Rafting is all about a river's water volume, right?

Wrong, says Tom Kleinschnitz, owner of Adventure Bound River Expeditions in Grand Junction, who's been in the business of rafting since 1971.

"People get caught up in reading about water volumes and high flow vs. low flow," Kleinschnitz says. "There are some rivers where very high flows wash out the rapids and some narrow canyons become smooth water when the water is just flushing too hard. Those runs will be better later in the summer."

A river's water volume is measured by cubic feet per second, or CFS. Choosing a stretch of river because of a high CFS reading doesn't assure rafters they'll have an exciting ride either, Kleinschnitz says. "Each piece of water is different."

On a day in mid-May, a stretch of the Gunnison near Delta was running at more than 6,000 CFS. While that sounds exciting, conditions along that part of the river, littered with logjams and other debris, "make that a sunburn float," Kleinschnitz says. "But 7,000 CFS going down the Arkansas? That would be rocking."

So, just how do you know whether the river will offer a raging ride?

Kleinschnitz says rafting companies are the best resource for planning a rafting trip.