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

WET 2014 Rafting Trips

One of the long term goals for W.E.T. River Trips has been to introduce the beginner or novice towards whitewater rafting and the great outdoors. Doing this has been difficult as the river rafting public has many outdoor adventures enticing their every want. From skiing, snowboarding to surfing, paddling to hiking, climbing; there are a lot of activities that have traditionally fed our public's imagination.

"I can totally do this black diamond run..." or "Dude, let's hit this gnarly surf..." or "Bang! I almost lost my toe-hold... or "Class 5! Extreme drop..."

There is a lot to do. A lot of stuff in our lives that take us away from our daily chores and work. There is a lot of things that occupy our mind. Do we really have time for fun?

Well... I say we have to make time for fun. We have to make the effort to include the outdoors into our lives. We can not allow our guests to sit in front of a desk, a tv, a computer, a cell phone or whatever interface they invent for us all... we can not do that day-in and day-out.

We risk our health. We risk our well-being. We risk our mental health, too. Our bodies need to exercise. We need to feel that warm sunshine or drizzly rain on our bodies, and we need to feel that we can conquer those nasty fears that plague each and every one of us.

This year, we want to encourage those of you who need an outside break. Yes, we know many of you do the one-day trip with us on our rivers. But, is one-day enough? You drive up from Bay Area or Southern California; then you meet us in a rush; then you go rafting; and at the end, you go home. Great day? N'est-ce pas?

Ok. Now, imagine this. Take your time and choose a date. Organize a 2 or 3-day rafting trip. The American River whitewater has many options for 2-day, 3-day or 4-day trips. And, American River is ideal for beginners to novice whitewater rafters.  You will achieve "River Time." That's when 'time' disappears and that watch becomes totally unneccessary.

Or, choose a longer trip on the Klamath River. Go north! Klamath is one of the longest undammed rivers in the West. Also ideal for families, family reunions, and youth groups such as the Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts and more. Klamath is a very popular river run for youth groups. We have (2) programs that highlight this special river. Boy Scouts and our 'The Long Strange Trip' have given us many new paddlers!

All I am lamenting about is the lack of committment from so many people towards nature, outdoors and rivers, oceans, lakes, etc. These are precious gifts. Let's enjoy them!

See you on the river,
W.E.T. River Trips
Our entire staff!


Written by: W.E.T. River Trips
All photos belong to WET River Trips
Photos in Flickr, Google+ and Facebook
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WET River Trips Website for 2014

Back to the website... finally. Yes, everything on the internet has changed, much to our chagrin... but, we look forward to connecting to our community and our friends who have made such an impact on our company, W.E.T. River Trips, with a brand new website.

We are doing business next rafting season a bit differently. We have things in place now that prevent us from breaking our own rules. Yikes! Yes, systems are ruling the roost in 2014.

Anyway, back to the website (really?), that cumbersome, gigantically created stinky site using several systems including PageMill, Adobe, Macromedia, Adobe again, then hand-coding, and now networks (waves to all the big networks out there in the universe including Google).

First things first: images

How do ya like this one?

Middle Fork American Tunnel Chute rapid w/ W.E.T. River Trips

Do you wanna see this on the website?
Say YES or NO about this October 2013 post from our California Whitewater Rafting blog by visiting us at our WET facebook page: http://facebook.com/wetrivertrips and comment a YES or NO.
Thanks for your help peeps...
I want the rafting community to help us create the website we know we should have... carry on with your day after you vote.


Photo by: W.E.T. River Trips on our WET Flickr site.
Will Google ever like us again?

It's raining/snowing again, finally! We will be posting a bit more regularly...
Oh, yah, before I forget... we are taking group rafting reservations now.
Call us in morning from 9 - noon for group information: 888.723.8938

And, Happy Halloween!

KLAMATH RIVER - The Long Strange Trip

The Klamath River is the longest no dammed, navigable whitewater river in California stretching over 200 miles from I-5 to the Pacific Ocean.

The Burning Man festival in Black Rock City, Nevada is arguably the longest running, biggest festival of Art, Music, and Culture in the Western Hemisphere.

Let's put them together shall we?

Since 1979, in our second year of operation, W.E.T. River Trips started to run various sections of the Northern California's  Klamath River with a focus on the Happy Camp to Presidio Bar run that we usual would configure as a 3 or 4-day trip.

About 15 years ago, we started to extend our trips upstream to Saeid Valley to incorporate more class 3 rapids and to experience the more remote portions of the river with trips up to 6 days in duration...as we did so, we started to think of some other additions....hence, the concept of "Long Strange Trip" (yes, the LST was born out of long van rides, warm nights on river beaches, and the creativity of river guides).

Yes, the reference to the Grateful Dead song is clear; however, the concept of the trip is more than a jam-band bit of noodling. Long Strange Trip (LST) incorporates self reliance (no rafts... Inflatable and sit-on-top kayaks only with a gear boat for supplies), Art (every day would have options for self expression through body movement, photography, sculpture, and 'crafts'), Music (the trip's guides would all be musicians of a variety of disciplines and clients would be encouraged to bring instruments and to use instruments provided by guides) daily and nightly. The LST would also explore the surrounding riparian eco-system and the surrounding geology and geography with a continual thread of Human History presented by guides and guests.

The Long Strange Trip (LST) Recap
DURATION 6-days; July 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, & 6th
TRANSPORT using kayaks, sit-on-top kayaks, gear raft w/ all your gear
DRY BAG 30lbs/person for personal gear
ART everyday; body movement, photography, sculpture, crafts
MUSIC every night; bring your instruments, guides will also!
GEOLOGY of California & Pacific Northwest
GEOGRAPHY local, regional
HUMAN HISTORY native american lore, gold rush history, and us!
MENU vegetarian and/or vegan, California produce advocating farm to fork
THEMES group selection, committment
NO TRACE camping, impact on land

The LST would be a slower paced and free-form schedule with a simple beginning and an end filled in-between with natural magic and the energy and contributions of the environment and our guests. Meals or food will be simple, nutritious, filling and mostly vegetarian and/or vegan constructed of high quality California-produced ingredients. Besides the musical entertainment, dance, art, movement, games, interaction, and learning... every day will be themed though group selection and commitment.

As with Burning Man, the rules will be few: safety gear will be worn on-river, and no-trace camping and floating will be strictly adhered to. And as with Burning Man, participants will be encouraged to contribute to the trip in ways that shows a giving, sharing spirit to contribute to the LST community.

The trip will be small (limited to 12 participants) and will be staffed by carefully selected guides that will bring all the 'magic' and expertise the LST requires.

The inaugural LST will be presented to operate July 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6th ....so, not only would we celebrate the LST, we would also celebrate Independence Day by floating and traveling through the State Of Jefferson (our Nation's only Ad-Hoc 51st State established in 1941).

links:

http://www.jeffersonstate.com/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jefferson_(Pacific_state)

https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos/104445714950587017401/albums/5241691352157972321

http://www.burningman.com/whatisburningman/

http://www.raftwet.com/Klamath.html

https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos/104445714950587017401/albums/5499035911904821009
more rivers in northern california:
http://c-w-r.com/rivers/lower-klamath.html
http://raftwet.com/california-salmon.html
http://c-w-r.com/rivers/upper-sac.html

Ahhhh... the influences of hippies, Burning Man, Grateful Dead, Farm to Food and loving life!
This post was written by Big Poppah Jah! and posted by me.
~ el
WET River Trips
RAFTWET.com 

The Boy Scouts of America on Klamath River

The Boy Scouts of America were founded 112 years ago in 1910 when our United States was a much different place. Wild places were close to almost every urban center, and suburbs were a future concept. Today's Boy Scouts  are still in the need of finding wild places to experience, to enjoy, and to learn from so that they can accomplish many of their merit badges.  The longest undammed section of navigable river in California fits the mission of today's Boy Scouts... especially 50-miler merit badge!

Klamath River flows over 200 miles from I-5 to the Pacific Ocean and W.E.T. River Trips has been taking Scouts, their friends, their families, and others down the Klamath River since 1979. WET River Trips provides whitewater rafting programs of 3 to 6 days in duration with each trip incorporating class 2 and class 3 whitewater, spectacular scenery, interpretative of human history,  and sightings of wildlife found no where else in California.

The Klamath River lines up with the Pacific Flyway; the atmospheric highway to every migratory bird in North America.

The river corridor itself is home to Golden Eagles, Bald Eagles, Egrets, Herons, Geese, Ducks, Hawks, and majestic Osprey.  The terrestrial wildlife is abundant as well with nearly daily sightings of deer, bear, and sometimes elk. The calm sections of the river are also habitats to huge turtles, otter, and other surprising creatures (sometimes even seals).  The fishing is amazing and the water is cool while not cold like our Sierra Nevada rivers.

Because of the various trip durations that we provide (3-6 days), many of our Scouts chose to do a 5 or 6 day trip that provides over 50 miles of river and 4-5 nights of camping.  The trip is also long enough to allow for kayaking, canoeing, and rafting instruction in order to qualify each interested participant for whitewater merit badges that can also be augmented with a 50-miler, and FOOD! or cooking badges if desired.

We also incorporate a 2-mile hike off river to Ukonom Falls on every river trip; in that, the Falls are the closest vision of Shangra-La you will ever encounter in Northern California. Huell Howser would truly exclaim "It's amazing!"

The W.E.T. staff is well versed in merit badge requirements, and we are registered to authorize each Scout for merit badge approval. Not only do we take great care of each Scout, we also give social attention to the adult leaders and provide them with relaxation and peace of mind. As we truly take each day as an opportunity to teach and to experience what the Klamath has to offer, we float and paddle in rafts, inflatable kayaks, and sit-on-top kayaks.

No worries....relax and enjoy what each day on the Klamath River delivers!

Klamath River is truly A-Mazing!





Klamath River Resources
Boy Scouts of America
Whitewater Merit Badge
American Whitewater
WET River Trips Klamath River
Klamath River Online Store



This blog and all photos belong to W.E.T. River Trips. Please ask if you want to share this blog or photos within your feed. Send us an email and just ask us!