and da Winner izz.... WET River Trips !

Over the past three seasons, WET River Trips has enjoyed a variety of accomplishments as a whitewater race team. The latest string of victories started with the race held in 2008 on our fav run, North Fork American River. In that race , our team dominated from the start and we finished in first place while representing commercial outfitters.

wet river trips at northern california cal salmon race

One month later, our team took on a first-ever world record attempt by running American River and its three forks under 12 hours. And we did it ...in just a few minutes over 11 hours, we ran North Fork American Chamberlain Falls run, Middle Fork American Tunnel Chute run, and South Fork American Gorge run. No one had ever done it before, and no one has done it since the beginning of the infamous American River Triple Crown! We have tried to organize another competitive race for the Triple Crown; however, not a single outfitter will commit a team to race....hmmm?

birds eye view of race participants

This year the team entered the Yuba race and we not only dominated the field by over three minutes in the raft category; but, Wolf, our head guide, also won the kayak division.

Last weekend we had another opportunity to compete on the Cal Salmon. Paul Gamache organized the event as he has for the past four years. The race was moved from the Nordheimer section to the Butler Creek section due to the Salmon road closure at Freight Train after a massive slide on March 4th. We were in and we made the 8 hour drive Friday night after loading up at our Lotus warehouse in Central California.

carry rafts to the shore for the race

On the way up we purchased our race shirts at an all-night gas station in Weed, California (the race had a theme of 'Hippies' vs. 'Nascar' and we chose 'Hippies"). We picked out black shirts with Rainbow Peace Signs on the front and the slogan: " Peace, Love, & Weed, CA". The shirts were perfect.

waterfalls on rivers in northern california

We rolled in to the Oak Bottom Campground just a mile or two up the Salmon Hwy from Somes Bar at 1:45am. Paul Gamache was still up and a party was in 'moderate' session. We exchanged good-natured insults and greetings before setting up camp. 5 hours later, I had hot coffee and huge breakfast burritos ready for the crew as everyone got up and got ready for a quick morning practice session. We rolled up the road and stopped to see the damage from the slide and to check out "Freight Train" before launching five kayaks and a raft at Butler Creek.

wet river trips race crew winners

The session went well except Heffe guided the practice crew into "Double Hole" (class 4) off angle and without momentum...they flipped. No worries, everyone held onto the boat and they continued on to takeout in a great mood and we had a giant lunch.

wet river trips team for 2010 race

The race put-on at 1pm and we had a 5-man crew in the raft and Wolf and Little Alex (girl Alex) kayaked. At the start of the kayak race, Wolf got the holeshot, and battled Dan Minten for the lead until the last 2oo yards when Dan pulled ahead giving Wolf second place and Dan his 4th consecutive victory. The raft team also got the holeshot and never lost the lead winning the race with over an 8 minute margin.

winner's wet river trips

Apparently the fun happened upstream when the ORT raft flipped in Double Hole and two of their team members walked out of the canyon. Interesting to note, the ORT crew is sponsored and trains year round for whitewater racing. Our team used standard commercial gear and didn't train as a team... we just paddle!

winner's circle! the race winners!

Paul Gamache had a bad finish as well when his raft recycled 3 times in the last lateral above Wooley Creek (in plain sight of the spectators, and he swam to the takeout wearing about 80lbs. of wet hippie clothes. It was little Alex that kayaked to Paul and dragged his sodden self to the shore. (side note: in February we ran into Paul while running the Smith Rivers and he let the air out of one of our rafts while we had breakfast... we never paid him back. So, maybe someone else did?! karma patrol!!!)

kayak at the 2010 northern california race

At the end of the race, WET River Trips saw an opportunity to continue on to the main Klamath and to run the section below Somes Bar referred to as the "Ikes" (a series of three huge holes, waves, and wave trains...especially at the 15,000 cfs that the river was flowing). No one else stepped up except our team and Dan Minten (an old friend of all of us).

The Ikes were huge and the team wasn't tired in the least...they were fired up from the win, the whitewater, and 10 foot waves!

wolf, wet river trips headguide & best loved!

That night the party was huge with Team WET River Trips leading the charge first in our camp with a round of "So, there I was..." followed by Booty Drinks (drinking a beverage of choice from your own dirty, stinky, bacteria-ridden wetsuit booty as homage to the river deities for swimming and having another 'incident'). From there, we moved our expanding crew (with Jon on the banjo and Dan on guitar) with us to the main camp for the awards, raffle, and hi-jinks!

The next morning we up by 7:30 and we had another massive burrito pile for breakfast and we packed up to head to the Scott River dragging Dan Minten with us.

there really is a cool, california

On our victory lap through the campground, we woke Paul up and we waved goodbye using "all" of our fingers. Just as we were heading out of the campground a streaking figure appeared clutching a branch of poison oak, it was Paul. Paul then ran to the truck and he rubbed the poison oak over our gear,and then stuffed the branch into Wolf's helmet. Again, Paul has yet to receive a payback ... sadly, it will happen!

freight train on california salmon river

The crew then ran the Scott River as a first-ever run for each of them... they loved it and that capped the weekend of winning: two days and three rivers ... so, how could there ever be a loser? The weather was perfect, the flows were great, and a California Whitewater Rafting Spring is incredibly beautiful everywhere you turn!

Get out and enjoy it!

Update: this weekend North Fork American Chamberlain Falls run will be at optimum levels!
and there really is a Weed, California... and a Cool, California, too!

Spaces still available this Sunday only; Sat is sold out!
Rafting Online Store or call 1.888.723.8938 for phone reservations!

King Tut Exhibit in San Francisco

Our avatar in the virtual world of Second Life did a recent blog about the King Tut exhibit on the grid. The premier builders, Rezzable, creators and artists in the virtual world had presented a beautiful interactive site showing the tomb's contents and of course, the boy king himself. I saw the pictures that the avatar posted on the King Tut blog about the sim and quite frankly, they were a stunning representation of the real life exhibit.





This weekend, June 27, 2009, the real exhibit comes to the De Young Museum in San Francisco. This is a much sought after ticket and the wait was almost unbearable for those of us who love history. Imagine... being able to actual see the tomb's contents and King Tutankhamun.



Many travelers and vacationers have included this event as a must see. We have included a package that will help to make the history visit even more fun! If you have a ticket for the exhibit, call in and we will offer you our Pharoah's Discount this week.





Just say "Pharoah's Discount" and you will receive a $99/person white water trip on any American One Day River Trip we offer. That includes lunch, whitewater trip, shuttle, guide service and all river rafting gear. Travel with us on the river and visit the historical gold rush sites in Northern California. What a great way to top off a history weekend!

de Young Museum
50 Hagiwara Tea Garden Drive
Golden Gate Park
San Francisco, CA 94118
415.750.3600
http://www.deyoungmuseum.org

Lars Holbeck

Lars Holbeck passed away Friday night after a battle with pancreatic cancer.

Lars and his friends: Chuck Stanley, Banducci, Richard Montgomery, and others took their kayaks, kayaking, and all whitewater sports to a level that no one ever realized was possible.

Lars and Chuck were the ring-leaders and scribes to an era of discovery that the California and World whitewater communities never saw coming. Lars Holbeck and Chuck Stanley wrote the classic: The Best Whitewater in California: The Guide to 180 Runs. (Third Edition)

This book is the bible for California whitewater. I would say 90% of all paddlers have purchased or traded that book... handing it down to the noobie paddler as they begin their journey into the world of whitewater. Mine simply fell apart after much use and being carried perpetually in my dry bag. Blogger BR Thomas wrote a review about the whitewater guide book for California as recently as in 2007.

UK Rivers Guidebook team member, Mark Rainsley wrote in his field report, "Lars Holbeck Must Die." His reference implied that Lars' book on California whitewater had taken the UK team from Wales on a dangerous adventure of Class 5+ rapids with no possible return.

British paddler Rainsley writes about Clear Creek; "All of a sudden, a horizon line came into view and like the close knit team that we are, we fought each other tooth and nail for the remaining break outs. That was a close one - a walled in hole immediately upstream of an undercut- unpaddleable (sic) by even the most hairy and gnarly of Pro boaters. It got worse, we then rounded the next corner only (to) be confronted with a huge steep walled-in rapid (Grade V? Grade VI?) which we couldn’t inspect or portage. There we were in a real live Foxy cartoon."

Lars also wrote: "The Rivers of Chile". Lars and kayaking friends ran the steepest rivers in the deepest canyons with skill, intelligence, and more than a bit of dumb luck ... they were the whitewater Jedi! He pioneered the now popular Futelafu River, a pristine whitewater river in Chile that is a true destination river for rafting and kayaking.

Within hours of his death, the news spread rapidly throughout the whitewater and river networks. In the Coloma - Lotus Valley in Northern California, the entire community gathered to honor this legend. Scores of kayakers and paddlers descended into the North Fork American to pay tribute to the man. The North Fork American River is a favorite for all the river community and now has conservation protection due to the Auburn Dam demise.

All of us (rafters, kayakers, paddlers) owe Lars Holbeck eternal respect for his exploits. The gift he shared of his California adventures, his paddling world, his love of the rivers, conveyed his passion for white water. His writing and journaling with no sponsors, no labels and no paychecks, is a testament to who he was as a man. Lars Holbeck loved whitewater rivers and the paddling community!

GoodOnYa Lars!

Namaste!
Stephen Liles
CEO, W.E.T. River Trips

Note: Thanks to UK Rivers Guidebook and BoaterTalk for photos...

Surf or Die

Surf ... or die.

Surfers have long suffered from the stigma and stereotypes propagated by cheesy, 60's surf movies, a butt-load of crappy music, and they were dragged into the 80's with Sean Penn's character of Spicoli in "Fast Times at Ridgemont High."

Surfing has always been a metaphor for moving through life with danger, fear, excitement, and a certain disregard of the Establishment ... surfing is deeper than that.

For those that haven't tried surfing ... it is freakin' hard and requires dedication, stamina, perseverance, practice, and athleticism. Anyone can be a poseur ... not everyone can surf. Surfers know that ... maybe that's where some of the stereotype comes from ... that certain air of detachment and a sense of "knowing."

One of our guides, Justin, learned to surf this winter in Costa Rica and Baja. He didn't have a reason to learn ... neither did he have a reason not to. So, he did it. He discovered how hard it was to learn and how nearly impossible surfing is to master. He learned. He surfed. He's loving it. He's a surfer. (he is a former mortgage broker).

Justin just arrived back into California ready to guide rafts and paddle kayaks. He's' living it ... the dream.


Whitewater rafting is for all ages!

Not all surfers pull on wetsuits and stand on slabs of fiberglass while slipping down the face of a wave. Surfing is more than that. It's a challenge, a feeling, and it's the personal exposure that you can only experience when you submit to Nature, Fate, and conditions beyond anyone's control.

You can get that by biking, kayaking, skiing, snowboarding, skydiving, exercising, painting, writing, speaking, climbing, dancing, hang-gliding, flying, diving, jumping, bouncing, motorcycling, kite-boarding, kayaking, playing music, singing, burning man ... and by white water rafting!

You must do these things: step into nature, submit to her power, and ride it out. Then, paddle, walk, run, ride, crawl out and drop in again. You're living it.

I'm 53 years old and when I pull my KLR motorcycle up onto the rear wheel and ride it out to redline, or revel in the benefit of gravity that slings me down a snow slope, or paddle a raft down American whitewater, or speak in front of 6,000 people ... I remember how I felt when I paddled my homemade 10' surfboard into the north Pacific without a wetsuit in March in 1967 ... I was living it ... I was 12.

Surf ...or die.

(and check out some good surf music: Dick Dale, Los Straightjackets and the Mermen)

Advil is a wonderful thing!

BigPoppaJah

Note: thank you to krungstock.com for the old surfer image! And thanks to WET River Trips for the all ages rafting picture!

Whitewater Rafting in California

What a surprise... the rain, the snow in late February has changed the entire landscape once again in California. Just a few weeks ago, we were planning on having a shorter spring rafting season. We just thought mother nature wasn't going to cooperate this year.

Now March is here and the storms are coming one right after another. I look up at the sky and see another round of dark clouds rolling in from the west...

North Fork American was at 10,000 cfs a couple of days ago. The flow, of course is far to big to go whitewater rafting on that stretch. The crew is on standby watching the rise of the rivers, waiting for the chance to jump on the rapids. A precious gem of crystalline waters rapidly descending from the mountains and into the river of dreams, is finally calling to me again.

This is a river that challenges the seasoned paddler. Not fun in the sun, but fun under the gun! One right after another, the class 4+ rapids thrill and excite like no other extreme sport. Team building? This is the ultimate team building sport. No question... hands down, this river rafting trip is the best in Northern California.

Friends of the River had a monumental victory this year regarding this precious resource. The North Fork American has staved off the water barons for now. The Auburn Dam has been shut down, at least for this round.

Those of you who are mad about rivers and whitewater rafting should know: this is looking to be an incredible North Fork American season. We ask you to reserve now with the thought that this year, we need you to be experienced, aggressive paddlers on the Chamberlain Falls run. 

The Deal: call us now and receive the 2009 NoFo special; includes lunch, wetsuit, splash jacket, lifejacket, shuttle and our professional guide service. This year the price is all inclusive. We want reservations to be simple so pricing reflects that.

There are three companies over there that we highly recommend:

WET River Trips (largest & longest use; most experienced)

American Whitewater (2nd largest use; experienced guides)

American River Recreation (regular use; experienced guides)

Note from WET River Trips: Russell Towle, champion of the North Fork American drainage system died a few months ago in a tragic auto accident.  A profound loss to the conservation community since there are so few with his passionate embrace of this river. There was a tribute for him in Dutch Flat, California. Here are some photos of Russell.

From the last post of his blog: "... brilliant and innovative mathematician, entranced by higher-dimensional forms. He was a computer animator. He was an extremely doting father who enjoyed every single moment of life with his kids. He was a lover of classical Latin literature and Shakespeare, of Tintin comics and Terry Pratchett novels. He was a historian and a writer; a geologist; a linguist; an artist; a builder; a musician with a special love of Brazilian music; a nature lover and photographer."

Life Begins & Winter Begins, too!

"....this just in, Ashley joined the party at 3:14 a.m. Friday morning at 2 lbs 14 ounces and 15 inches long. She is a healthy 30-week preemie. Mom is rocking the hospital in record time and doing well with a Monday discharge looming. After a few flat wraps, tube stands and complete dump trucks, the team at Kaiser busted out the z-drag early Friday morning and, in perfect, harmony, dismantled the seal-a-meal wrap in 14 minutes with a healthy Ashley! We now appear to be in nice, big class 3 wave trains, and as long as we keep it tee'd up, I think we are gonna have a good time from here on out. We are sooooo stoked and have everything we could have dreamed."

Family Rafting Trips

Life begins again. Mike and his wife have the best Christmas present any young couple would want. As you see, his enthusiasm for living is apparent in his description as he relays the blessed event in terms of white water rafting nomenclature. He is one of our best guides. He is a professional man who doesn't need the weekend work as a white water rafting guide. His job puts him in an economic bracket enjoyed by few. He is there for us purely out of his pleasure for the extreme sport of rafting and sharing with others who love the lifestyle.

Big Poppa, just in from the mountains of Donner Summit ... yes, the snow is happening ... and winter begins...

It's Freakin' ON!!!!!!!!!!

It's cold, it's raining, and the snow is coming down up high...that's how we like it!!!!

After an early rain and a long stretch of dry, warm weather...the real-deal cold weather has fired up and we're looking at a series of winter storms that promise to pile it up and prep the dry ground for a spring run-off to guarantee a fabulous (yeah ...I said "fabulous") rafting season for whitewater trips and group rafting.

Get out your boards, sticks, blades, layers for winter rippin' and in just three short months, the men and women from W.E.T. River Trips will be enjoying the new season on the awesome whitewater rivers of California!

So as you Get out...Get on it...and then Get in it!!

GoodOnYa!

Team Building

Wow... it feels like we just closed the door on 2008, and here we go again into 2009. Life begins again for WET River Trips with this latest storm! Congratulations to Mike and his wife for bringing the ultimate lifestyle choice into their world. And, for the rest of us... it's slope time, then river time and we wouldn't have it any other way.
Merry, Happy, Joy and Peace to all!

American River Trips go Green

The 28th Annual International Motorcycle Show sponsored by Cycle World comes to San Mateo in Northern California on December 19th. The latest and greatest machines from the international motorcycle community will be represented. Visitors will have the opportunity to take test rides and kick tires. There will also be stunt shows by Jason Britton and the No-limits crew as well as the opportunity to meet and greet pro racers, and custom builders. (Photo below by: Jeff Henshaw)


With Motorcycles becoming more "Green " than ever with an industry wide MPG average of over 50 mpg, motorcycles are the last bastion of guiltless performance and cutting edge technologies (hydrogen, diesel, and electricity now power experimental and production bikes).



So save some money and use the extra cash for the ultimate 'Green" thrill of group rafting on California whitewater rivers and ride your motorcycle (By the way, W.E.T. River Trips has been using a KLR 650 to shuttle vans and trucks on the Middle Fork American and North Fork American River for three years and hopes to expand the practice in the coming seasons.

Get a gift certificate for your adventure sports nut in the family! So ride your motorcycle to the river this spring and summer to combine an ultimate extreme sport package!

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

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!

Burning Man or "I Got the Golden Ticket"

I haven't written anything for California Whitewater Rafting blog in a long time. Why? Well, the business of white water rafting and outdoor adventures is one that keeps me... well, rather busy. We are networking with so many new partners and ventures that just keeping up with it is more than anyone can handle. So, I don't write much anymore, and leave that to the younger blogging team and Big Poppa ... their writing is much more interesting and more timely than my musings or rants.

Several events are happening around American River trips. There was the P.O.W. show. I heard that the company did the first Punks on Water shows waaaaay back in the 80's. Big Poppa is an unusual boss. He is an old guy with a very young heart... and all of us that work for this company know it is a special relationship between employer and employee. He ain't like a regular boss... but I guess you all figured that out already.

Big Poppa and one of the senior crew members, Mizz Maggie hopped on the Burner's Psy bus and headed to the great vast Black Rock Desert for music, performance art and the party event of the year! Burning Man was calling and Big Poppa answered the call enthusiastically. Check his personal blog for a blow by blow pre-party contest and how Mizz Maggie won her "Golden Ticket".

He promised to write part 2 of the Burning Man episode to fill in the rest of the story... I want to see the video and the pictures, peeps... I heard Kev was there hanging out along with several other Burners that we all know and love... hahaha... you know who you are. Oh, yeah... and Mack sent this video to the office from the last group rafting trip on the South Fork American... Big Poppa sure talks up rafting and food!



More party events are happening this weekend with the American River Festival, several day hikes around the rivers and even a kayak sale brought to you by The River Store in the Lotus Coloma Valley. Summer is gone, but WET trips continue for Fall rafting and Winter boating.

One thing Big Poppa said when he got back to the office... he said, "For 50K people that were there, it sure was calm... no riots, no fighting... just love and more love..." And that is what makes the world go round and round and round and round... PEACE OUT!

PUNKS ON WATER ... P.O.W.

W.E.T. River Trips has had an alter-ego for the past 27 of our 30 years in business as a whitewater outfitter....
P.O.W. Punks on Water!

P.O.W. re-emerges this coming weekend on Sunday August 3rd to host a benefit for the American River Conservancy with a concert/party on the banks of the South Fork of the American River at the Nugget Campground.

In the interest of creating opportunities for meaningful cultural exchanges and in the spirit of celebrating diversity.... P.O.W. is importing bands from Davis, Sacramento and the surrounding area with DJ zAc from HexLove maintaining the groove!

Buffoonery, Hijinks, and swell times will be had by all.....

And in the interest of fostering diversity and cultural exchanges... Hippies are now very welcome at all P.O.W. events!!!!

$5 cover 6:00pm - 9:30pm on 8.3.8

When's the next event?

Note from W.E.T. River Trips::: for more info on California whitewater rafting see the C-W-R.com website peeps!

SPEEDO SUNDAY and P.O.W. Event!

This season W.E.T. River Trips has been joined by a new seasoned rafting guide from Colorado: Ky. Ky is a high school math teacher and head varsity swim coach in Northern California ... oh, sure he sounds good; however, there is a very dark side to Mr. Ky. Before delving into Ky's deviate and shocking behavior, I'm compelled to mention that Heffe is simultaneously an instigator and cohort to Mr. Ky's debauchery (we need to also note now that Heffe is also a swimmer).

As soon as Ky arrived, there was an strong bond between the two swimmers. There was certainly an easy conversational rapport between Heffe and Ky. Again ... they are both swimmers, and Heffe formerly swam at the high school where Ky is now head coach. Ky and Heffe simply became fast friends and although Ky and Heffe certainly got along with our other guides as well ... there was (and is) most clearly a palpable "bond" between them.

Two Sundays ago (yes, on a sabbath), Ky and Heffe conspired to create SPEEDO SUNDAY on the formerly pristine and unmolested Middle Fork American River that at one time was known primarily for great Class 4 rapids and the legendary Tunnel Chute rapid that drops over 15 vertical feet, and sends whitewater rafters through a tunnel in the side of a rocky ridge deep in a pristine canyon filled with cool, clear water .... at least until SPEEDO SUNDAY.

Everything has changed since Ky and Heffe tugged on their tiny garments of Lycra and sashayed their way down a defenseless river filled with other adventurers and innocent woodland creatures. No longer do the deer stare blankly as rafts slide quietly by. Now, they furtively glance and skittishly shift their tiny hooves back and forth not knowing to look or to simply look away for fear of the sight of Ky and Heffe in the bold projections of their alleged manhood coyly disguised in their tiny speedo suits. Even the local population of Rainbow and German Brown trout appear to be very agitated and nervous.

Other river clients and guides have been seen shielding their eyes at the take-out below Rucka-Chucky Falls at Greenwood Bridge and some brazen guys and gals were heard to crudely project cat-calls in mocked enjoyment (or was it disgust?) of "Speedo Sunday". (Note from W.E.T. River Trips: now, now peeps; the Europeans, Brasilians, etc wear speedos, so what's the big deal... ahh these crazy Americans!)

Sadly, last Sunday ... charismatic Ky enlisted a young and impressionable J Tsunami into his conspiracy to corrupt OUR river environment even further! Yes, J Tsunami donned a tiny black Speedo along with Mr. Ky for another "Speedo Sunday" participant!

I have now received photos of the "official" SPEEDO SUNDAY suits (Purple with chartreuse flowers and a bold raftwet.com emblazoned across the rump of each tiny suit ... who's next?

Sorry to report that the debauchery has now expanded to Saturdays. Mizz Maggie declared last Saturday SHIRTLESS SATURDAY as she guided the entire river and traveled back to our meeting spot behind Raley's in Auburn without a shirt or undergarment ... instead she simply wore her PFD (lifejacket) the entire time. No slips or mishaps were reported; however, the truth is surely out there. All will be revealed (and hopefully not on SPEEDO SUNDAY or SHIRTLESS SATURDAY). I can only cringe as to what Wolf has up his sleeve to "enhance" the whitewater rafting trips on other days and on other rivers such as the South Fork American River. Whitewater river trips are changed forever...

Note from W.E.T. River Trips: we do not condone this hella behavior! For a more ... ahem... dressed affair, our first event for the late summer season is coming this Sunday on August 3, 2008 ::: Returning after 30 years, Punks on Water reigns supreme again! P.O.W. comes back with a vengeance at the Nugget on the South Fork American River... be there or be very square or not be at all... but you will be missing out on the party of year! Check Big Poppa's post on his personal W.E.T. River Trips events calendar! ... and, oh yeah, hippies are welcome!

W.E.T. Secret's Out! Rafting Triple Crown

Shhhhh... oh yeah, I forgot to leak this news. W.E.T. River Trips and the W.E.T. crew came up with a funny idea a few weeks ago... well, actually, Big Poppa thought it up.



It's not usual to be able to do all three forks of the American River at any time of the year. River flows depend on so many variables that usually only two of the forks are running. Every spring, though, there are a few weeks where it is possible for W.E.T. to have a triple crew working on all three American River whitewater trips in one day.

Big Poppa thought, "Hey, why not try and do all three whitewater rivers in one day with one crew?"

Aieeee! Carumba! Yeah... a very good idea, indeed.

Kudos to the Sacramento Bee writer, Gina Kim and river photographer, Randy Pench for their awesome participation on this project. Even more thanks goes to W.E.T. River Trips' own staff member Ryan MacPherson, professional documentary filmmaker for creating the video for the Sacramento Bee. Ryan and his Blood Good Productions company lent us a hand in creating the media for this three rivers in one day project. Thanks bro!

But the crew with the most, W.E.T. River Trips... gawd, you guys rawk so hard I can't even begin to tell you guys what you really accomplished. From the North Fork American start at 7ish in the morning with a take-out at 8am, put-in on the Middle Fork American at 9ish, take-out at 12ish and finally a put-in at the South Fork American around 2ish and take-out at Salmon Falls around 5ish... dudes... you could have done this in waaaaay less time than 12 hours... you guys were moving that fast!

Ok... so definitely, the W.E.T. team is honed and ready to roll for the 2008 whitewater rafting season. Look out peeps... 'cause W.E.T. is on a rampage!

SACRAMENTO BEE: http://www.sacbee.com/107/story/921289.html (story)
GOOD BLOOD PRODUCTIONS: http://goodbloodproductions.com (Ryan MacPherson videos)
TRADING MARKETS: http://www.tradingmarkets.com/.site/news/Stock%20News/1520075/ (story)

WET River Trips North Fork American Race

Team W.E.T. River Trips: 1st place commercial raft in the 1st annual Nork Fork American River race held a couple weeks ago.



Yes, the W.E.T. River Trips team got off the couch (not really... we've been out running rivers almost every day for the past five weeks... everyone except Sollie and Harpo.)

Sollie flew up at 8 am on race day from Newport Beach to Sacramento, and we were shuttled to the river by Jason (oh yeah, he was off the couch, too) to make our rendezvous in Auburn where Maggie was waiting (oh ye ... she was off the couch).

The rest of the team had just returned from (6) consecutive days of guide school, commercial trips, and side adventures on the North Fork American, South Fork American, Cal Salmon, the "Ikes" section of the Klamath, and Burnt Ranch Gorge (more on that trip next... it needs serious edification).

Anyway....back to the race: We entered two raft teams. One was comprised of the "old" guides and the second raft was made up of "noobies" (they are all under 30 years old). The old guys dominated all other commerical raft teams and came in behind two "competitive" teams that dedicate themselves to racing. (Note from W.E.T.; the pro teams came with pro racing gear and are sponsored... W.E.T. crew on the other hand, rolled out with pure commercial rafting gear.)

Team W.E.T. River Trips remains dedicated to simply running rivers for fun, for work, for you and just because...


Sollie, Jason, Andrew, Harpo, and Justin (ok he's under 30) showed the pups (Maggie, Wolf, Dax, Country Mike ...he's over 30, Ninja Shanahan) the "way." If you shut your eyes and listen... you can probably still hear the echo of Andrew's boasts and the re-telling of the glory, the thrill, the strategy, the effort, and the pleasure of kickin' down some smack to the rest of the whitewater rafting companies.

Sollie flew to Singapore the next day and was still sore three days later as he searched the city for jaywalkers in hopes of seeing a "caning" or two. Advil did the trick for the rest of the crew.

MOD MUSIC for RAFTING PARTY

Events, parties and everything California, the sun is shining here! Our rafting trips are going full bore now with daily trips available from now until the end of September. Group rafting trips are being organized everywhere, and they are coming to go rafting with W.E.T. River Trips. Woot people for bachelor/bachelorette parties, birthdays, anniversaries, reunions... you name it. Cap that party or event with a whitewater rafting trip with us... make it truely memorable.

Our young blogging staff sent up this cool list of places on the net to check out bands, music, up-coming shows around Northern California. Organize your group, load up on music, come check out the shows and head up to the river. California love... it's our lifestye.

Yet another amazing Sacramento House Show the other night featuring a very special guest percussionist hailing from Pennsylvania. Taysuya Nakatani was creating some of the most amazing sounds I have ever heard. All by himself, he creates music with a drum kit that you could carry in a large backpack aside from the 3' gong.

The nights other performances included Kevin Corcoran who is also a solo improv drummer worth checking out. Kevin and Chad Stockdale have a seven-inch that they recorded together on clear yellow vinyl that is definitely worth the loot. And my buddies from Hexlove winding up the night with an amazing loop pedal, keys and drums... fun fun. It was a good night... woot!

I went to an amazing party the other night at the Horse Cow Gallery to check out my girlfriend in a fashion show featuring local designer Amy Hemmens among others. There was also live music from Night Nurse, the beautifully noisy brainchild of Sacramento's own Hailey Chase featuring one of my favorite Sacramento saxaphone dogs Chad Stockdale.


Now, everybody must get blown away by Animal Collective's newest release, the Water Curses EP which is being released by Domino Records on vinyl and cd.

If you are living near Sacramento, you should also be very excited about all the awesome shows coming up in the next couple of months. We are soooo lucky that bands such as Mutators, Shearing Pinx, Modern Creatures, Mae Shi, Pre, Uneasy, and Magick Daggers are going to be passing through our city.

Also be expecting a new EP from Prints out soon... I think it's going to have a DFA remix on it.

MORE MUSIC RESOURCES FOR RAFTING TRIPS:

white rainbow

http://www.myspace.com/whiterainbowwhiterainbow

yume bitsu

http://www.myspace.com/goldenvessyl

dirty projectors

http://www.myspace.com/dirtyprojectors

aids wolf

http://www.myspace.com/aidswolf

XBXRX

http://www.myspace.com/xbxrx

yacht

http://www.myspace.com/yacht

lucky dragons

http://www.myspace.com/luckydragons

night wounds

http://www.myspace.com/nightwounds

twin crystals

http://www.myspace.com/twincrystals

shearing pinx

http://www.myspace.com/shearingpinx

mutators

http://myspace.com/mutators

modern creatures

http://myspace.com/moderncreatures

Oh yeh, WhiteLite, our fav music blogger has a cool announcement: Mutators and Modern Creatures are playing with WhiteLite's band at Funcastle on the May 4th! Congrats, dude... I'll be there.

NORTHFORK is a Go! Go! Go!

The North Fork American has arrived for the Spring of 2008... with W.E.T. River Trips on the first commercial rafting trip of the year on a beautiful 75 degree day without another boat in sight. Our clients and guides had the entire river to themselves! The North Fork American season should be solid until mid to late May (weather willing!).

Heffe, Wolf, Justin, Dax, Greg, and Bird also took a day off to drop in on North Fork American Giant's Gap (the non-commercial Class 5 section above the Chamberlain Falls run). After a night of camping near Baxter, the crew took the 1,500 ft. descent in to the canyon on the single-track foot path while they carried the raft and kayaks on their shoulders. The day was perfect and all came back safe and a little sore. They could have done a North Fork run to cap the day; but, they were just too tired....Wah! Wah! F'n Wah!

We hit the North Fork again today for even a better flow and more big fun! Our clients and guides exited the river with big smiles and bigger stories a bout Chamberlain Falls, Staircase, Bogus Falls and everything in between and beyond.

Those Golden Poppies were blazing up the hillsides in bright orange and the Redbud has made an appearance while marking the canyon with patches of magenta while surrounded by at-least four shades of green and the blue-green clarity of the North Fork's water....except those blasts of foaming whitewater!

The North Fork of the American is a Class 4+ jewel that only appears for a short time each year with rafting flows. This year promises to be one of the most predictable and reliable flows that we have ever seen. Heffe, Justin, Wolf, Greg D., Chris Z., Andrew, Maggie, Country Mike, Saul, Booty, Dax, and Mack are ready!

Big Poppa Post from the North Fork American take-out via wireless aircard! Woot!
Thank you Ryan for the video... ps welcome back from Brasil!

North Fork American : Poppies, Daffodils and Lupin

Today was sunny and 75 degrees and so was yesterday. 

Easter is coming in two weeks and my daffodils are in mid-bloom cycle. Yes, I plant daffodils... lot's of them. Is that a problem? Ok, then... 

Some bloom in early February and the latest bloom thoughout March. So... yea... I plant daffodils. I don't plant anything 

else. Why? Bulbs, like daffodils are low-maintenance. They transform a bleak winter garden and they come back year after year. I don't have time during the late spring and summer to fiddle with freakin' pansies (of all iterations). 

I also like daffodils because they are a vivid reminder that the River season is ON! There are other reminders in the surrounding flora as well: Western Redbud (in full magenta bloom), Flowering Dogwood, emerging

California Golden Poppies, and purple Lupin. 

California in the Spring is unbelievably beautiful and a unique contrast to the awesome golden hills of Summer. 

While rafting down the North Fork American in late March and throughout April, even the most jaded river guide and client is blown away when they look beyond the river. Look to the sides of the canyon (look upstream on river left just above Staircase) and you'll see an intense blanket of neon orange from a huge tightly packed field of Poppies.  Along the trails and roads on the ride out on the 

Upper Clementine or the Ponderosa take-out road, check out the intense purple Lupin that stand 3 feet high. 

Just take a look while you're ripping through the Class 5, Class 4 and Class 3 rapids on the South Fork American, Middle Fork American, North Fork American and California Salmon. In the words of PBS's Huell Howzer....It's Amazing! (He says: UH-MAY-ZING!

One last cool thing about Daffodils....you have to "Dead-Head" them by rigorously ripping off the stalks of each fading bloom... (Sorry Wolf...the Greatful Dead is still still banned from all W.E.T. River Trip vehicles as well as the Warehouse while I'm in da House!)

Posted by Big Poppa:: gee whiz... no Dead at the warehouse or shuttle vehicles??? Our friend Jackie will be disappointed, dude! Maybe we can sneak it onto the company iPods... hehehe...

California Rafting and Music

Yo! On my way to rafting trips, I have to listen to my tunes. Especially if you are heading for the Class 4 stuff like the North Fork American... so close to home! If you live in California's great valley around state capitol Sacramento, then I'm sure you know how hard it is to purchase good music around here without having to order from online distros and such.

For me it's really annoying, 'cause I love to buy new music fairly regularly. So to get my fix, it usually requires making a trip to the Bay Area to dig around in the bins at Amoeba Records store in San Francisco and Berkeley. I recently found some great albums for super cheap. Titles such as CARIBOU's new album "Andorra" is out now on Merge Records and DAN DEACON's "Spider Man of the Rings" on Carpark Records. Both albums are totally amazing if you are into electronic music or trance.

Another outstanding release from last year is the MAGIK MARKERS album "Boss" on Ecstatic Peace. This is a band that I can't get enough of and is highly recommended especially to fans of SONIC YOUTH. Some other albums to check out are BLACK MOTH SUPER RAINBOW's "Dandeloin Gum", Japanese band OOIOO's "Taiga", and for the noisier side of life, check out anything and everything on Load Records; especially KITES.

RESOURCES FOR WHITE WATER RAFTING MUSIC from W.E.T. River Trips:

California Whitewater Rafting Blog

Myspace Music Friends

Dan Deacon

Ecstatic Peace

Black Moth Super Rainbow

Load Records

Caribou

OOIOO

Peace
WhiteLite:::: more rafting music coming from my homies at W.E.T. River Trips!

ps! WhiteLite just introduced us to Zach Nelson from albums Who's Your Favorite Son God, HexLove and Prints! He is sooo ridiculously cute! Yoko Tuttle from Fatal Insomia says of his music "This sounds like right now!" Woot!

California Salmon in February?

UPDATE about a recent W.E.T. River Trips Rafting Adventure
Country Mike wrote:

I hope all went well and everyone came home fine. As long as you did not have Mogely (spelling) splitting his thumb into pieces I am sure life was good! Is Sollie still ambiguously hetero? When we hitting the NoFo!!!!???? WHITEWATER!

Country Mike
Here's Sollie's first webcam from the helmet... I got dizzy watching it!




DAY 1: Sollie arrives at Sacramento International Airport at 1:00 PM
Meets Heffe at warehouse to load after picking up the W.E.T. rafting truck
Bird goes Frisbee golfing with Wolf (freshly back from Ecuador)
I ride my motorcycle home from Oakland to beat the traffic
I lane-split the entire ride and arrive at Save-Mart at 5:15 PM to meet Sollie for a food buy
Final pack and load
We then meet up with Bird, Wolf, and Heffe at my house
Waited until 7pm for Justin and his Bro stuck in traffic coming from UC Berkeley
Little Alex was stuck in the same traffic so Justin stayed back to wait for Little Alex
(He was carrying Bird and his Bro Brian as well)
We agreed to meet at Petro on I-5
Petro became an opportunity for Heffe to drink a 32 oz Miller High Life
We had ample opportunities to shop the wares at Petro...

Sollie bought a fluorescent orange fleece "Elmer Fudd" hat. Justin showed up at 9 pm and he off-loaded Bird to my truck after Bird power-smoked at least four cigarettes and bought his body weight in candy. We rolled out of Petro with Sollie, Heffe, Wolf, and Bird in the Dodge and Justin, Brian, and Little Alex following in the shiny, Black Toyota (important detail for later). We drove Hwy 299 to Hwy 101 (with an obligatory stop in Willow Creek and the tempting prospect of buying the only piece of Chester-Fried chicken: a cold wing). We arrived at Jedediah Smith Redwood State Park at 3:30 AM... stoked.

Day 2: I roused the camp up with some coffee
(hot water for Heffe & Sollie...Metro-tea boyz)
We head to the Oregon Hole Run

After the boys did the run twice with multiple swimmers and a near flip at the Hole, the consensus dictated a quick run on the South Fork and a chance to run class 4+ "Grandma's Pantry." All went well and smooth except for Big Poppa getting in the grill of a local "Game Warden" who thought it prudent to educate our guides on commercial operations and permits. He left by telling me to "talk to the tire" under his breath. He refused to clarify his comments as he loaded into his navy blue Silverado. (nice, Big Poppa... bite the hand that feeds us...)

That night we had a fat-feast and Little Alex and Wolf played guitars while Justin and Brian drummed along. Heffe was sick; however, he made a run at the Early Times until Bird thought he was at a Rave with Disco Eric and he dropped a glow stick into the bottle. Before shutting down, we all agreed to get up early and make a run to Nordheimer to put down a river run before dark through class 5 Freight Train.

Sun: Out of camp by 8:45 AM without a problem
Headed south to Orick
Took a Wolf-inspired Short cut to the Klamath River via Bald Mountain Road (why oh, why does anyone follow Wolf on these short cuts?)

This is an incredible road. Views of everything and everywhere unfolded of huge redwoods, amazing meadows, and the bonus of an un-tracked snowfield on the summit that Sollie made a first D on in Heffe's kayak with a last ditch bail-out 10 yards from the tree line at 30mph. Well done. We continued on a single track dirt road lined by snow fences getting both trucks filthy...that's why I go with White (remember the shiny new black truck). We hit a detour about five miles from the end of the line (we knew it was a possibility) and we took a detour through Hoopa and back out to the Klamath.

The boys put in at Nordheimer at 2:30 and made a run to "Freight Train." At "Whirling Dervish" the newbie-rookies opted out and Sollie, Justin, Little Alex, and Wolf took on new "Freight Train" and nailed it. Camp was awesome with a great fire and a tepid scuffed bottle of Early Times floating a dark-stick.

Monday: Woke up to find everything covered in ice
About 20 degrees Farenheit
Butler run on Cal Salmon with a put-in at 35 degrees

Everyone nailed it and we were on the road by 11:45 AM. We delivered Sollie to the Sacramento International Airport at 5:15 PM in time for his flight back to Newport Beach.

About 950 miles, 3 days, five different river runs, sunny skies, and a quarter full plastic, half-gallon bottle of Early times for the warehouse refrigerator. A great Winter rafting trip that will be hard to match or beat. We'll try.

Trains hittin' Berkeley... next stop Emeryville... see ya. North Fork American in 2 weeks puppies!

SHINY NEW BLACK TRUCK UPDATE: When we made a quick stop in Orleans for gas on the way to the California Salmon... Sollie, writes into the muddy side of Justin's truck. "I wish my girlfriend was as dirty as this truck!" in 6" letters not knowing (because Sollie rarely is in-touch with the pragmatic, real property aspects of life and the respect for possessions that was ruined by his upbringing in a hippie commune) that his letters would be etched into Justin's formerly shiny new black paint... uhmmm ... Justin was stoked, yet calm.

I'm fairly sure that Justin washed his truck Monday night.

Posted by Big Poppa w/ whitewater photos, rafting video and side notes by crew of W.E.T. River Trips

Tunnel Chute Rapid vs Gear Boats

Last summer, brought copious rafting adventures my way. A late June South Silver run with some of the W.E.T. River Trips crew was definitely a highpoint; the bedrock slides and pour-overs surpassed all expectations and left me itching to get back there for some more teacups. In another instance, I was lucky enough to have a chance to run the bulk of the lower class 4 section of the Middle Fork American at a healthy fish flow. The 350cfs experience— complete with a California sunset— was a high point in my time on the Middle Fork American River.

While moments like these are personally significant, I was also able to take part in some pioneering raft lines last summer as well. On the Middle Fork American the infamous Tunnel Chute is an ever-changing rapid.

Rarely run in the rivers early commercial history, the rapid has become a staple of the Middle Fork over the years. Recently, Middle Fork legends such as Mack have pushed the evolution of Tunnel Chute even further by running the once class VI “left” line in paddle boats. Since the high water in 2006, the left line at the Chute has become more class 4+ ish, eroding into a fun, super-steep, 20-yard slide that kicks off a six-footer at the bottom into the pool. While still consequential, this line has been run successfully by many paddle boats.


So what’s next?

I have always been a little anxious about running Tunnel Chute in a gear boat because it is kind of like driving a bus on skies down a snow hill. You have lots of momentum, no turning, and no breaks. To say the least, the Chute has caused problems for guides in the past.

So this year I thought about stepping it up a notch and going where (to my knowledge) no one had gone before in a gear boat, and headed over to the left line of the Chute. I had done my homework, and knew more or less what to expect, the entry move, and what the locked-in downhill slide felt like. In July I made my 1st D in an oarboat and had great success.

Probably the hardest part of the rapid is the entry where there are a few guard rocks that could cause problems if the bumped you in a wrong direction. Other than these few rocks, once you make the squeeze into the top of the slide, the boat gets right into the rapid and its over before you know it.

As an added bonus, the heft of a loaded gear boat usually sends you fairly deep on the landing as well.

Probably the most hazardous aspect of the rapid in an oar frame is watching your oars in the tight river channel, but this is really no different than the normal “right” line at Tunnel Chute. Needless to say the left chute goes. I had the satisfaction of running the left a few more times last summer with similar success;— a highlight run occurring during another outfitter's scout of the Chute. Since last summer, the only other person I have ever heard of attempting the oar-frame descent, is the world renowned Wolf, who had a successful run in August. I think the more water the better for this line. When the gauge got down to 11.4, it becomes pretty boney.

In the future, it could be possible that the Chute’s left line becomes more commonly run for both paddle boats and gear boats. I look at it somewhat like the “fish ladder” skirt of Rainy Falls on the Rogue River. While I could be the first to run in a gear boat, I don’'t think I will be the last.

Post by: "Little Alex" from University of California at Berkeley:: UCB
Big thanks to Hotshot Imaging in Coloma, California for this series of photographs of W.E.T. River Trips through Tunnel Chute rapid on the Middle Fork American River.
Also, big thanks to Bill Tuttle and his awesome website at CACreeks.com! He's got a blow by blow description of all the runs in California.