The following is an essay by Wet Planet guide Ryan Copenhagen reflecting on his personal experience working with rafting clients from Fort Lewis, a US Army base south of Tacoma, Washington.

They arrive in a big blue bus, up to 50 of them at a time, ready to go rafting. They are U.S. Army soldiers from Fort Lewis, back from deployment in Afghanistan or Iraq. They come rafting as part of a program called Warrior Adventure Quest. The soldiers range broadly in age, rank, and background. The fun starts right away while teasing each other throughout the outfitting process. It is hard not to make fun of your friend when he's wearing a purple wetsuit..... Continue reading!

Team Wet Planet was represented at Clackamas RiverFest last weekend! Heather Herbeck, Lori "Turbo" Turbes, and some other Wet Planeteers made it out and had a great time. (thanks for organizing a great event!). New in the area from Minnesota, Lori loved learning about the wide variety of inflated river crafts we apparently float on in the PNW!  Good times, kayak races, raft races, good people, great new connections and more friends.  And the winner of our awesome raffle (beginner kayaking course or 4 spots on a White Salmon River trip) is .......  continue reading! 

Each weekend during the month of April 13 of us from a mix of backgrounds and skill levels got together at Wet Planet to learn the fundamentals to become a whitewater rafting guide. Wet Planet's Guide school 2010 was an awesome action packed 8 days of getting on (and in) the river everyday with a great group of people. We had a phenomenal team of instructors which include: Andy Round, Hootie Boucher, Giani Benevento, Lance Reif, with help from many others.  Read more...

It almost felt like summer at Wet Planet this weekend, with people sitting in the sun on the front porch, boaters putting in and getting off the river, and some great kayak instruction going on. It was hard to believe that it's still just the beginning of March!

Saturday was our One-Day River Rescue Course for Paddlers. This popular one-day river rescue course ... cotinue reading

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.

Woohoo . . . day 4 was a blast!!! We spent the morning learning about the different classifications of whitewater (class I through class VI). After a short video, we brought out the foam to make our annual "Foamie Boats"!!!  Then we went for an awesome raft trip.  Check out this post to hear more about Day 3 of the Kids' Camp.

We are now running the Upper Stretch of the White Salmon River!  This means that the water levels are final perfect to begin launching all of our White Salmon River trips from our private put-in, 2.1 miles upstream of the standard commercial launch site.  For all of our guests that have been waiting for this moment, it's here!  Now is the time to get on the Upper.

Read what Wet Planet guide Curt Joyce has to say about his summer in the Pacific Northwest and Wet Planet's exclusive trip on the Upper Stretch of the White Salmon River.

Guide school with Wet Planet was truly a unique and diverse educational experience... click here for more on Wet Planet Guide School 2009.

Owyhee whitewater rafting trip is a multi day wilderness trip through one of the most remote and beautiful canyons in the lower 48.

Upon being hired at Wet Planet I was stoked to learn that I was able to participate in an upcoming trip on the Lower Salmon/ Snake River in Idaho!  This multi-day trip was a perfect way to start my new
employment!  Read on for more on Laurens first Wet Planet overnight adventure!

— Jaco @ 05:43 PM

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!

We have been fortunate enough to have a number of the Wet Planet family spending the winter close to home... Jonathan Blum has spent his first winter in the Columbia River Gorge driving busses at Mt. Hood Meadows, and ripping the mountain for all it's worth! A world traveler the past number of years, Jonathan has recently settled down for a bit in the Dalles to pursue his formal education in Medicine. Read on to find out more about what's happening with Jonathan these days...

Whitewater paddling, especially kayaking, tends to work our bodies in ways that we weren't really designed for. Sore muscles in the back are a pretty common result of spending lots of time in a kayak using your torso for all of your rotation and paddle power. Read on for more on this interesting topic...

Tieton River Season is here!

All of the elements (weather, water level, and lack of burn ban) have combined this season to make this one of the best Tieton River seasons we have seen for years! Read on for more on the mighty Tieton river!

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.