinfect all high-contact surfaces frequently – included but not limited to guest and employee restrooms (once per hour minimum) and other common areas (once per day minimum). The front desk, rental counter, and other point of contact items such as pens will be disinfected as often as possible.
• Wilderness Aware will conduct business with as little contact as possible. This will include having all guests fill out a digital waiver, accessible online and in advance of the trip. 
• All food will be prepped in a commercial-grade kitchen. The kitchen is sanitized after the morning prep session and again after trips return at the end of the day. 
• Guests will not be allowed to serve their own food if a meal is provided on their trip. Lunches are pre-made the morning of the trip and are pre-packaged.  Multi-day meals will be served by the guides.  All trips with meals carry handwashing stations.  
• The number of vehicle occupants has been reduced to allow passengers to maximize social distancing. 
• Passengers, guests, and guides will wear face-coverings when in a shuttle vehicle containing more than one person.
• Windows will remain open and ventilation is increased in all vehicles. 
• All high-contact surfaces of the vehicle are disinfected between all changes of passengers. 

Answers to Common Questions

Do we have to wear a mask?

Yes! However, only while in our office and in our shuttle vehicles. IT IS REQUIRED by our state for ALL locations in Colorado.

If you arrive for your trip and do not have a mask, you can purchase a bandana from our retail store for $4.00. Guests that do not have masks before departure will not participate in the rafting trip and will not receive a refund.

Our family/friends would like our own boat. Is that possible?

We are currently allowed to run full capacity rafts of seven guests + one guide. If your group size is less than seven, it is likely you will have other guests you are not familiar with sharing a boat with you. We offer private VIP rafts for groups of less than seven – call for pricing.

Can I still go rafting if I am traveling from out of town?

Yes, however, we ask that if anyone in your group has been in close contact with a positive COVID-19 case that you stay home and plan on visiting us at another time.

What are you doing to mitigate the spread of COVID-19?

Our employees are required to wear a mask in our building when guests are present, everyone wears a mask in the vehicles, and are required to use hand sanitizer provided by Wilderness Aware before entering any vehicle. We sanitize high contact surfaces at the front desk, including pens, and clean restrooms/changing rooms often. Our drivers and guide staff sanitize each vehicle between uses and wash the rental gear after each use (something we’ve always done!).

I’ve been rafting with Wilderness Aware before. Did you change anything about your trips?

We did not change anything that affects trip times, river locations, or the actual rafting experience in response to COVID-19. We were required to make changes to how we serve food. We are not able to offer continental breakfast, coffee, and hot chocolate. We also changed our full-day “make your own” sandwich smorgasbord lunch to a selection of pre-made sandwiches served as a boxed lunch (dietary restrictions and food allergies can be accommodated).