We are back from our India Mission! Wow, what a trip, what a country. Beautiful, interesting, different, although challenging at times. Yet, can't wait to go back to see and explore more. India does that to me each time.
In December 2009 Todd and I flew to India with the mission to explore a new destination for Wet Planet's International Wet Planet trips. We explored the possibility for a 12-day whitewater trip on the Siang River in India's NE Arunachal Pradesh. The Siang (Tsangpo in Tibet before entering India) is a beautiful river running through a very scenic deep lush river canyon, with BIG volumous water, located in the foot hills of the far Eastern Himalayas. This region is one of the most remote and least traveled regions of India, though many different tribes which have lived in the region for generations and even centuries. Continue reading ...

To see the India photo album on flickr, click here.

Wet Planet Whitewater is extremely proud to welcome "First Descents" to the Columbia River Gorge for the first time ever! Words cannot express the excitement and buzz that this is creating in the local kayaking community... Read on for more on this amazing program!

It's a real challenge to track down Andy Round, as he is usually on the
river, working or traveling . . . but, since he bought a house and
"settled" down in BZ Corners, we can usually find him catching eddies
in Maytag Rapid on the White Salmon River for hours at a time, or at
Wet Planet getting ready for the season. Let's find out more about Andy:

Heather Herbeck, a full-time BZ Corners resident, was tough to track
down this winter. She seems to keep her plate full with her training
program and various projects . . . never a dull moment in the Herbeck
household. Read on to catch up with Heathers latest adventures...

Wet Planet Whitewater caught up with returning staff, checking in on what they've been up too this busy winter. Read up on WP's first interview with Emily! Inquiring minds want to know what Emily has been up to!

Lots of people have been asking about the election, so here it is: Todd Collins (of Wet Planet) and Jim Tindall won the two seats up for election on the BZ/Husum Community Council (the White Salmon valley)!

The election was close, so all of the support from the community is definitely appreciated. I know that people spread the word, wrote articles in the paper, sent emails encouraging the community to vote, etc. Thank you all. We take office the first council meeting in January.

News flash!!! Adult Chinook Salmon are currently being reintroduced into the upper stretches of the White Salmon river! This is the first time in nearly a century (that's 100 years) these fish have been able to spawn above Condit dam! Wet Planet Rafting is STOKED to have recently been asked to assist in state and local government efforts to help track these tagged adult farm raised Chinook Salmon. Read on for more on restoration efforts to re-introduce wild Salmon to the upper stretches of the White Salmon river... for more on this, read on below...

Wet Planet had recently had the amazing opportunity to assist in the mapping of the White Salmon River bottom in and around Northwestern Lake! Read on for more details...

Paul Hammond, a geologist, was on a mission... his mission was to sample the many different rocks and geological features of the White Salmon river bed extending from the town BZ Corners to the town of Husum. His goal was to mapping out the different lava flows that make up the canyon that we, at Wet Planet, get to raft through on a daily basis. The section of water that is roughly five miles long took us close to six hours to raft, as we stopped very frequently to gather samples when it appeared that the lava-rock was from a different ancient lava flow. Paul brought along his trusty assistant Steve, who has a love for geology as well, and is good with rock hammer for getting those samples! Read on for more on White Salmon River Geology research facilitated by Wet Planet Rafting...

If you were driving by Husum Falls on the White Salmon River last night, you would have noticed a huge crowd of river people gathered on the bridge and on the banks of the river cheering while ridiculously costumed river guides paddled all sorts of craft over the 12 foot waterfall. These guides were part of the 2008 Raft Guide Olympics on the White Salmon River, a yearly event where guides and boaters from the White Salmon gather to compete in a variety of events that test their raft guide skills. Sort of ... in reality, Guide Olympics is just a big party and a great evening of fun.

Congratulations to Wet Planet's Liz Arnold for great performance at the Gorge Games 2008. 3rd Place at the Down River Boarding Race and 1st place at the Head to Head River Boarding Race! Way to go Lizzzzzz!!!!!!

Join us at Wet Planet for a night of Peru dreams on the big screen. We'll be doing a Peru information session and slideshow following the Wednsday night paddle on July 2nd. Come and see what all the Peru hype is about with International Expedition kayaker Andy Round. Read on for more...

This is my first year participating in the Eddy Flower Vertical Challenge - a fun competition as well as a fundraiser for the organization "First Descents," a kid's kayaking camp for cancer victims...

Wet Planet has been making a big splash on YouTube. Check out our White Salmon video:

Keep posted with us for more updates on rafting and kayaking adventures in Oregon and Washington. Hope to see you on the river with Wet Planet soon!

- Wet Planet @ 09:36 AM