Middle Fork American River Trip Dates 2015

MIDDLE FORK AMERICAN UPDATE via CA State Parks

Here are the rest of this season's Middle Fork American trip dates:

UPDATES (see below) as of 081115 / CA State Parks

AUG: sat, sun, tues, thurs, frid + 8/24 through 8/30th

SEPT: Labor Day weekend; sat, sun +  sept 1/tues, 9/6sun, 9/7mon, 9/12sat, 9/19sat, 9/26sat::

Call to reserve: 888.723.8938

DIY Reservations:
SFCB : http://raftwet-store.com/onedaysofoam2.html
SFG : http://raftwet-store.com/onedaysofoam3.html
MFTC : http://raftwet-store.com/onedaymifoam.html
MFCD : http://raftwet-store.com/onedaymifoam1.html


You know the drill.
Signing off until the next post...


Written by: Elizabeth Lopez
For W.E.T. River Trips 




Check our photos: flickr.com/photos/wetrivertrips
Like us on Facebook: facebook.com/wetrivertrips
Tweet us: twitter.com/wetrivertrips
More pics: pinterest.com/wetrivertrips  

MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND 2015

Oh, California, you are still most beautiful. With skies so blue, we linger while sipping our coffee or tea and looking out our watery eyes on the quiet landscape around the rivers. In this year of limits, we are able to go rafting. On two rivers, we paddle the whitewater as aggressively as before. And, we approach this weekend as we have the last 37 years on our guided whitewater rafting trips.

It's time to go rafting! California's benchmark, this weekend, guides us carefully through the treachery of the holiday. So many people, so much to do, and the Gods above have deemed the weather in the 80's with a high of 84 degrees. Perfection!

Two rivers to go rafting: South Fork American and Middle Fork American River. Both very popular with the populations in Southern California, San Francisco Bay Area, and our Valley communities. Our office resides in the state capitol of Sacramento. Just an hour from the river. Traveling in cars and riding Hwy 50 or Hwy 80 corridor will take you there.

Every outfitter is vying for the guests. Every single one of us. With a lot of new outfitters taking over older companies, we step back and remember 37 years of friends, families, scouts, youth groups and corporations who have gone rafting with us since 1978.

We love all of you. Sincerely. We do. Join us for Memorial Day Weekend and go rafting!
We got Whitewater!


Online store discounts:
raftwet-store.com

Call us 888.723.8938!
Or visit the links above to diy reservations!
(Please reserve at least 24-48 hours before the trip date)


Photos by: W.E.T. River Trips
Blog written by: Elizabeth Lopez

MIDDLE FORK AMERICAN RIVER - FERC

Middle Fork American is a river near Auburn just northeast of Sacramento, California. One of the prettiest rivers in our whitewater arsenal, we expect that we can raft the river every year. This year, our season will have some restrictions on some days throughout our calendar.

What this means in such a drastically low water year, is that we will be rafting this river. Why are we able to have water when the entire state is so dry? Well, there's this thingy called the FERC. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission regulates the flow for energy contracts to allow this river to have water in our 2015 season.

When the powers to be announced 7-day flow way back in January, I wondered. Then they said it again in February. I knew it couldn't be true. How? How can they allow everyday water when there was no snow pack or rain?

Now we just received an email giving us the schedule for Middle Fork American River flows.


MF FLOW DATES: all weekends plus more!

MAY: Memorial Day weekend; sat, sun, mon, sat, sun for rest of month

JUNE: sat, sun, june 30/tues

JULY: sat, sun, tues, frid, july 3

UPDATES (see below) as of 081115 / CA State Parks

AUG: sat, sun, tues, thurs, frid + 8/24 - 8/30th (don't ask, lol)

SEPT: Labor Day weekend; sat, sun +  sept 1/tues, sun9/6only, mon9/7


We will send out our announcements in our social media and also through email. I have a feeling that there will be a scramble for dates this year!

• Wanna know more? Read this: http://relicensing.pcwa.net/html/whatis/whatis.php
• American Whitewater (organization, not outfitter): https://www.americanwhitewater.org/content/Project/view/id/mfamerican-rubicon/

Written by Elizabeth Lopez
Blogging for W.E.T. River Trips

4th of July 2014 with W.E.T. River Trips

Monday, before the 4th of July, is usually full of chaos at the office. All last minute plans go into effect as everyone tries desperately to make a holiday for that 3-day weekend.  Like me. Oh, yes, I had plans. Multiple plans that went by the wayside as each day ticked by and now, it's Monday. Monday before the Fourth of July! Emails and phone calls will be extreme this week... weather will be hot this week, too!

4th of July with WET River Trips will keep you cool!

Discounts, Deals: 7/2/Wed; 7/3/Thurs; 7/4/Frid; 7/5/Sat; 7/6/Sun:::

One day trips
1-day South Fork American Chili Bar run with lunch
1-day South Fork American Gorge run with lunch
1-day Middle Fork American Tunnel Chute run with lunch

All include (1) night camping
2-day South Fork American Standard at Camp Lotus with (4) meals
2-day South Fork American Wilderness Camp with (4) meals
2-day Middle Fork American Wilderness Trip with (4) meals
2-day American River Combo (2 rivers in 2 days)

Multiple day trips
3-day Middle Fork American Wilderness Trip
3-day American River Combo (2 rivers in 3 days)

Call us for pricing: 888.723.8938
Best rates: Groups of (12) people or more


Photo: BigPoppah and on WET Flickr
Post by: ~EL

Talk About the Weather!

Holy smokes! We just had the hottest weather evah! 106 degrees in Sacramento and everyone in the valley just melted into oblivion; enjoying the heat and the rivers nearby. Summer has arrived with the hint of more heat blasts to come as the sun slipped behind clouds this morning and presented a lovely cooler day for all of us.

South Fork American River in June 2014

Whitewater rafting is now. We have regular summer flows everyday on the South Fork American except on Tues, Wed. And on Middle Fork American River, we have flows every single day through September.

Don't believe me? Well, check out the all the WET photos on WET Facebook facebook.com/wetrivertrips or on our photo site with Flickr at flickr.com/photos/wetrivertrips. All great shots of whitewater madness and happy faces in 2014. Oh, yes, we have been on the rivers since early March 2014.

Part of our crew is on the Klamath River and just ended a 4-day camping and rafting trip up in the Great North. We can't wait to see the photos of those Scouts on that trip. Klamath River multiple day trips are our crew's favorite! 4-6 days on the river... vacation! Wildlife, wilderness and plenty of water, Klamath River trips have the most bang for the buck.

A LIST of RIVERS to RAFT in 2014:

South Fork American runs everyday except Tues, Wed for Class 3-3+ (novice, min age 8yrs)
Middle Fork American runs everyday for Class 3-4+ (athletic novice, experienced, min age 12yrs).
Klamath River runs now through September everyday for Class 2-3+ (novice, min age 8yrs).

Three of the best rivers in California are still operating.
Where are you gonna be this summer?


Written: ~ EL
Photos: W.E.T. River Trips

Happy New Year! Ranting...

2014... and here we go.
The funny thing is the post.
You know... snap a pic, post it.
Maybe say a few words describing it or adding a link.
You know.

Now it's all about networks.
Which network are you on?

Here is what I see.
Networks that don't network anything but their proprietory content.
Websites that say nothing but show a lot of pictures.
Blogs that are totally not news, but blurbs from news media.
Talking heads saying virtually nothing except repeating the same content from a gazillion other news feeds.

Who will be the journalists?
Who will write the content that we need to read to make decisions on our next politician or bond issue or initiative?

Who will teach us anything new?
Who will teach us anything?

I can not even find the simplest thing anymore.
When I want to find out something simple, I am faced with a barrage of lists that only give me stuff I can buy.
Maybe I want to know more.
Maybe I want to know where it originated, or why it's called that, or what it means.
Maybe I just have a hunger for knowledge.

Oh, well...
I guess I'll just buy it.
Buy it until I
can not buy another thing...




frustrated as hell...
i'm at the return counter at Nordie.
hehe

Just a little rant from the peanut gallery at W.E.T. River Trips
Thank you Google images for the pics!
Thanks to techblogspot and urbanmoxy for their pics!

Weather and Rivers in September 2013

"What's the weather like up there?" she queried. And, with that question, we went into our weather spiel.

"Blah, blah, blah... we can't predict the weather, but if the air temperature is below 83 degrees, you will need a wetsuit, " I answered. I could feel the next question coming, so I answered before it was asked.

"You can check with a search for 'Coloma, CA weather' and receive quite accurate weather reports on various sites" I claimed.

Pumping up the Rafts

The caller, said thank you and I was off on another call answering similar questions for another guest.

The weather is very important to our guests. They want to know how to prepare themselves for their whitewater trips on American Rivers. They want to know if it is raining or if it is blistering hot. With the weather being so strange, that has been difficult. Wetsuits? or not? Most likely not as the air temperature keeps rising daily.

We had a great winter and then a lousy end-of-winter pattern. No snow, no rain for weeks until finally we had a big storm in April. Was it enough for the state of California? No. We need more snow and more rain for Southern California and the eastern slopes of the Sierra Nevada. We also could have used more in the Northern California regions, too.

Bachelorette Party w/ WET River Trips

Best flows in the state is on Central California's American River. South Fork American, Middle Fork American will have flows through September 2013. Remarkable, since there is no water on the Kern River or even the Tuolumne River for whitewater rafting.

And, most of the early spring runs were done very early this year around March. What a strange year! This weekend will be in the 90's. Time to go rafting on the river... again! Whitewater rafting will be great at the end of this season for all of you who were too afraid to hit the higher flows in spring or too squeemish for the colder temperatures. September is an uber warm month with lots of friends coming out to go rafting with WET River Trips.

This year, 2013, we introduced a lot of beginners and novices to our whitewater sport. This is definitely the best year for groups, families and novices on either run on the South Fork American River or the Middle Fork American River.

North Fork American in March!

Call your California outifitter! Get on a whitewater trip this year before it's too late!


Trip List : September 2013 Whitewater Rafting Season

• 1-day South Fork American Chili Bar Express 10.5 mi, 9-1pm, no lunch; beginners, novices 
• 1-day South Fork American Chili Bar run 10.5 mi, 9-3pm, lunch, novices
• 1-day South Fork American w/ 1-night camping + (4) meals
• 1-day Middle Fork American Tunnel Chute run w/ lunch 18 mi, 8-4pm, intermediates or athletic novices
• 1-day Middle Fork American Tunnel Chute run w 1-night camping + (2) meals
• 2-day Middle Fork American Wilderness Trip w/ 1-night camping + (4) meals

For best rates: call 888.723.8938
We are doing super discounts now!
And by the way... pray for snow this winter!



Thanks to W.E.T. River Trips for their flickr photos.

100 Degrees? This Weekend!

Middle Fork American Tunnel Chute run

Ok, Mother Nature. Your fun-filled silliness about your weather has been enough.

First we have snow and rain and then nothing for months and months. Then you fool us with 90 degrees in early May and then you surprise us with 70 degrees in late May that puts everyone back in a wetsuit or crawling under the bed covers to sleep the day away.

And now, this weekend. 100 degrees? Possibly, as the weather people predict a very hot weekend for June 1st.

I checked the weather.com channel and saw 97 degrees in Lotus, California on Saturday, June 1st. Wow. And, this past week's cloudy, Arizona-like sky cooling down the air temperature until I had to put on a sweater, was just a tease.

Will California remain hot? Who knows? But, what I do know is it is definitely time, puppies, to get your tweets going, your instagram snapping, your fab facebook posting and your bloggys rolling.Time to go rafting. Drive and dive into the mix of the river and socialize with your friends and colleagues. Bring your families together and go rafting with us, too.

This year, the two rivers to navigate this 2013 season are the following:

• South Fork American River: 21 miles into 2 sections; Chili Bar and/or Gorge run; class 3-3+, 1-day or 2-day trips available; camping, meals, etc; novice
• Middle Fork American River: 18 miles; Tunnel Chute run; class 3-4+, 1-day, 2-day, 3-day trips available; camping, meals, etc; experienced, or atheletic novices
• Middle Fork American Lower River: 6 miles; Kid River; class 2-2+, 1-day available; introduction to rafting, kid snacks, beverages; 1pm-5pm (approx); children 3+yrs
• South Fork American Coloma run: 5 miles; Family River; class 2-2+, 1-day available; river rafting, beverages; noon-3pm (approx); children 3+yrs

As always... See you on the river,
W.E.T. River Trips staff post
~ EL

About Cell Phones

Erm... about your cell phone. When you call us and leave a message from your cell phone while you are driving, here is what we hear: a garble of words that include a cell number that is barely decipherable.

Ooops! Yup. We cannot understand what you just said!

My favorite is the slo-o-o-o-w talker. The one who describes everything in detail about what they want and which river to raft. And, then... the phone number. In lightening speed, the caller says a flurry of numbers slurred together as a single word. Uhmmm... can you repeat that?

We also have many people whom English is a second language. The language accents make the cell number even more unintelligible. Please people. Slow down when you call so we can be sure to get your cell number so we can call back.

This morning, a caller was driving in their car when they made the call to our reservation office. With the sound of the air whooshing as their car sped down the road, a background of noise colored their speech and made it very difficult for us to understand.

A mumble of a voice, and I think I heard "birthday" and I think they said "this weekend." But, the phone number was a blur and (2) of the numbers were not clearly understood. So we tried each number from 1 - 9 and placed them in different configurations in that cell number. Nada. Nothing. Wrong number.



Maybe they will call back... and maybe they won't. Those who do not call back are usually annoyed with us because we did not return the call. With everyone on a cell phone, keep in mind that the clarity of your voice may not be received by the receipient. Instead, we got a lot of wooshing air, auto traffic noise and a garbled voice.

Guess what? There really is a very good reason why we can not hear each other on cell phones. Cell phones cut out the highest frequencies of the human voice. The results suggest that we may be missing the full meaning of what people say when we talk to them on our mobile devices. So says an article in Discovery.com.

I do wish I could have that cell phone that can call anywhere in the world from any place in the world. But, until that day arrives, all we can do is hope that our guests are understanding and patient. Slow down when you call! We really want to hear your words and call you right back.




A List for Hearing Resources

1. Discovery.com on Why We Can't Hear : http://news.discovery.com/human/cell-phone-frequency-111028.htm
2. Yahoo Answers on Cell Phone Hearing : http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080823200354AAQZFRq
3. Ask Metafilter.com What I Can't Hear You on the Cell Phone : http://ask.metafilter.com/134775/What-I-cant-hear-you-on-the-cell-phone
4. Hearing Loss in Musicians : http://www.uic.edu/sph/glakes/harts/HARTS_library/musnoise.txt
5. Hearnet, A Non-Profit Info Source for Musicians and Music Lovers : http://www.hearnet.com/
6. Oracle ThinkQuest on Phone Etiquette : http://library.thinkquest.org/2993/phone.htm
7. ReviewGist on Best Cell Phones for Hearing Impaired of 2013 : http://www.reviewgist.com/best-cell-phone-hearing-impaired

Written by: ~ EL on Staff for W.E.T. River Trips
Thanks to Discovery.com, Yahoo Answers, Metafilter.com, UIC.edu, Hearnet.com, Oracle Education and Reviewgist for their help on "A List for Hearing Resources".
Photos by mycricket.com, Northwestern University, and WET River Trips on Flickr.
Uuuuhhh... ok everyone, can you hear the whitewater rafting guide when he says "Paddle Forward!" ? (excuse my grammer...)

PRIVACY

I got busted. I logged into my Google+ profile, and lo and behold! There was an account alert. "Please edit your profile to reflect your real name... blah blah blah..." Gee whiz. I was using this company name, WET River Trips, instead, but I did have in my profile, who I was, who I worked for and everything else that was completely real. Grrrr.

But, the sense of relief was a bit overwhelming. Whew. I don't have to hide anymore. Yes, I work for W.E.T. River Trips as their marketing geek, and I am the one who creates all the internet properties along with the other members in my team. But, to not have to hide is kinda unreal. Facebook already told me that, when I finally relented and entered their realm a few years ago.

I started thinking, "...why was I hiding?" Was I hiding from other marketers? Or was I just loving the anonymity of being on the net as my nickname or my company profile?

I read Randi Zuckerberg's missive on anonymity online. Randi says it 'has to go away.' She explains about harassment and cyberbullying. Hmmm... yes, I know our company, and I have been harassed on several occasions throughout our marketing campaigns over these 30+ years. Annoying and dangerous, we have fended off their arrows every single year.

So, here is what is out there now. I am Elizabeth Lopez both on Facebook and Google+. So, all you reading this, please check out our business pages for WET River Trips or W.E.T. River Trips. Then, click the "Like" or "+1" button, please. Otherwise, just keep clicking on the +1 button for me.

Last whitewater trip for 2012 is September 30, 2012 on both South Fork American or Middle Fork American!

Over and out for now...

E. Lopez
WET River Trips 

Thanks to http://hoax-slayer.com for their privacy image. All other photos belong to W.E.T. River Trips, Big Poppah Jah, and me!

This blog post belongs to W.E.T. River Trips and this California Whitewater Rafting W.E.T. River Trips blog.

Troublemaker Rapid 2012

Google groups has an interesting setting for paddlers, and Big Poppah saw this post that he wanted to share with everyone who paddles the very popular South Fork American River in Lotus Coloma Valley. Caution! Everyone!

***Please Read Kayakers***

This last Saturday, I was running troublemaker rapid in my playboat.  I decided to take the beginner line, which is to clip the very left edge of the hole and then paddle left of gunsight rock.  I have done this line over 20+ times and hit the hole in the same spot.  It seems that there is a new rock directly after this that will either flip you or put you on enough edge to shift your boat into the downslope that leads into the peanut gallery.  I did not flip but had to switch edges quickly, which lead into an instant loss of momentum and my stern slipping down.  I paddled as hard as possible to make it back left of the "guardian rock"  which is the left rock of gunsight.  I made it to the very top of the guardian rock but the current was so strong that I could not pull my weight up and over the tip.  In turn I slid backwards down the rock and into the peanut gallery.  I luckily pushed my weight forward and slid down flat, after a few more hits, I flipped over.  I tucked immediately and started going through the peanut gallery until my helmet hit a rock and my body was pressed up against the rock as well.  I knew to get my knees out immediately and to pull skirt but the water coming off the pillow pressed my boat against me.  When I realized that I was pinned, I remained calm and started to kick and push the boat off of me.  After a few tries, the boat released and I was able to swim out.  Besides a good crack in the helmet, a few solid bruises and a sore neck- it all luckily worked out.  For those that do not know me, this was not a simple push of the boat.  This was an intense push/kick from a well conditioned, strong boater who paddles over 250 days a year.

After I came back from running film on the gorge that night, I looked at pictures of myself and others going through troublemaker with the same line.  Most people flipped, the others had the same "edging" issues but in a larger boat were able to pull it off.  There were many swims that followed.  I watched an ugly swim 2 weeks ago and know of another well conditioned, strong, class 4/5 boater who swam as well.

Please take caution when running this line- clip the hole another boat width right, eddy out and ferry across or be ready for the rock.  I do know this river extremely well as I have worked on this river for 11+ years and have kayaked it at almost every flow.  This rock was not there early July when I did the exact same line, multiple times- I have very specific markers and line ups as I count on my line as a safety boater and instructor.

If you have any further questions or info- please let me know.  In the meantime, please be safe and aware.  Please pass this along to any other boaters, outfitters or instructors.
Thank you, 
Julie Mitravitch


Thanks much to paddler, Julie Mitravitch and Google groups for allowing us to share the group's paddling information to everyone!
Coloma Lotus News at Google Groups
clnews@googlegroups.com

This blog belongs to California Whitewater Rafting W.E.T. River Trips blog.

Magnificent Wolffe

"Geezus Christ!, " he screamed as he poured over the whitewater photos online this morning.

"I'm going to kill him... I swear to god, I'm going to kill him."

I went back into my thoughts while wondering why Big Poppah was yelling. What made him so mad? I kept working as I could feel and hear something in the background of this morning's river drama. Sigh... back to work.

First day of August and the living ain't easy. Discounting and dealing with the public has worn us all out. The reservation staff is waning as many of us get ready to go back to school. Whitewater trips are happening everywhere in the west from California to Arizona and also, West Virginia and all the way over to Pennsylvania. Whitewater outfitters provide dreams. A solitary river dream that flows inside all of our heads. We dream of rafting and kayaking. It's in our blood. Our life source flows on this planet much like it does in our bodies... the river of life.

Ok. It's hokey, I know that... but what made Big Poppah so mad?

I got up from my chair and walked into the other room. Peering over Big Poppah's shoulder, I could see the photos of yesterday's Middle Fork American river trip in front of me. Big Poppah was hunched over the computer and typing furiously. Tap tap tap clicky tap tap tap... like tiny soldiers marching on the hardened ground.

I saw Wolffe jumping from the cliff into the bottom of Tunnel Chute rapid. OMG! What was he doing? At least, no one else was in that gear raft in the ugly maw of Tunnel Chute.

Wolffe is a senior headguide for W.E.T. River Trips. He was manuevering the fully-loaded gear raft on the river that day with a large group on our 2-day wilderness trip. Why did he do that? What was he thinking?

Big Poppah was yelling and talking about company liability and why was Wolffe doing that and what was he thinking and how do we get it through his head that he can not do that? I listened to him ranting about Wolffe for quite a bit as I stood there nodding. My thoughts were drifting as Big Poppah's words were just a lacey decoration of a million times I had heard this similar rant about another guide, another river, another place in time.

This company is old. Really old. And what we do now is just survive the vagaries of life and all the bullshit that comes with it. WET has survived drought, economic downfall, guide revolts, back stabbing within our own industry, and sometimes even our friends!

August is coming up next... and then finally September. I am counting the days when the phone is quiet and the trips are only good memories on someone's facebook page...

The river. What more is there to say?

RESOURCES for Whitewater Photos:
Sierra Nevada Photos: 530.295.1873
Hotshot Imaging: http://hotshotimaging.com
Vita-B: http://www.whitewaterphotosonline.com/



This blog was written by staff member EL who has been writing here since forever.
California Whitewater Rafting W.E.T. River Trips blog is the oldest freakin' rafting blog in the world!
yah...

MEMORIAL Day Weekend! 2012

Memorial Day weekend is finally here. May 26th is looming on the horizon. W.E.T. River Trips has been on the river since 1978 and every single year, we start early. Most years, we are the first whitewater rafting company on the river, and this year, we started in March.



We ratcheted back a bit this year due to personal issues at home. Ie, we needed a bit of a break from the intense reservations that fly in every year. How do we all do this? Every company wants to take everyone down the river. And yet, government regulations that oversee our industry does not allow this. So, many of our guests will call, and we have to turn them away! Sob!



This weekend should be hot, hot, hot! With a great whitewater rafting season ahead, all guests should be happy this year on our rivers. And, now we start Summer Rafting!



RIVERS:

South Fork American - class 3-3+, ideal for novices, intermediates, most popular river in the west

Middle Fork American - class 3-4+, ideal for intermediates or athletic novices, equally popular

North Fork American - class 4-4+, ideal for advanced paddlers, season ended early this year (last week)

California Salmon - class 5, ideal for advanced, athletic, aggressive paddlers, spring

Klamath River - class 2-3, ideal for youth groups or novices, throughout summer months to early fall

Call us and reserve your trip today!
W.E.T. River Trips
RAFTWET.com
raftwet-store.com
http://facebook.com/wetrivertrips

X - California Los Angeles Band

Exene of X

Funny how time stands still in moments like this. I saw "X" on Thursday night at Harlow's on J Street in Midtown, Sacramento. Time came to a screeching halt as the band came out and grabbed their guitars and mikes. Los Angeles is where X comes from and their sound is uniquely theirs.

When I first saw them way back in the 80's, punk rock music was their calling. But, their punk was not the punk from Great Britain. There was more of a rockabilly stance then with Exene, Billy and John dressing so casual that one always felt that we were in their living room enjoying a wild night of music. X always respected their fans, and we always respected X.

Breathless by X

Three bands for the cool price of $32 beckoned us. First, we stopped for pizza and started counting our funds. Hmm... we needed two more tickets. The pizza parlor was near Harlow's venue, so we sauntered over hoping to score a couple of tickets.

The guy in the black truck... he had tickets and he was selling them cheaper then he bought them. Why? Because he scored X tickets for New Year's in San Francisco. Cool. Even cooler as I got to purchase those 2 ticktes for less than $50 bucks. Now, we were all set to listen and watch this sold out show.

We ran into Marcus and Chas on the way in and learned that it was Marcus' Birthday. They hung out with all of us as we found a view site from the bar. We could see the entire stage!

Billy Zoom of X - Mr Cool

First up was "Scott Wheeler and Zander Schloss" a twosome who wielded a big folk sound. I was taken to the isle of dreams as I sat their absorbing their noise. The music was tinged with a melancholy sound and had me drifting away in a silent revelry of my own place.

Second band was "The Black Tribetans" and they kicked their sound out to a roar of fan approval. They had a faster pace with rockabilly, psycobilly sound. I want to hear this band again... I think I might buy a CD of their music... listening to a youtube video of them right now.

Then "X" lit the stage. And I mean they lit it up with their charm and music. Gawd, I love this band so much! They are the best band that has ever come out of California! Every song was a power based riff of music and X-olator noise.

X - Los Angeles

A great time was had by all!

... wondering if I can get into the San Fran show tonight at Slims...

UPDATE: Yep, Los Angeles video was pulled! Yikes, we just replaced it with a "Los Angeles" live video... let's see if it survives.

This post and this blog belong to WET River Trips in California.

Photos by Big PoppahJah and video by youtube.com.

WET Wishes You a Merry Christmas!

December sneaked in with hardly any storms blanketing the Sierras with a promise of a another great whitewater season. California is blessed with a supply of snow and water from last year for all of our needs: water, agriculture, energy and recreation. Good clean water. We are very lucky. And, we still have the wettest months still to come!

Holidays are here and every morning, I receive an overwhelming amount of catalogues, discount coupons and special offers in my email and mailbox. It's hard to know what my family and friends want this year. We all have so much already. Do we really need another toy or tie or bath soaps? I want to give my loved ones something special... something that counts in their memories.

Last year, money was tight, so most of us settled in on quick trips and excursions in our local area. In California, our local areas are where most tourists go for major vacations. California has everything; mountains, lakes, rivers, oceans and adventure.

North Fork American Class 4+ w/ WET River Trips

Team Building trips on American River in Northern California

We have skiing, Disneyland, hiking, climbing, rafting, sailing, surfing, Los Angeles, clubbing, wineries, Lake Tahoe, San Francisco, Golden Gate Bridge, California State Capitol, American River, Coloma, Sacramento, restaurants, gardens, art galleries and music. There is no other place like this state. NONE.

So, I will be giving gift certificates to my friends for my favorite destinations so that they can share the real California experience with me. My plans this year are to do a rafting trip, go to Tahoe, hit Disneyland, hang out in San Francisco, visit the newly designed Crocker Art Gallery and chill at the beach in SoCal. The gift certificates are inexpensive and my friends can use them the way they want and when they want.

This year, our holiday will be spent rather quietly with very few friends since so many of our friends and family are scattered across the world and can't make it home for Christmas. The family unit that will be here is one of good friends who really matter to me. And, that is the best gift of all.

Merry Christmas video from youtube.com

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays...

Drive safe!

This blog belongs to W.E.T. River Trips along with all content included.

Thanks to youtube for the Christmas video!

California Skiing and Snowboarding

Rain came like a silent warrior in the night. Just enough rain to wash the house, sidewalks and streets clean. But, then the next day... brilliant blue skies torturing all of us who love to go skiing! Fresh powder! Where is it?

Sugar Bowl in Northern California w/ GoPro

Ski resorts are best bets for friends and families this holiday season!

Here are the California ski resorts that are open now and those who will be opening next week:

Snow Country Info: http://www.snocountry.com/index.php/ski-reports/california

Associated Press just released a news report about more scattered showers are coming to California, "...Meanwhile out West, a low pressure system moves down the coast of California and will produce a few more scattered showers across southern California and northwestern Mexico. Snow may develop at high elevations of the southern Sierras..."

The site is a clean, no-nonsense list of open ski resorts, resorts that are opening within days, and more info about the resorts; including trail maps.

Take the family, your friends and enjoy the snow! Have that snowy, white Christmas! This holiday season, remember who you love, who loves you and what is most important to you and your life. Your family, your friends are the most important people in your life! Cherish them!

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

WET River Trips

RAFTWET.com

raftwet-store.com

California Rafting - 2012

WET River Trips has just finished their 2011 rafting season. What a long season we had, too! We started on the first Friday in March and kept going until last weekend. Geesh, what a year!


Learn how to guide the river in 2012 with W.E.T. River Trips! "Saving a Person in the River"

Here is the upcoming schedule for W.E.T. for this winter:

• Discounts and promotions for 2012 - this week
• Spring rafting - reservations are being taken now
• Guide school - March through June 2012 (only 12 people per session)
• Marketing our trips
  

Oh my! We do have a rather busy schedule...

Discounts are available and we will allow anyone to reserve on the 2011 pricing as long as they call/email us prior to end of this year. (You don't have to schedule your trip yet; but we advise contacting us about 2012 rafting trips prior to the end of the year if you want the 2011 rates!) That means our old customers and guests will get the best rates! Wooo!

Spring rafting will take place starting March 2, 2012 on Friday. Class 4+ North Fork American is usually flowing by then. Guide school program starts on the same day, March 2, 2012. The classes will go on through June or until newbies stop calling for the guide school information. Six (6) days of instruction or you can do the course in three (3) consecutive weekends.

Guide school is a fun, educational course for wannabe, newbie guides. We provide professional guide school information and execution for every student in our course. Most end up being professional guides for W.E.T. and our other associates.

Marketing continues as we sludge through all the media available to W.E.T. including social media. Yes, WET River Trips is on facebook, twitter, youtube, flickr and so many others that most of us are focusing on the day when all platforms are integrated!

Well... it's been a looooong time on the river for WET River Trips in California... and we look forward towards 2012!


Summer rafting fun with WET River Trips in California's South Fork American

Visit us here: http://www.raftwet.com
Like us here: http://facebook.com/wetrivertrips
Follow us here: http://twitter.com/wetrivertrips
Buy now!: http://raftwet-store.com

All photos and content are property of W.E.T. River Trips for this California Whitewater Rafting W.E.T. River Trips rafting blog.

SPAMMER, SCAMMER and CON-MEN

Greed. The holidays are coming and, wow, does it bring out the worst sometimes! Anyone else getting the emails? You know which ones I am talking about, don't you?

So far, I have won the following:

• 1 million dollars
• 2 million dollars
• $520,000.00
• an island
• an abandoned bank account
• a possible lottery
• an inheritance

The lottery wins are amusing. How in the world did I register for that lottery all the way in the UK? Or Nigeria? Or, how about the abandoned bank account that the bank employee wants to siphon off to me? The employee is clearly a criminal, and he wants me to participate in his devious plan. And, then there is the inheritance from a long lost uncle, and the attorney who needs details to transfer the funds to me.

I do understand why these scammers, spammers and con men approach us. They make money doing this, and in a way, this is their job. But, why do some of us respond? Greed.

The offers have a glimmer of hope for some, I suppose. There might be a fantasy dream of actually winning a lottery or inheriting a large sum of money. And, those who work in concert with a possible bank employee to rip off the bank deserves to get this spam. But, for others, it is a hopeful but hopeless dream.

Be careful out there folks. Life has no guarantees, but I am 99.99999% sure of this. I did not win a million dollars.




Rants from the WET office staff... for California Whitewater Rafting W.E.T. River Trips blog.
All photos and content belong to W.E.T. River Trips
'Fool' image from Google Images.

California COMBO River Trips!

2011 has been an incredible year for California whitewater rafting... true; but, did you get on a river? If you did, are you ready to get back out there?



Summer is winding down and soon the rivers will too. Don't be caught with "rapid-remorse"....AKA: "I should have gone rafting!"



The South Fork American River will flow through October and the Middle Fork of the American will flow through the first weekend in October with the good flows that we are used to seeing in July!



Late summer and early Fall is the prime-time 'shoulder-season" of California whitewater and W.E.T. River Trips is ready with 1-2 day trips on the South Fork and Middle Fork American River as well as the mighty "American River Combination" 2-day trip: both the South and Middle Fork rivers in 2 days while based in our camp at Camp Lotus.



Don't be caught with rapid remorse and get out there while you can!



da Boss : Steve Liles

NOTES from the office staff:
American River Combo is South Fork American the first day; Middle Fork American the next day! $269/person Buy it here http://raftwet-store.com/sofoamcotr.html Place the date of your trip in the comment box at the bottom of the billing page. We will confirm you within 24 hours! Also, note; we wear helmets on every rafting trip!

Like us here : http://facebook.com/wetrivertrips
Follow us here : http://twitter.com/raftwet



Our California Whitewater Rafting blog was uploaded by WET River Trips office Staff using da Boss, Steve's photos.
All content was created for W.E.T. River Trips blogs and other content related sites.

Music, Rafting and More! James Israel Band Releases New CD!

Good friends over at "James Israel Band" just finished their latest CD. A lot of work went into the project and WET River Trips would like to share their tunes with you. Check them out!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


The James Israel Band releases new CD, "Good Enough"

Hello music lovers! We finally finished our CD, which is available for streaming on our Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/JamesIsraelBand. (Please "like" us there, if you haven't already.)

If you like what you hear, individual songs (just 99 cents) and/or the whole CD are available on our CD Baby page at http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/jamesisraelband.

A few of the songs featured on the album are:

• Codependent Blues: A raucous and fun romp, about a subject most -- if not all -- of us are quite familiar with!
• Good Enough: Ok, it's only "white man's" reggae, but still a fun song!
• Just a Little (Can Do a Lot): A yin-yang kind of tune, all about love.
• Sweet Dark Princess: This tune features a beautiful piano opening by our wonderful Carrie McNabb and a very tasty guitar solo by our other wonderful lead instrumentalist, Sue Kasper. A love song many tell us is their favorite tune on the album.
• Deal With It: You know you must.
• The Kin of Ata: A spiritual tune inspired by the book The Kin of Ata Are Waiting for You by Dorothy Bryant.
• Aliens On Ice: Tongue-in-cheek song about the Roswell Incident.

Thank you!

James

(Sonicbids EPK: http://www.sonicbids.com/JamesIsraelBand)

Notes from WET River Trips: August is rolling in along with many musical festivals throughout California and the entire West coast. River rafting, whitewater rafting and more on the American River coming up next!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
More music on the West Coast:

AUGUST 2011
July 31-Aug 7 Seattle Festival of Dance Improvisation - Seattle, WA; http://www.sfadi.org
July 31- Aug. 7 Port Townsend Acoustic Blues Festival - Port Townsend, WA; http://www.centrum.org/blues/bl-festival.html
Aug. 5-7 The Gaia Festival - Laytonville, CA;http://www.thegaiafestival.com
Aug. 5-7 Reggae Rising - Garberville, CA; http://www.facebook.com/ReggaeRisingFestival
Aug. 5-7 Pickathon - Happy Valley, OR; http://www.pickathon.com
Aug. 6 - Petaluma Music Festival - Petaluma, CA; http://www.petalumamusicfestival.org/
Aug. 11-15 Beloved Festival - Tidewater Falls, OR; http://www.belovedfestival.com
Aug. 12-14 Northwest World Reggae Festival - Marcola, OR; http://www.nwworldreggae.com
Aug. 12-14 Indijinus - west of Eugene, OR; http://bhumsiva.com/indidjinus-gathering
Aug. 12-14 Summer Meltdown - Darrington, WA; http://www.summermeltdown.com
Aug. 12-14 San Jose Jazz Festival - San Jose, CA; http://jazzfest.sanjosejazz.org/
Aug. 12-14 Outside Lands - San Francisco, CA; http://www.sfoutsidelands.com/
Aug. 17-21 Sierra Contact Festival - Sierraville, CA; http://www.bodyresearch.org/contactfestival
Aug. 19-21 Northwest Herbal Fair - Mt. Vernon, WA; http://www.nwherbalfair.com/
Aug. 20-21 Art and Soul - Oakland, CA; http://www.artandsouloakland.com/
Aug. 26-28 The Eugene Celebration - Eugene, OR; http://www.eugenecelebration.com
Aug 29- - Sept. 5 Burning Man - Black Rock Desert, NV; http://www.burningman.com

SEPTEMBER 2011
Sept. 2-5 Singing Alive - Cosmopolis, WA; http://www.tribesofcreation.com/events.html
Sept. 2-5 Northern California Women's Herbal Symposium - Laytonville, CA; http://www.womensherbalsymposium.org/pages/symposium.html
Sept.3-6 Strawberry Fall Music Festival - Yosemite, CA; http://www.strawberrymusic.com
Sept. 3-5 Bumbershoot - Seattle, WA; http://bumbershoot.org/
Sept. 4-5 Scottish Highland Games - Pleasanton, CA; http://www.caledonian.org/games.html
Sept. 8-11 Bhakti Fest - Joshua Tree, CA; http://www.bhaktifest.com/
Sept. 9-11 Newport Music Festival - Newport, WA; http://www.pvbluegrass.com/
Sept. 9-11 Sisters Folk Festival - Sisters, OR; http://www.sistersfolkfestival.org/sff.php
Sept. 13-18 Somafest Somatic Movement Arts Festival - LA, CA; http://www.somafest.org
Sept. 16-18 Monterey Jazz Festival - Monterey, CA; http://www.montereyjazzfestival.org
Sept 16-18 American River Music Festival - Coloma, CA; http://www.americanrivermusic.org/musicians.php
Sept. 17-18 Mendocino Rejuvenation Festival - Mendocino, CA; www.RejuvenationFestival.com
Sept. 23-25 Earthdance - Vallejo, CA; http://earthdancelive.com/
Sept. 23-25 Art of Community - Occidental, CA; http://www.indybay.org/uploads/2011/03/18/art-of-community-pr-jan-2011.pdf
Sept. 24-25 Adams Ave. Street Fair - San Diego, CA; http://adamsaveonline.com/StreetFair/


Content created by James Israel, W.E.T. River Trips, and WestCoastFest.com for this rafting blog.
Photos by : WET River Trips on Flickr