MEMORIAL Day Weekend! 2012

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



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



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



RIVERS:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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!

California W.E.T. River Trips starts March!

Holy moly it is March 1st, 2012! Where did February go?

Three weekends lost to holidays and I took every weekend to heart. Oh yes, speaking of hearts... there was Valentine's Day in there, too. The LOVE day as we all like to call that special time.

The weather in California was superior to any February anywhere! Blue skies and not a drop of rain. Yes, it was dry, but today on March 1st, we got storms brewing in the Sierras and in the valley towns, too. 24 inches of snow just dumped yesterday and more to come!

Winter is finally here in California! Yep, yep... it's gonna be a great time on the rivers this year!

See you on the river,
WET River Trips
RAFTWET.com

raftwet-store.com



ps. First trip on South Fork American starts this weekend on March 2, 3 and 4, 2012! Special rate is here! http://raftwet-store.com/caradi.html 
Woo hoo!

American Rivers Delta Loop January 2012

River Ride on January 29, 2012

"Wanna go for a ride on Sunday?" he asked quite innocently. A ride through any part of California is a favorite way to spend a few hours on a Sunday. Who was going and why were my questions, and the answers were kind of vague in their response. An annual ride with people I didn't know so that I could write a blog about the trip. Now that sounds interesting and I said, "Yes, I would love to go."

The blogging team from WET River Trips were picking me up around 9:00 AM so that we could meet the rest of their friends by 10:00 AM in a park somewhere in Sacramento. I wasn't driving and those of you who know me, know that my geographical skills are sorely lacking. "Somewhere near the Delta..." was the response I got when I asked where we were going.

With my nose in my notes and my eyes on my cell, I started writing about these people and friends whom I was accompanying on this little adventure. I say a little adventure as I was not required to bring a ton of gear. Just a hat, a jacket and good, sturdy shoes were all that was required.

We met the group near the park as the roar of the engines drowned out the speaker's voice as he instructed the group on the day's schedule. We were doing the "Delta Loop" which is a popular ride for top-down automobiles, motorcycles and bicyclists. The weather was beautiful... too beautiful for January! Then we were off on our ride, heading through the Delta towns such as Rio Vista, Clarksburg, Hood and Solano county where the wind turbines create a surreal landscape for the viewer.

I had no idea where I was. The loops and islands were so confusing! Each island looked so similar except for the homes and buildings. Each small town was picturesque and dotted with old-time ambiance. There was wine tasting along the way, art galleries, shops, the beautiful river with the boats, yachts and the incredible homes along the river frontage. This was a magical setting of another world, another place to experience.

I met quite a few interesting folks on this ride, too. I met a scientist and programmer of robotics. An interesting chap of European heritage. We talked about his current project. And, I gave him the name of one of the whitewater rafting guides who has an internet company that could help him with a problem.

As he passed me his business card, I was struck with the "Social Networking" that we just had. This is truly social networking! The real deal! No computer. Just talking with someone who had something in common with me.

Now, I am very interested in the outcome of this project that he was working on as I want to know if my input had any value to his project. If it did, then I will feel as if I was part of his team... no matter how small. "Social Media" in the best sense!


This blog belongs to W.E.T. River Trips California Whitewater Rafting blog.
All photos belong to WET River Trips Flickr site.

X - California Los Angeles Band

Exene of X

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

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

Breathless by X

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

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

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

Billy Zoom of X - Mr Cool

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

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

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

X - Los Angeles

A great time was had by all!

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

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

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

Photos by Big PoppahJah and video by youtube.com.

FOOD! on WET River Trips

I admit it. I am the food writer for FOOD! and camp recipes. How I got involved in that was kinda funny as I am not a great writer...

but I love food (oh, my waist-line).

I went rafting with WET a few years ago and really loved what they did to their albacore salad and how they made their pesto pasta. On the side of the river in a beautiful canyon, those young men and women provided a freshly-made menu that was both superb and filling.

The albacore had uniformly cut carrots, celery, and onions. The rafting crew added in the capers along with mayonnaise and a secret ingredient that made it the hit of the lunch! I had mine on whole wheat and added lettuce and tomato. Very tasty! And, then I grabbed a soft tortilla and rolled-up an albacore salad burrito. Geesh, I'm a pig! I still wanted more! (Apologies to all the porkers out there...).

When we floated back into camp that evening, the guides told us that hors d'ouevres and dinner would follow shortly. Come on, now, I expected some burgers and hot dogs for camping and instead received the most incredible food!

I had a grilled, juicy steak cooked to perfection, a side dish of fire-roasted red peppers and asparagus pesto pasta, a wedge of romaine lettuce w/ bits of tomato, capers and blue cheese and toasted, grilled French bread. OMG! I was so stuffed with food and drink that I could barely keep my eyes open around that campfire.

WET River Trips Food video:

Sleep enveloped me in whitewater rafting dreams and food! What a glorious two day trip on the river! Now, if I can only get the camp recipes...

FOOD Resources for camping

• WET Menus : http://camprecipes.blogspot.com
• Whitewater Rafting Menus : http://raftwet.com/menu.html
• FOOD! : https://www.facebook.com/FOOD.wet
• Camp Recipes : http://camprecipes.com/recipes

All photos, videos and this rafting blog belong to WET River Trips and their social media.

Kudos for Big Poppah's Picasa photos for this blog.

WET Wishes You a Merry Christmas!

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

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

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

North Fork American Class 4+ w/ WET River Trips

Team Building trips on American River in Northern California

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

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

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

Merry Christmas video from youtube.com

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays...

Drive safe!

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

Thanks to youtube for the Christmas video!