Tuesday, January 01, 2008

S#@% Happens...

This is a story that should have been posted a few months ago... we waited until it was safe! Words from Big Poppa:

While finishing up a Middle Fork American trip at the portage around Rucka-Chucky Falls, Wolf, LilAlex, and AznC were made an offer they couldn't refuse. A group of Sheriff Deputies approached the W.E.T. River Trips' guides for some help. It seems that the sheriff's rental raft for a fishing trip had somehow made its way over the Falls and became stuck half way through the final drop. The Deputies raft had been stuck there for over one day.


Being the adventuresome lads that W.E.T. guides are... the guides finished the commercial rafting trip with the clients first. Then, the guides came back to Rucka-Chucky Falls armed with another raft and plenty of ropes... a "deal" was struck with the Secretary and our team of rescue guides went to work on their Mission Impossible. Apparently, the Deputies had used a small anchor while fishing and when the boat was pushed over the Falls, the anchor was dislodged and the raft became stuck... midway through the rapid, perched like a dead fish.

Wolf, AnzC, and LilAlex all made "hero" moves to get to the boat and cut it loose. (Bird loaned his camera to LilAlex... he managed a few frames, and he did appear to "participate.") The Matrix crew soon freed the raft and faced a new problem... during the extraction, the river flows were cut to "fish-flow" to about 300cfs. So Neo and our crew ran Cleavage, Parallel Parking, Texas Chainsaw, Mama and Thread the Needle with micro-flows. (Where's Morpheus, when you need him?)

At the takeout, the Sheriffs followed through on the "deal"...a chunk of change with $100 reserved for a substantial purchase of Olympia. LilAlex and Wolfe were please to discover that $100 translates into 20 cases of cheap beer at the Sierra Center in downtown Coloma.

So...

  • Raft rental... $150

  • Raft replacement... $4,000.

  • Fishing anchor... $4,000.

  • Pride... TBA

  • Cash for guides and a seemingly endless supply of Olympia in the "Bird's Nest"...Priceless


  • The bigger question was... what did W.E.T. get out of the deal?

    In Wolf-Speak, "Dude, it was sweeeet. W.E.T. got HELLA HUGE PROPS!"

    My response was, "Where is the freakin' PROPS store so that I can cash my HELLA huge check!"

    Big Poppa observes that rewards for the guides should be shared by the company. We say NOT! Hehehehe

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