W.E.T. River Trips - RAFTWET.com

GAWD! It's almost September. Where da heck did the summer go? I vaguely remember waking up one morning and taking off for a river trip up north... and that's the last I recall. Ha!

The summer was full of parties. Full of fun. A few new people on the crew, but mostly the old guard stayed. Drew was captain of the ship, managing the whole shebang with finesse and schmoozola. He can charm anyone. Dax just left... he had a chance to do an exotic run somewhere far, far away... he had to go. Then there was a broken heart, school starting for some of us, real jobs calling us back and more waves to surf, paddle are calling...

The cycle never ends. The river flows. The oceans roar. And we get to play on all of it. Some of us will be heading to Costa Rica, Gauley in West Virginia or kicking it in Australia with the surfboard. We don't stop playing. We live fully and we worry about tomorrow... well, tomorrow!

Labor Day Weekend is up next! The last big weekend of the summer... and I am gonna play, play, play! Grab some friends and head to a rafting trip with WET... make some memories. (shhhhh ... great deals on One Day Middle Fork American and South Fork American, too)

Oh, yeah... our virtual rafting avatar, Mizzzz Rafee just gave us this video... you might enjoy it : RiverLand in Virtual World of Second Life.

Every single day, I see the crew heading out to the warehouse getting ready for a whitewater rafting trip. I wave through the window at Big Poppa, Justin, Wolf, Boote, & Drew... the head guides packing and loading for the guests who will arrive shortly.



They work hard, but they are always laughing and having fun even when they are busting their buns at 6 am in the morning. I can see the comraderie; the friendships between them all. It's a fun crew to hang out with... a fun rafting group to join.



I don't care if its cold or overcast or even raining. I wanna go on a rafting trip... I wanna play on the water, too. I sit here in front of the computer working on stuff that seems so important, but yet, not that important. Seems like it's more important to be out there... outside... on the water... on the river.

I am seriously jonesing for a trip... bad. One of our music production peeps is doing his birthday party next week on the river. Not fair... it's a midweek date, and I gotta work. Not fair... I WANNA GO!

Well, maybe I can call in sick... lol! Hopefully, the boss doesn't read the myspace blogs.

We are losing a lot of the old guard. Those paddlers who are passionate about rivers, rafting, kayaking and paddling. I just heard that Lars Holbeck died on Friday evening. He had pancreatic cancer. A shizzy thing to happen to such a legend; a man who loved California whitewater and rivers.



I bought his book The Best of Whitewater in California describing about 180 runs on rivers that most of us have seen and paddled. But, I had to stop and think today about the kind of gear they were using and the conditions way back then.

When I paddle a river, I have read about it from scores of friends in forums, blogs, or I've seen actual video of the rapids and canyons themselves. The surprises are few since we as a paddling community discuss every nuance, every minutea of the run.

So, I closed my eyes today... trying to imagine what those pioneers saw or did. They had old, funky plastic kayaks. Big and bulky. Clunking through the rocks and rapids on a mission of discovery. Geesh... and the runs are incredible, breath-taking and death-defying.

No one had done it before, until that merry band of bandits stole and conquered mother nature's most challenging rivers in California and successfully attempted the whitewater stretches for the very first time.

Those of us in the armchair reading about escapades currently are still rewarded with an adrenaline rush written by the author. But, Lars Holbeck and his merry band, were the first... the very first on the whitewater rivers that I navigate regularly.



With great respect, I honor this man. I'm heading for the North Fork American Chamberlain Falls run tomorrow. I will drop a golden poppy in the rapid. Shhh... don't tell anyone as the California golden poppy is a protected natural resource. Instead, I will pick one from the garden outside and carry it to the river shore.

I'm hearing the grousing over in the corner from friends who worry about the day to day trials and tribulations of life. It's a dilemma everyday to go to work and sit in an office when you would rather be outside playing. So, I have pictures of rafting on the wall to remind myself that the 2009 season has begun.



The peeps did the NoFo river (North Fork American) the other day after the big storm. Seems that everyone came out of the woodwork for the Class 4+ river. Some of the guides have been traveling around the world surfing, kayaking, climbing... you name it... they are probably doing it. While others stayed close to home just enjoying a bit of a break from the commercial whitewater rafting scene.

We are looking forward to a great American river whitewater season. The snow gods were generous enough to make sure that the flows will be normal coming from the reservoirs... much the same flow as before. This is a great year for families and groups to travel on California rivers.

I am organizing some friends to go rafting on the South Fork American this spring. It's a fun river for my friends. A way to bond again after a long break from rafting.

Big Poppa just announced that WET River Trips will be sponsoring this upcoming Triple Crown NoFo on the North Fork American, South Fork American and Middle Fork American river trips.

He suggested that everyone have a pager and treat the launch date as they would surfing contest, Mavericks. Conditions have to be perfect to achieve these three runs, so people will be monitoring the gauges and weather patterns.

Only one raft per company or group will be allowed. (No psuedo groups that just got created for this race will be allowed; only legitimate groups) No inclusion of road time, in other words, just time on the river. Big Poppa does NOT want to encourage speeding on California roadways. Ha!

This race should happen around April... best times for all three rivers to be running. WET starts their season on March 13th with two trips on the South Fork and North Fork American. Both runs will be available for early spring time rafters. 2009 Rafting is coming up sooooooooooon!

I am still recovering from the American Dream... Black Rock Desert... only one major dust storm (that's enuff)... no sleep... not much water ... food? what's that ... eye candy everywhere including the art ... a group of peeps that I just love ... hangin' w/ Mizz Maggie, Kev, Big Poppa and all the rest... it was a fricken blast! When's the next party???

Big Poppa is writing a missive... a blow by blow of the entire Burning Man event... when I read it, I will know what I did...

In the meantime, I am back to the grind with a fond memory of a beautifully organized party event that will keep playing in my head for a long time... I bring that with me on the next rafting trip... bliss.
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From W.E.T. River Trips , Events, Party, burning man

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