Spring Rafting w/ WET River Trips in Northern California

Ahhh, the kids from WET River Trips are at it again. The first commercial trips follow the celebratory Smith trip with the launch of early season rafting trips in Northern California. This weekend on March 6th, the crew will be on commercial river trips on the North Fork American River just three hours from San Francisco and one hour from Sacramento. 2010 Season is here!

The story below just came in from the support crew for the whitewater trip they just did up north. Big Poppah holds the reins on the kids while the infamous guides take their first bite of 2010 whitewater rafting.

What I can't figure out is why they still listen to Wolfe's driving directions. Haven't they learned that the Wolf path is always the most extreme? LOL!



The whitewater team from WET River Trips has pulled off a stellar, early-season Spring Rafting trip in Northern California. We just celebrated the launch of the 2010 Rafting Season on three Forks of the Smith and Cal Salmon River on Class 4 to 5 whitewater in world class wilderness scenery with internationally known river guides on a private, non-commercial rafting trip a couple of weeks ago during Valentine's weekend.

Day 1:

We met and loaded up at the Lotus warehouse at 5 pm. Wolf, Justin, Jon, and Alex H. were ready and had everything laid out for the river trip as I arrived with the Dodge.

As usual, we packed heavy (you never know) with 2 rafts, 1 kayak, and a mountain of camp and personal gear. 5:30 and we were on the road to Jedidiah Smith Redwoods. After years of driving up I-5 to 299 and then to 101, we took the advice of Google Maps, and we went straight up I-5 to Grants Pass to 199 (Redwood Hwy) and back down into California (about 400 miles but less curvy and potentially safer). We pulled into Jedidiah at 2 am with a light rain and found our soon-to-be notorious site #41 as we rigged tarps and tents for a quick bivouac.

On the drive up, we conferred with Heffe currently living in the Pacific Northwest and arranged to meet up in our camp in the morning. I got up fairly early around 7 am and made coffee and breakfast. The crew woke to hot coffee and breakfast burritos to start off the day. As we geared up for the North Smith, Heffe arrived shortly after, and we packed the Dodge as we prepped for the North Fork.

Heading out, the rain stopped, and we were pleased to see partially sunny skies and drying roads for the shuttle in to the remote drainage of the North Fork Smith River. The drive in consisted of traversing a landscape that changed from Redwood groves to meadows to blank hills, and back again. Apparently the geology of the North Fork Drainage allows for deposits of copper and other minerals and the varying soils have provided an amazing variety of vegetation.

The previous rains had saturated the ground to such an extent that every hillside was cascading fresh runoff from the Coastal Range into the Smith River Drainage. A good day coming up! The remote put-in was “improved” with a toilet, changing areas, and a flat rock beach to drop off gear (thank you California Boating and Waterways!) Quite a crazy luxury for a river with a small season and in a remote location on a dirt road …very nice!

It was decided to take one raft (Justin, Alex H., & Jon) and two kayaks (Heffe & Wolf). We estimated the flow to be about 2,000 CFS. The trip was ready to put-in at 11:30 am, and I asked Wolf (the only one of us that had run the North Fork) how to get to the takeout in Gasquet on Hwy 199. He gave me the directions to head east over the bridge at put-in and then continue to a fork in the road where I would turn right and drop out of the canyon and then to 199. (sounded reasonable and plausible).

The boats pulled away from shore and I headed out on “Wolf’s Way” and at first the road seemed good with evidence of recent tracks in the wet surface and the ruts were “passable." That soon changed as the road turned into a trail littered with fallen trees and rock slides, but I had faith.

That faith took me into terrain worthy of the Rubicon Trail, and I made use of my low-range 4WD and my abilty to wedge large rocks off of the trail and to drag small trees to the edge of the canyon. After having to back-up a single track trail “trail” for over ¾’s of a mile, I tried my Verizon GPS …it worked! After spending over an hour in the middle of nowhere and feeling like a member of the Donner Party (albeit equipped with a 4wd Dodge truck), I had hope in technology as I headed back to a new trail spur that was only (by GPS) 8 miles to Gasquet!

The new road started out with promise (it was passable) and I got to within 6.8 mi of Gasquet when the road disappeared into 3 foot ruts, large rocks, large fallen trees, extreme mud and loose rock, I called it quits, turned around, back-tracked and found myself back in Gasquet at the pre-determined meeting spot (confluence of the North and Middle Forks) at 2:45.

Wolf was waiting on the road with a giant grin from running the North Fork Smith at what became over 3,600 cfs in flow (epic good flow) without any incidents and a crew that was ready to paddle the Middle Fork of the Smith through Oregon Hole. After listening to my “opinion” related to Wolf’s directions, a substantial lunch began with fantastic stories about waterfalls, caverns, primeval forests, and carnivorous Pitcher plants or its botanical name, Darlingtonia Californicus, and some awesome, continuous class 3 and 4 rapids, the crew headed out to finish the run through Oregon Hole and the Middle Gorge of the Middle Fork of the Smith River.

The Oregon Hole section is visible from the road (Hwy 199) and the crew attracted a crowd of touristas trying see what was going on at the river side as the crew scouted what they could. Every boat came through without a problem except for Wolf who submarined against a huge undercut and yet remained bolt upright in his kayak with only the top of his helmet still visable. Big fun… and I smiled broadly knowing that Wolf had experienced a “moment” that I could relate to clearly.

Take-out was at Myrtle Beach and only about 2 miles from camp. Camp was great; big meal, good stories, Alex H. on guitar, and no rain... or so we thought. Around 3 am, a light rain started and then the skies opened up at 4 am flooding our camp with over 3 inches of standing water. We were completely soaked. No worries, we headed off to the Hiouchi Café where we had a nice hot, dry, and substantial breakfast.

While waiting for our food, Paul Gamache rolled up with a friend and we exchanged info about the North Fork (he was leading a trip from CSU Humboldt’s outdoor program down the North Fork after our trip put-in). It was great to see him and catch up; but, as he left something was not quite right. As he got into his car right outside our window, he was laughing harder than he had a right to... damn... we soon found out why. He had reached up to our inflated raft and pushed in a valve and fully deflated a tube. Yuk, yuk. Little does he know what we did …it’s on!
Written by : Big Poppah
Resources: Smith River Alliance, California Whitewater Rafting

Part 2 continues next week! Bookmark this blog http://raftwetblog.blogspot.com

First W.E.T. River Trips starts March 6, 2010 this Saturday! We will be on the North Fork American and/or South Fork American. Days have been intermittent rain, big fat fluffy white clouds and blue skies. Looks like spring is here!

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...

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."

GUIDE POST from Berkeley (Bezerkeley)

Well, now that I have a little time in between working all day on the river, and writing papers all day for school, I figure I will take a break to briefly document some of last summer’s better adventure rafting trips. The year started off very well for the W.E.T. crew, completing the 2 day run of Generation and Giant Gap on the North Fork American River. Along with several other W.E.T. guides, notably J. Orban and Data Dax, we made the 5 mile hike into the Generation Gap with some Kayaker assistance (Heffe, fem Alex, and The Wolf), and put on at a perfect spring flow on a perfect spring day.



The Generation Gap has been run multiple times before in rafts, but was still a very challenging class V run, involving a few good portages, some quality boxed-in canyons, and Wolf-scouted rapids called “lefty lefty, scrapey scrapey.” (Note from WET staff: LOL!) On the second day we reached the confluence with the North Fork of the NoFo, and got a healthy boost in water to run the Generation Gap with somewhere a little under 2000 cfs. (For the record the Kayakers portaged Locomotive, and we styled it in the raft with Orban guiding). The run finished with no mishaps, a few sketchy backwards moments, and a bunch of tired, cold, hungry, and happy guides.



The highlight of summer boating was without question Wolf and my descent of Upper Cherry Creek. With little argument about attempting to make the six to ten mile hike, and nine mile high Sierra run, The Wolf and I set out in the Toyota searching for steep drops, big hits, and granite super highways. After receiving great beta from veteran rafters such as Guy (“you’re going to die”), we were fired up to check out what the upper Tuolumne tributary had to offer.

Along with us, and central to the success of the trip, was Fem Alex and adventure dog Marley, who provided quality ground support and photography. To my best knowledge, Upper Cherry has been run maybe three other times in rafts in the last five or so years. While we were not the first raft to make it down the run, I am almost positive that we did make the first decent in a bucket boat. The Wolf Special, a 10 foot, superlight, all black, two thwart, PVC bucket boat, was the perfect inflatable to boat this run in.



We set out early in the morning with a heavy load and a long day ahead. Before leaving on the trip I struck a deal with Wolf, where I would carry all gear for the trip (food, sleeping bags, first aid, throwbags, repair, top-off pump, ect.), if he would carry the boat. Good to his word, Wolf hauled the raft with a camstrap like a purse, while I managed the hike in with a hefty drybag load. Without any major incidents we hit the river around 3:00pm, and then made the hike up into Cherry Bomb gorge to begin our run.

Due to anticipated lower flows, we opted out of hiking into the section above Cherry Bomb because we didn’t want add miles of additional portages to our trip. As expected, we had a fairly low flow, which made for a great amount of water for exploring the run. Our first set of rapids involved a 200+ yard slide, into a boxed-in teacup section. Luckily both Wolf and I have had extensive slide and waterfall practice up on South Silver Creek, so we were fairly prepared for how the GI Jane bucket boat would handle down the drops. Even with our foreknowledge, I think we were both surprised at how deep you can go in a raft when you’re full of water going over teacups. After an extremely long first day, we camped just below the drop known as “Dead Bear,” and enjoyed a spectacular high Sierra evening.



The next morning we awoke like little kids on their birthdays to about a mile and half of read and run class 4+ slides and small drops. The highlight of day two was probably a 35 ft. off-vertical falls, into a picturesque, Shangri-La pool. This one was so fun, Wolf and Fem Alex hauled the boat back up the granite cliff for another run.

The entire trip went without mishaps. While there are several significant portages on the run, (dependent on flow), we were probably able to boat about sixty percent on the water, which was much better than what I had in mind when we set out. We managed to make it to Cherry Lake around 5pm just in time for a healthy three mile paddle across the flat-water. To top the run off Wolf ran the seven mile shuttle up the ridge to our cars, cruising in to pick us up at 9:30pm, just in time to make the 1:00am Denny’s crowd in Jacksonville, and our 8:00am South Fork American rafting trips the next morning. All in all it was an outrageous summer full of good times on the water.

Hope everyone had a good rest this fall and winter, so we can gear up and go big this coming spring. Also mad props to Wolf’s Tunnel Chute flip for some of the best rafting photos I’ve ever seen.



Note: Thank you Alex for the memories! WET crew is ready for rafting! Cya all on the water!

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.

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!

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.

Wolf in Ecuador! MIA is found!

Missing in action, we got a message recently from Wolfe. Where did he go? Well, the mystery was recently solved with this email to the office:

"Hi, guys! I got a new email address, and (I) am currently in Tena, Ecuador. I´ve been here for three days and boated (kayaking, rafting) every single day so far. It's been a very good time. Lots of kayakers and rivers all over the place. Every direction you look, there is a river flowing into the Napo that has whitewater.

A2 and I, have been playing it very safe and getting accustomed to the rivers before we step it up and start running harder stuff, but it has been fruitful and impossible to not go boating every day. The locals are all very nice, but the beer is "muy malo."

We managed to get our play boats on the plane. We have been doing all these creek runs in the play boats making things very interesting. Weather is warm, and when it rains, the rivers shoot way up (in flow) and then drop off quickly.

Today, we were waiting for our shuttle driver after doing a class 4 river and the river came up like three feet while we were hanging out. So, we got a taxi, and we did the run again at flood stages, and then, never had to pay for our initial shuttle!

For four kayakers to go 30-miles into the mountains and do two runs, and it only cost us 7 dollars total. I could do this for a while. Anyway, Volvo is almost all put back together. It's minus a valve cover because when I got the head machined, the machine shop lost a tiny plastic grommet that I had to order. She´ll be up and running though as soon as I get back in mid February in time for some more white water trips. Hope all's well with you guys, Peace. "

Come back soon Wolfie! Time for the the North Fork American...

Arctic Monkeys? No Arctic Circle!

How about that January of WET -ness? Living in Sacramento, felt like being in Seattle, and being in the Sierras, was a taste of being above the Arctic Circle; except with a lot more snow!!!

January 1st, I went on on a group trip, motorcycle ride with the Gold Country Dual Sport Riders on the venerable and exalted W.E.T. River Trips shuttle conveyance: the 2006 Kawasaki KLR 650 ...yes, the most popular dual-purpose (or, as we "fans" call the designation: "Multi-surface") motorcycle in the world since 1983... yes, there is passion for the pig of a bike that is heavy, under-powered, ugly, purposeful, durable, and the chosen motorcycle of the USMC (except the US Marines go a step further and convert to diesel... yes, Bio-Diesel compatible!).

Anyway, I took an awesome 230-mile ride with a great group of like-minded dual-purpose riders with a collection of bikes that ranged from a lone Harley to the lone Moto Guzzi with the in-fill populated by a batch of KTM's, BMW's, and the reliable KLR 650. We met in Sacramento after I chipped ice off of my seat and rode to Lake Berryessa (sic) with about 30 other riders where we met another 15 riders and continued on around the lake to Napa, Sonoma, and Lower Lake where we had lunch and the temperature soared to a balmy 50 degrees.

The ride back was a different route and we road at a much more brisk pace. The whole time, my white water rafting and snowboarding brain was twitching... everything was super dry: no puddles, mud, dry grasses, and a minimalist Lake Berryessa combined with a trickle called Putah Creek.

I haven't ridden anything beyond a quick couple of 50 milers since ... why?: IT'S BEEN FREAKIN' RAINING AND SNOWING!!!!!!! The lakes and rivers have been transformed and there is as much as 30-feet on snow in the Sierra waiting to come down... and it will!

February has started out with a vengeance of cold, wet storms and has added to the DWR snow survey done last week at the end of January that showed the watershed of the popular class 4+ North Fork American, Middle Fork and South Fork American River at 125% of normal...last year was 33% (and the whitewater was still awesome). The North end of the State is ridiculous with crazy watershed totals serving the Klamath, Scott, and Salmon River. We're looking at some drying weather and some excellent times for enjoying the bounty of a wet January.

So, I'm calling it, and it is ON! The whitewater rafting season will be amazing.

The W.E.T. River Trips crew plans to rally after Valentine's Day (so that Heffe and Bird can protect their domestic Bliss...shhhhhh) and we can take advantage of President's Day. We're shooting for our annual Smith River, Oregon Hole, Jedidiah Redwood State Park, Hiouchi Rendezvous. The call went out... we'll see who steps up.

Might as well, we tee-off the season in mid-March... so hit the slopes, get off the couch and let me get in some last rides on the KLR before it becomes part of the job... yeah right.

For more resources on the KLR 650 ultimate shuttle vehicle for rafting and river trips:

http://www.klr-650.com/mod.html

http://www.bigcee.com/klr650faq.html

http://www.patmanracing.com/klrdyno.htm

http://www.klrworld.com/

http://www.klrdualsport.com/

http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/GCDSR/

http://www.angelfire.com/co/klr650/index.html

http://www.klr-650.com/mod.html

Post by: Big Poppa, Road Warrior and King of the River!

Feather River, California, USA

I was very excited about my first trip to the South Fork Feather. I had just recently come off the North Fork on the Tobin and Lobin sections. The Lobin had been one of the most intense stretches of river I had ever experienced. Lobin was only about a mile... maybe a little longer, but it was continuous whitewater with many boos in the 3-6 foot range, with lots of gnarly consequences. From what I had heard, the North Fork of the Feather was a very burly run. I was pretty nervous, but I was with my close friend Wolf who is the definition of gnarl.

We didn't leave Auburn until 9 pm or so. Wolf said it would be a two hour drive to take-out. The nice thing about the North Fork of the Feather is that take-out is very hard to find. It is not marked in anyway. After driving for about three or so hours, we finally made it to where the pavement ends and the unmarked forest roads starts. We started searching for the takeout.

Driving aimlessly in the woods for about two or so hours, we finally decided to leave our shuttle vehicle (Wolf's less than adequate mountain bike) at the Golden Trout Crossing. The bridge crosses the correct river, just not at the right takeout. Ha ha ha. Then off to the put-in or ingress point which we arrived at about 2:30 AM. We both fell asleep very quickly and slept tight through the night.

In the morning, we took our time getting ready, in hopes that another group of paddlers would come along to help us with our shuttle. (... love this advanced planning mode...) There’s also safety in numbers when paddling, especially difficult rivers like this one.

Wolf had been down the run once, so we had a little information, but a lot of unknowns in the missing sections. The other rafting info we had was that the run was a very long. We did not put on early since there was a strong possibility of us spending the night on the river. (Note from W.E.T. River Trips: exploratory whitewater rafting requires a paddler to be ready to camp in the river corridor due to unknown circumstances and emergencies...) Armed with that info we knew we could and should not wait too long to ingress.

So after slowly getting ready in the morning and making a hot breakfast, we put on the river at ten thirty. Almost immediately after getting on the river, the first big was right before us. The rapid was fairly straight forward but with a big consequence if the kayak was near the right side. I decided to portage down about five feet and get back on in a narrow slot of water, missing any major obstacles. I was full of hesitation before the run, now I was just very nervous.

Immediately following that rapid, is a mandatory portage of a 30-foot waterfall that drops into a very shallow pool. We also walked around the next small boof because of the consequences of missing the boof stroke and swimming (capsizing). That’s really all the details I remember, but the rest of the river turns out to be an amazing.

The river canyon is very deep and remote with very little human impact. There are so many high quality white water rapids on this stretch, that I can not remember them all. So as the day was coming to an end, our minds again turned to the set which we had half-way done. Our plan was to just paddle the remaining miles to the bridge, but the egress is a diversion dam. To our dismay, the dam was robbing the 300cfs that we were on and leaving us with 10cfs below the dam. Paddling was out of the question.

The walk to the car was about five Wolf miles, and if you know Wolf that could be six miles or it could be fifteen miles. So Wolf took off walking, and I just stayed and tried to stay warm. Well, as it turns out, lucky karma Wolf (extreme ray of sunshine) caught a ride, and was back within two hours! I was very glad to be putting on warm clothes.

After looking back on the trip, that river is one of the prettiest river canyons in all of California. The South Fork of the Feather had turned out to be one of the most difficult rivers in my very short river running career. I am looking forward to visiting more of California rivers very soon!

Post by Heffe... mentoring with Wolf is an adventure in itself... we guarantee it!

Rafting: Old Farts

Since the spring of 1977, I have been a whitewater rafting professional (guide, outfitter, shuttle-driver, food-buyer, shuttle-vehicle mechanic, equipment manager, and camp chef... and most of the time, the tasks have been assigned simultaneously). The past few years have seen me rarely on the river; but, this year has been different.

A first personal descent (river, snow slope, mountain bike trail, ocean wave, skate ramp, or twisty mountain road) is always a notch up on the fun meter. The added bonus of a first-personal descent is the heightened awareness of your surroundings: colors, vegetation, rock formations, and those amazing whitewater rapids!

This rafting season started early with a first personal descent of the Smith River with clear sunny weather in February. The Smith is a crystal clear stream running through the redwoods along the California Oregon border and is a sister river to the Klamath, Salmon, and Trinity. I've run over 17 rivers in California and the Smith is on the top of the heap and not for whitewater... the rapids were great; however, the water, the rocks, and the surrounding old-growth redwoods made the trip (also Vladimir's, another old fart, mid-night escapades!).

After a wild early season filled with a full menu of South Fork, Middle Fork, and North Fork American River trips and the ensuing milieu of shuttles, food-buys, trip logistics, and guides in need of parenting, I was able to run off to Idaho and work as a guide on a 6-day trip followed by an amazing 800-mile motorcycle ride back to Sacramento, California on a KLR 650 with fresh knobbies... huge fun at 80 mph across Nevada!

The season continued on with a hectic Middle Fork American and South Fork American River season that ended the first week of October. But, the season didn't end until Country Mike rallied us up for a first personal (for all of us) first-descent on Silver Creek that helps to form the headwaters of the South Fork American.

The trip was a constant surprise of sights and rapids at every bend and through every log-jam portage. It didn't matter that I was approaching retirement age and 30 pounds heavier than I was in '77.

I shared the day with 10 of W.E.T. River Trips guides that ranged in age from 20 to 42 years old (not counting myself). We ran the same rapids, we saw the same sights, we were all cold. At the end of the day, we all smiled and no one had regrets. We all knew the same things: It was a great day.

Let it snow! I'll be back for more.

Note from W.E.T. River Trips: Posted by an Old Fart! Just kidding... Big Poppa rocks! The ol' man hit the whitewater with us... he did good! Hehehehehe...

California Rafting & River Flows

Where does the water come from?
or-
How goes the flows?
and-
Who plays frisbee golf?

The last question gets answered first... Outside of UC Santa Cruz students and Marinites... everybody in the freakin' Midwest (at-least according to our expatriates: Ryan D., Eric J., and J.P. (we'll get back to this).

As to the other questions... I'm glad you asked.

The North, Middle, and South Fork of the American River have distinct and unique drainages...
so, tells us more, old river guide and amateur hydrologist.....

The North Fork American is a completely natural river without dams, canals, or augmentations. With a fairly small drainage above 6,000 ft, where the majority of Sierra snows accumulate, the backside of Sugar Bowl Ski Resort is the headwaters of the class 4+ North Fork. When the Sierra's quit freezing and a 24-hour melt cycle develops (like it did this last Tuesday) the North Fork kicks in and flows freely. In great years, like 2006, the snowpack will squeeze runoff into the river until early June. This year, the early heat in March torched the winter snow pack, but these last few storms in April are now responsible for the flows that we have now. The North Fork should fall below 1,000 cfs soon. We had some great trips and we'll have at-least a couple more before the river becomes a creek.

The Middle Fork American is a different type of river system. The product of two major drainages, the Rubicon and Middle Fork, it also absorbs the water from the North Fork of the Middle Fork. The entire system drains the western bowls of Desolation Valley (just to the west of Lake Tahoe). Two large reservoirs (French Meadows and Hell Hole) store much of the run-off allowing nearly year-round, runnable flows. The drainages that supply the Rubicon and upper MIddle Fork are high and vast. Rafters and other river users continue to benefit from the system of storage and downstream delivery. This year looks good with solid and reliable flows to be delivered all summer.

The South Fork American drains the southwest corner of Desolation Valley and the slopes of the Sierra just to the west of Kirkwood and Sierra-At-Tahoe. Silver Lake, Union Valley, Loon Lake, and Ice House reservoirs all hold and control the flows into the South Fork American above 4,000 feet above sea level. With the large storage capacity in place on the South Fork, it takes two back-to-back dry years to severely limit runnable flows in the South Fork of the American. Last year was extra good and this year has proven to be better than OK. We now have guaranteed flows everyday of the summer except for one dry day a week (maybe the guides can play more frisbee golf).

Apparently the Mid-Westerners love frisbee F'n golf... they talk strategy, equipment, and courses like Tiger Woods must talk golf. I believe them to be sick.... but I also hate hacky sack and I truly enjoy throwing Grateful Dead CD's into the nearest garbage can... I know... that's sick, too.

Go raft a river & do a trip... enjoy what great flows we'll have this year... no, that's not sick: that's livin'!

Big Poppa posts are his own personal opinion; the rest of us like frisbee golf, hacky sack & the Dead!

North Fork Season Opener

80 degrees, 1,500 cfs, 2 paddle rafts, 1 oar boat, and 2 safety kayaks... add to the North Fork American and we couldn't have had a better commercial season opener for the 2007 Rafting season. A group of past clients, mixed in with some newbies, were guided by Mac, Wolf, and Jason with Andrew and his buddy Greg watching the flock from their kayaks, had an amazing day.

After picking up the clients at Camp Lotus where they spent the evening in the Camp Lotus lodges, we rolled to the Iowa Hill put-in and found ourselves the only company on the river...the day just got better and better.

The hills were green and filled with blooming Lupine and Poppies. The side creeks were still pumping in fresh flow to contribute to the 1,500 CFS we were getting at the put in. Chamberlain Falls, Slaughter's Sluice, Bogus Thunder, and Staircase were run cleanly without incident. It was a little dicey when Wolf tried to beat Jason into Slaughter's and almost peeled him into the entrance rocks; however, Jason showed he wasn't rusty and pulled his oarboat back to let Wolf drop-in and both boats ran the rapid cleanly... like it should be run.

Great day, good flow, great guides, and clean... like the North Fork needs to be run. Oh and that sunny 80 degree day in mid-March...that was bonus!

Drainage; California Snowpack

My first day of snowboarding was March 2nd... the latest start for me ever but, I'm happy to say it was freakin' awesome; no lines and first tracks through thigh-high deep powder. On the drive-up Hwy 80, I saw the first patches of snow just before Colfax, and it just got deeper and deeper until Donner Summit where 12' banks teetered over the highway. The blue-bird conditions were perfect.

Sunday, I went up again to Sugar Bowl. The place was packed, light clouds shifted overhead, and I was with three of our teen staff members. The snow was still deep and light. From the top of Mt. Lincoln, I could look down into the upper drainage of the North Fork of the American River and all I could see was deep white snow... the North Fork whitewater is going to flow strong and long!

After a few more runs off of Lincoln, I made the traverse to Mt. Judah and re-connected with the teens, waded through the crowds and rolled down Hwy 80... another great day and a great North Fork season is just a coupla weeks away.

I've still got the time to make it to Kirkwood and see what's coming down the hill for the South Fork American (Kirkwood had 14 feet of snow in three weeks!)... happy to say.

Sidebar: both the drainage for the North Fork and the South Fork American look very healthy after these past few storms. Looks like a great 2007 rafting season after all despite the dry January!

Big Snow = W.E.T. Rivers

After the driest January in the recorded history of California, a new WET world has dawned in the middle of February giving whitewater rafters and kayakers a moist (naw...make that a W.E.T. River Trips) Valentine's gift. Much love came down from the skies from across the watery Pacific Ocean ranging from over 3 inches of rain in the Sacramento Valley to 10 inches in the upper foothills. Fat whiteness also dropped in the high country with over 3 feet of very WET snow.

This means that with 2 more months of precipitation left, our snow melt rivers like the North Fork American and Cal Salmon are in great shape and our dam-controlled rivers like the South Fork and Middle Fork American Rivers will gain added storage to ensure predictable, boatable flows well into late summer and early fall.

With more rain and snow to come, we are in for some big fun with great whitewater rafting, beautiful rivers, and mountainsides dripping with wildflower color.

It's going to rain and snow some more....Bring it.

My snowboard needs some exercise and so do my legs for that North Fork put-in, the scouting on the Cal Salmon, and the portaging on the Middle Fork... and not to mention for chasing Ryan Mac around the warehouse after he pulls another prank that needs major payback! Like I said...Bring it!

Another Big Poppa Post; are u hearing it Mac?