HALLOWEEN International

The sunlight is fading, and the darkness grows as we prepare for the Winter Solstice and the longest night and shortest day…but first Halloween!

Halloween has officially (I'm calling it) the biggest celebration in the World. Yes… true. Christmas is big, but it's still a secular holiday. New Years is big as well if you don't count the Lunar New Year celebrated by China and many of its neighbors (except the Hmong and Lo Mien that celebrate the New Year in late Fall). Carnival is huge; however, it too is secular and limited. Halloween is everywhere! East to West and in-between, we as a World now celebrate and participate in the rituals of Halloween (dressing-up, sweets, food, drink, parties)…. what's not to like?

Yes, there are those remnants of Druid rituals, All Hallows Night, All Saint's Day etc. brought to us in America by Irish immigrants after the Potato Famine; however, the Melting Pot that is America distilled the World's rituals into the unique celebration of Halloween that has spread to the middle, near, and far east and expanded the pre-existing celebrations of Europe.

We all love Halloween for what it is: an opportunity to be something/someone different and to celebrate with our children, family and friends.

So get your mask on, touch up your make-up, stock-up on candy, buy some eggs to chuck and don't forget to vote!

Psst….this year's secret, best-ever costume: a River Guide! Think of the possibilities: dreadlocks, spandex, poly-pro, big shorts, helmets, facial hair, thrift-store shirts, knives, PFD's, sandals, bad hair, tattoos, hemp chokers, and chipped teeth (or no-teeth!).

I'll be at Java Lounge to see two hot bands: Sucks (check out SacBee Sucks review) and Fatty Acid!

I'll leave you with this:
"Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask, and he will tell you the truth."
Oscar Wilde

WET RAFTING RESOURCES

We are solidly into the crisp coolness of Fall, and 2008 whitewater rafting in California is officially over... and it has been a glorious season indeed….

We started out in March after getting tuned up on two forks of the Smith River, the North Fork American River, and the Cal Salmon in February and early March. The class 4+ North Fork American provided a more-than-adequate season that stretched into late May. The moderate early Middle Fork American flows allowed us to run all three forks of the American River system simultaneously and that just doesn't happen that often. We had over 10 days of three-fork action! W.E.T. River Trips dominated all commercial rafting entries in the North Fork race. We quickly provided a world record on three forks, one day runs of all: North Fork, Middle Fork, and South Fork the following week. Later on in the summer, W.E.T. River Trips also won the Outfitter's Cup race on the South Fork American during the annual American River Festival.

Aside from that amazing start and those accomplishments, our guides (new and old) stepped up with advanced paddling rivers on North Fork Giants Gap, Dream Gap, Feather, Tuolumne's Cherry Creek, South Fork Silver Fork, Upper Cherry, and Burnt Ranch Gorge. The kayakers in the crew went off with upper Kings, Silver Fork, Kyburz, upper San Joaquin, and some super secret creekin' runs. The crew is headed to the Rogue for a five day wilderness trip as I write this…They just keep goin'. Awesome Crew of white water rafting guides!!!!!!

Those of you starting your planning for your event and rafting trips, here is a handy list of great white water rafting resources. One of our favorites is raftinfo, a directory of rafting companies. American river trips are featured by regions that include California, South West canyonlands, South East, North East, Rocky Mountain, Midwest, Alaska all rafting in USA, and Central and South America and lastly, Canada. There are also listings for favorite international whitewater rivers. "Choose a Rafting Outfitter" link will open up the list.

Another great resource for the Western United States (USA) is the California Whitewater Rafting site. This site lists rivers in California, Nevada, Oregon, Washington and Idaho. There are also featured international trips such as the popular Futaleufu in Chile in South America. Another great American river trip! Lists of rafting outfitters linked directly to their website will help you navigate quickly to the rafting company.

The non-profit organization American Whitewater also provides several resources for the paddling community. White water resources can be found throughout their site with river information, a library and community forum.

And for those of you planning special events such as weddings, bachelor party, corporate team building, education outdoors, or just the family trip will find several places on the net that will provide you with how to plan your group trip, and who to call for your event or party.

The 2009 white water rafting begins NOW…We are getting ready to provide some new options, new gear, and improvements to our camp at Camp Lotus. Call us for your group rafting trips and freeze 2008 prices (deadline for this incentive November 15th) before any price increases for 2009. Over the next few months we will stay busy with preparations, and we'll be deeply involved with events and planning!

2009 looks amazing….

Now repeat after me (scream it!):

Rain! Snow! Snow! Snow! …and melt it easy!

Snowboarding and adventure motorcycle rides are ready to be done (oh yeh…Wolf will be creekin' in December and January somewhere off of the Foresthill Divide!).

Stay tuned!

Rain! Snow! Snow! Snow! …and melt it easy!

Fall Rafting and End of Summer

We've had an amazing rafting season of California rivers that included the Rafting Triple Crown, all kinds of guide and rafting parties, Music, P.O.W. event, and river travel!

All the rafting activity wraps up now as we head into deep Autumn and Winter. Fall rafting will continue on the American River white water. Here's some pictures of rivers I took during some current rafting trips this past week.

Fall photos

We've had our first rain and a dusting of snow on top off the Sierra's as the rivers calm down and the preparations begin for the 2009 rafting season and a season of snowboarding and travel. 2009 is expected to be even better than ever with some new additions to the W.E.T. River Trips menu of trip itineraries and activities and the prognosticators are predicting an above-normal winter of rain and snow ...nice!

Some of the W.E.T. crew are headed out to new adventures with Mac going to Brazil, Chris Z. to Panama, Booty & Justin to Chile after a stop in Costa Rica, D-Rex (Ryan) will be ice-climbing and back-country skiing in Colorado, K-Dawg is expected to make the patrol roster at Sierra at Tahoe, Nate is remaining King of Patrol at Kirkwood, Jon is headed to the Caribbean after finishing up college in Maine and Utah, Kyle is getting married, Maggie is surfing a desk while stalking Mt. Rose daily, Greg D. is headed to the Canyon, Country Mike is having a baby, Saul is becoming an urban (Newport) farmer by establishing sustainable agriculture on his patio, Wolf and A2 are headed to Mexico after prepping for the GRE, Alex is finishing up at UC Berkeley, Jason is deep into fatherhood, Jonny is plotting a come-back, Meg is missing Cali, Mike S. and Mogli are honing their respective Ninja skills, Big Job Rob will be patrolling Sierra at Tahoe, Andrew will be blazing new trails in the entertainment media, Bird flew to Ashland, and Heffe is in love!

Fall brings changes and challenges...the rivers, the mountains, the oceans, and the guides of W.E.T. River Trips are out there soaking it up and prepping for the next big season of California Rafting beginning in just 4 short months.

It's beautiful outside... enjoy and think of that sweet cold, clear spring run-off and all that it brings to the rivers!