Any weekend can be the weekend you become a kayaker.

Just last week the Wet Planet kayak school was joined by river enthusiasts from Portland, Oregon and Olympia, Washington for our 2-day Rapid Progression instruction. Hailing from outside Portland, Loree and Gordon came to us with significant water experience in their recreation kayaks. With just a few raft trips to give them a taste of what whitewater kayaking might be like, they signed up to make the transition .... continue reading.

Back with Wet Planet, for an annual tradition! I met this year's first group of First Descents participants in the Columbia Gorge as they darted around the hostel collecting river gear for the first day on the water. First Descents is a very cool non-profit organization which makes it possible for young adults with Cancer to have fun and learn to kayak for a week, creating a very unique and bonding experience for all involved.

I began to learn names; Chica, Blanche, Alley Cat and Stryka were some of the first. I became known as Swish and climbed into the van with over 20 kayaks from Wet Planet's fleet in tow .... continue reading.

For the past 32 days Wet Planet Whitewater Center has been the epicenter for kayaking in the United States with Raft Guide and Kayak Instructon staff members taking on Eddyflower's Total Vertical Challenge.

This competition is unlike any you've heard of before.

For an entire month, participants log every vertical foot of whitewater dropped in their kayaks while also raising money for First Descents, a non-profit organization that sponsors young adults with cancer in week-long kayak instruction camps. However, each river can only be run a maximum of 5 times, making strategy and endurance essential for success. ......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! 

Every Saturday at 10am, the Hood River Pool closes off an area of the pool to allow kayakers to get in the water and play.  This past Saturday, the Wet Planet crew headed across the Columbia for a Saturday pool session. Heather worked with students during a regularly scheduled Wet Planet kayak pool session, while a couple other Wet Planet staff took advantage of the warm water to just have fun in our boats.  Continue 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.

Some of the Wet Planet gang as well as most of the boating community gathered in Hood River at the Columbia Center for the Arts to view the spectacular photography of Charlie Munsey.  "Riddle of the Tsangpo" as the show was titled, was a collection of photography taken on a kayak expedition to Tibet to run the legendary Tsangpo river, considered the Everest of rivers.  The theater at the center was packed, and all were treated to not only breath taking photography, but also stories of adventure, and lessons in culture.  Charlie created an exceptional experience with his photogrpahs and his stories, Thanks Charlie!

It's just keeps getting bigger and better . . . . I can't believe the second day is over already!  Read more about day 2 of the kids' camp in this blog post.

Wet Planet just finished up Day 1 of their kayaking kids course. We had so much fun today . . .  Check out this post to hear all about our first day!

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.