Rain has started again, and we are thrilled! This past Saturday, we had a great group of guys celebrating their friend's impending wedding. Bachelor groups come on river trips for the comraderie and the whitewater rapids.
The group came from afar and landed in sunny California. Very sunny for this time of year. Usually, March is a battle between sun and rain and snow. This year, sunshine has been in the sky throughout this winter. Thus, when we received the calls from this group, we knew they would have a great day on the rafting trip.
All showed up the day before the trip. Camping with dinner served and made by our guides, provided the guests with plenty of food and refreshments after their long drive. They slept well and were up the next morning ready to tackle the river.
Chili Bar section is the first 10.5 miles on South Fork American river. The first 10.5 miles is a ripping section of whitewater rapids. Chili Bar Hole, Meatgrinder (1/4 of a mile rapid), Race Horse Bend, Triple Threat and then lunch. We like to surf Chili Bar Hole as it helps to hone the skills of anyone there. Troublemaker is the big rapid on this section after lunch.
Many of us also like the Gorge section, 11 mi because it starts off very slow and mellow with easy rapids. Perfect for those who may have young children. You'll hit the rapids after lunch. The big rapid on this section is called Satan's Cesspool. Hospital Bar, and more class 3 rapids come after that until you end in Folsom Lake.
The guides had fun, the guests had fun and even our office staff had fun talking with them. Their group leader was very organized and everything went smoothly despite the last minute changes that were implemented by our field staff. The guests ended up staying longer and adding a couple more options to their trip.
This is the best bachelor event! How else would you bond with your best friends? They had a blast on the river and in camp. No wonder bachelor groups, both male and female, do whitewater trips with us. WET River Trips practically invented the special event categories in our industry. We take wedding groups, bachelor groups, family reunions, anniversaries, graduations and more.
Now our entire industry is on the same page. Whitewater rafting is not just for the hardcore athlete. We provide a special service for those of you who love the outdoors, and the water. And as David Quammen said in his book, "Natural Acts," a collection of essays about natural places, riparian life and rivers, he wrote a paragraph that speaks to me this very day.
One of the essays, "Living Water" so rocked my soul that I would like to share it here. Quammen wrote, "It is an exaggeration to say 'Water is Life," an ubiquitousness, and perhaps the importance, certainly the durability, of life. Water came first, necessarily. Without life, there would still be water. Without water, no life."
Water and rivers... it's where I want to be.
Video by W.E.T. River Trips
Youtube channel: http://youtube.com/wetrivertrips
Google+ videos for W.E.T. River Trips (holy cow, what a link!)
Written by: ~el
Thursday, March 27, 2014
Monday, March 24, 2014
Spring Rafting Trips and Diablo Shuttles
Spring rafting has started with hundreds of people flocking to their computers, iphones, ipads and android devices all texting, calling, messaging, and throwing rocks at us. Yes, someone actually did after they saw the company vehicle go by them. "Damn rafters," they shouted. A sentiment so removed from the reality of today.
About 20 years ago, when I was shuttling trucks for W.E.T. River Trips on the Merced near Yosemite, my fellow shuttle mate and I were moving a van and a truck to the take-out or egress point. Movement was slow as we had gear in the vehicles, and we were trudging along coaxing our tires to remain full over sharp debris.
So many rocks along the narrow, winding road, prevented us from traveling more than 15 mph. The heat was stifling as we drove, and I could see the water vapor evaporating above the heated rocks near the river, turning into a ghostly mist.
Suddenly, a figure appeared in the road. Just stepping from behind a boulder, a grizzly older man in non-hipster torn-up jeans, a wife-beater and a rifle in his hand. He raised the barrel and pointed it directly into the front of the window. He said, "What are you doing?"
My heart started pounding. Is this where I am going to meet my maker? What the hell...
He asked both of us to get out of our vehicles. At that point, my anger took over and I told him, "No." I said we were in a hurry to make the egress point. We told him that a large group was about to get off the river, and they were to meet us at the take-out point. I also told him that they would be floating by shortly.
He lowered his rifle and started laughing. "Ohhhhh, you are rafters." And, then he started talking about his mining activity. I let out an audible sigh, and knew we had to do a bit of community conversation that all of us rafters do when we meet the locals near the river.
We chatted for a few more minutes and then we were back on the journey. As we arrived to the egress point, we found a semi-shady spot to wait. I got out of the truck and set up my Therm-A-Rest pad, the self inflating pad that always brought comfort to anyplace that I laid my head down. My shuttle mate did the same, and we proceeded to relax by the river.
"Crack! Boom!, " a very large bang exploded the silence in that rocky canyon. I jumped up and, both of us turned to each other and said, "What was that?"
Then something whizzed passed above my head. OMG! Someone is shooting at us. We quickly hid behind boulders, heart exploding in unison with the whitewater rapids hitting the rocks, and at that moment, I went into survival mode.
Forget the cell phones. This canyon prevents them from working well. I grabbed a large boulder and hung onto to it as the only weapon available.
Then the noise stopped. I could hear someone's laughter echoing in the canyon. Very funny. I suppose. To scare a couple of girls in this lost canyon. I swear, if I had a gun or rifle, I think I might have re-enacted all those silly westerns. Bang, bang, bang...
The majority of communities in California are used to rafters floating past their homes, businesses or driving populations into their communities to spend hard cash at their restaurants, bars and lodging accommodations.
We are finally welcome in most communities. Our whitewater rafting industry is a clean one. We shuttle our guests in vans or buses. We recycle the majority of our waste products such as plastics, paper, aluminum and garbage. Our community leaders fight for our planet to save rivers and the riparian life.
We believe in water. The act of paddling on the river is so primitive to our human species, that we can witness the impact when we take our guests down the river on multiple-day trips. After a couple of days, most are on "river time." The guests slow down, they relax and the type-A personality turns into a type-B very quickly as each of us become tuned to the flow of the river.
For those of you who are ready to release from your hectic lives, call us (888.723.8938 yes, we are plugging it) and we will help you to create that magical sense of flow on our rivers. We are now an oldster company, founded in 1978 and still helmed by the original owner, is ready to embrace the challenges of business, community and river life itself.
Spring rafting is here!
Written by: ~ EL
All photos: W.E.T. River Trips flickr
 |
| Rafting Fun! Smiling, Paddling! |
About 20 years ago, when I was shuttling trucks for W.E.T. River Trips on the Merced near Yosemite, my fellow shuttle mate and I were moving a van and a truck to the take-out or egress point. Movement was slow as we had gear in the vehicles, and we were trudging along coaxing our tires to remain full over sharp debris.
So many rocks along the narrow, winding road, prevented us from traveling more than 15 mph. The heat was stifling as we drove, and I could see the water vapor evaporating above the heated rocks near the river, turning into a ghostly mist.
 |
| March Fun on South Fork American River! |
Suddenly, a figure appeared in the road. Just stepping from behind a boulder, a grizzly older man in non-hipster torn-up jeans, a wife-beater and a rifle in his hand. He raised the barrel and pointed it directly into the front of the window. He said, "What are you doing?"
My heart started pounding. Is this where I am going to meet my maker? What the hell...
He asked both of us to get out of our vehicles. At that point, my anger took over and I told him, "No." I said we were in a hurry to make the egress point. We told him that a large group was about to get off the river, and they were to meet us at the take-out point. I also told him that they would be floating by shortly.
He lowered his rifle and started laughing. "Ohhhhh, you are rafters." And, then he started talking about his mining activity. I let out an audible sigh, and knew we had to do a bit of community conversation that all of us rafters do when we meet the locals near the river.
We chatted for a few more minutes and then we were back on the journey. As we arrived to the egress point, we found a semi-shady spot to wait. I got out of the truck and set up my Therm-A-Rest pad, the self inflating pad that always brought comfort to anyplace that I laid my head down. My shuttle mate did the same, and we proceeded to relax by the river.
"Crack! Boom!, " a very large bang exploded the silence in that rocky canyon. I jumped up and, both of us turned to each other and said, "What was that?"
Then something whizzed passed above my head. OMG! Someone is shooting at us. We quickly hid behind boulders, heart exploding in unison with the whitewater rapids hitting the rocks, and at that moment, I went into survival mode.
Forget the cell phones. This canyon prevents them from working well. I grabbed a large boulder and hung onto to it as the only weapon available.
Then the noise stopped. I could hear someone's laughter echoing in the canyon. Very funny. I suppose. To scare a couple of girls in this lost canyon. I swear, if I had a gun or rifle, I think I might have re-enacted all those silly westerns. Bang, bang, bang...
 |
| We got Whitewater! |
The majority of communities in California are used to rafters floating past their homes, businesses or driving populations into their communities to spend hard cash at their restaurants, bars and lodging accommodations.
We are finally welcome in most communities. Our whitewater rafting industry is a clean one. We shuttle our guests in vans or buses. We recycle the majority of our waste products such as plastics, paper, aluminum and garbage. Our community leaders fight for our planet to save rivers and the riparian life.
We believe in water. The act of paddling on the river is so primitive to our human species, that we can witness the impact when we take our guests down the river on multiple-day trips. After a couple of days, most are on "river time." The guests slow down, they relax and the type-A personality turns into a type-B very quickly as each of us become tuned to the flow of the river.
For those of you who are ready to release from your hectic lives, call us (888.723.8938 yes, we are plugging it) and we will help you to create that magical sense of flow on our rivers. We are now an oldster company, founded in 1978 and still helmed by the original owner, is ready to embrace the challenges of business, community and river life itself.
Spring rafting is here!
Written by: ~ EL
All photos: W.E.T. River Trips flickr
Friday, March 21, 2014
ART = LIFE
Art is a funny thing. If it arouses emotions then the art was successful. If not, then maybe not so successful.
"ART
= LIFE" means different things to different artist. What I meant was
that for some artist, creating their art could mean their death.
Art
is a cultural entity reflecting each society's vision of their
population. Creating that art was and is a bold statement mirroring that
artist's dreams.
Politically, the art could bring down their society and even more deadly, it could bring an end to their life.
Those of us who are privileged and can create freely are truly blessed!
See "Monuments Men" movie... See how important art is to our world!
Art pic from my own private collection W.E.T. River Trips
Art Life pic from Google images
Tuesday, March 11, 2014
SPRING has SPRUNG!
We got Whitewater, too! Come check it out!
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| California spring! Daffodils and Redbuds! |
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