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 on the mighty White Salmon River, 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.

While there are obvious differences between the soldiers and guides, it is easy for us to get along. In a guiding season, we become remarkably close with our coworkers on the river because we have been through challenging and difficult situations together. Guides help each other when we sustain injuries, live for this camaraderie, and make fun of each other constantly. But like most Americans, we know little about the reality of combat.

The objective of Warrior Adventure Quest, according the briefing we received, is to: "Take action to assist self and buddies to build unit cohesion and mitigate stigma to seeking behavioral health assistance by fully participating in a high adventure activity." What Battlemind, the Army's premier psychological resiliency building program, tells us is that when soldiers return from combat, amounts of adrenaline are at a "new level of normal" which is lower than when employed in combat but higher than before deployment. Soldiers can have feelings of numbness, invincibility, and inevitability while reintegrating that can be the root of risky and destructive behavior, sometimes resulting in harm to themselves or people close to them. Studies have found that if soldiers channel their adrenaline while participating in positive stimulating experiences, like rafting or bungee jumping while reintegrating, they are less likely to harm themselves or others.

Our job as raft guides is to find common ground with our guests and facilitate an enjoyable adventure for them. With WAQ groups we can add elements of surprise to entertain adrenaline addicts that wouldn't be as enjoyable for the general public. We are encouraged to emphasize teamwork and communication, elements that are natural while having fun on a river trip. Soldiers are given the chance to splash and have fun while working together; when given the opportunity to swim through a rapid they often take it. We get to put aside our differences and focus on helping the individuals. Soldiers have a unique way of speaking and answering questions. When I asked a group of men what they did, they said artillery, when I asked them to be more specific they said,
"Lets just say we could hit the port-a-potty at Wet Planet from Fort Lewis."
I had nothing to say to that.

We have no idea what kind of horrific experiences these young men and women have been through and we don't ask. But I must admit my curiosity got the best of me and I asked the guys in my boat if they were going to be deployed again. They all hoped that they would soon. As a raft guide I respect and admire them for their devotion to each other and to our country. I am humbled in their presence and honored to help them reintegrate by showing them a piece of the natural world that we should all fight to protect.

Ryan Copenhagen - professional whitewater rafting guide, trip leader and kayaking instructor at Wet Planet Whitewater in Husum, WA.

The wait is finally over. Husum Falls season is back.

Water levels have decided to cooperate for your recreational needs, dropping low enough to add the Husum waterfall to our daily raft trips down the White Salmon River.

This past Saturday Wet Planet held their annual staff "Turkey" run down the falls. Rafts full of guides, both new and veteran, loaded in rafts and ran the falls over and over again. Guides tried out different lines and methods for descending Husum Falls successfully. New guides were given the opportunity to guide a raft full of fellow guides...or "Turkeys"...down before taking guests.

This exploratory run is necessary every year prior to adding the waterfall to the daily raft trip. Heavy rainfall, wind, snow and other major weather events can significantly change the character of a river over a short period of time. The bottom of a waterfall is especially susceptible to this type of alteration as it becomes the collection spot for any debris that finds its way down the river.

New guides to the White Salmon River like Charley Munsey, Aleson Reitow, John Coles, Tobias Johansson and Susan Hollingsworth were able to test their whitewater rafting skills on the drop for the first time.

Some made it look smooth. Some forgot to get down and hold on, falling out the back of the raft for a whitewater swim. Others held on but were off line slightly, flipping the raft at the base of the falls.  Check out these shots that produced some whitewater swimmers!

Every outcome producing excessive amounts of enjoyment and smiles from rafters and the large crowd watching from the shore.

We at Wet Planet are extremely excited for the waterfall to be added to our White Salmon Raft Trip repertoire. We know that guests can't experience this type of whitewater anywhere else in the country. It makes us proud that offer such a unique experience to our guests.

So get ready for even more excitement on the White Salmon River this summer!

Special thanks to Adam Mills Elliott for the great photos!

-Susan Hollingsworth, Lead Kayak Instructor, Blogger and River Enthusiast

The boats were longer than the cars, the PFDs had minimal flotation and the helmets were sparkling with glitter. Ahh, those were the days. Oh wait, that was the scene last weekend at the Bit Air Bonanza on the White Salmon River.

Local kayaker and rafter Dave Hammond is known for his fascination with old-school, long boats. Every year he celebrates the long boat by hosting a different kind of whitewater rodeo.

Gathering in BZ Corner, the launch site for our White Salmon rafting trips, local kayakers find the longest boat they can and head down to Top Drop rapid.

The object: Get as much big air as possible by burying the bow or stern of your boat into the hydrolic.

The bigger the air, the higher the score.

You might wonder...Who is the judge? Answer: Everyone.

As each contestant paddles into the hole, the crowd waits for the outcome. The boat shoots into the air, nearly 12 feet of plastic out of the water. The crowd yells whatever score they deem reasonable. The scribe writes down whatever number they hear the most and averages the scores at the end. Pretty technical.

Wet Planet's guides were talking about the event for days. Using Green Boats, Dagger's 11'6" creek boat, Tyler Houck, Curt Joyce and Drew Austell proudly lined up in the eddy for their round in the hole.

Curt set the bar high with big pirouettes and a sweet crowd-pleasing point. Tyler followed, getting in as many tricks as possible to increase his score. Other competitors joined in, using various longboats in shades of teal, magenta and neon yellow...just like the old school days.

At the last minute, Drew Austell arrived fresh off of a kayak instruction pool session, ready to get in a round.

You would think that it was planned to end with Drew's big-air moves. His boat cleared the water on nearly every trick as shouts of "10" rang through the canyon, over and over again. He took first place, winning the largest can of black beans and a dragon statue from the BZ Corner store. Classy.

The event brought together raft guides and river staff from all the local outfitters. The community here celebrates the river in many ways, all agreeing that it is that which brings us together.

We are a community here in Husum, Washington.

Come summer, our guides and staff return to be a part of another season here on the White Salmon River. Yet, its not just the incredible rivers that draw us back every year, its the community.

Wet Planet staff comes together every Saturday night for a gathering unlike that at any other company.

Each week, Saturday Night Dinners begin with a different staff member's craving. It might be Grandma's Lasagna, Gado Gado or Chinese Stir-Fry.

This past weekend reservationist Lori Turbes recruited river guides Ryan Copenhagen and Nicki Lynch along with Jaco for a Thai Stir-Fry Extravaganza. It began with spicy soba noodles in a peanut sauce. Veggies from a local fresh food co-op and organic chicken, shrimp and tofu went into the tasty stir-fry. Fresh greens, peppers and tomatoes went into the salad, along with Jaco's special dressing.

While the smells wafted through the Todd and Jaco's house, the perfect location for a group gathering, raft guides, kayak instructors, reservationists, base staff and friends relaxed. We exchange river stories from the busy week, discuss future trips and enjoy the company of our unique family at Wet Planet.

Mostly, we come together to celebrate how lucky we all are to be living in such a special place as the Columbia River Gorge.

Dinner is served and we raise our glasses to the rivers that bring us all together.

Fostering a supportive and close-knit community amongst staff creates an environment worth returning to. Our staff look forward to the season here and are therefore excited to share it with others. We are a family here, returning season after season to our home on the White Salmon River.

It just keeps getting better.

D-Mack, leader of the 21 person Adventure Trek crew this year, expressed this sentiment to the Wet Planet instructors after the group's 3-day whitewater kayak instruction. He also noted that after working with this organization for 3 years, we have dialed in our relationship.

As an instruction team, we were pretty proud to hear this. We felt the weekend was a complete success, instilling confidence in the students and appreciation for the outdoors. It just felt that much better to hear it from them.

Adventure Treks is an organization that offers outdoor and wilderness education to youth in a variety of incredible locations. For their Northwest trips; including stops in Washington, Oregon and Montana; they have chosen to take on the challenge of whitewater kayaking and rafting through Wet Planet's Kayak Instruction Program and White Salmon River trips.

They must have heard that we have the best rivers in the Pacific Northwest to learn whitewater skills.

Having a group so large can often be a challenge for kayak instruction. Keeping ratios low with six of Wet Planet's best kayak instructors allowed us to break apart the group for more personal instruction time for everyone.

Learning to kayak often comes easier when you are able to just paddle and not think too much. For much of Day one, the Adventure Trekkers participated in games that challenge their edging, maneuvering and stability without them even knowing.

They found themselves paddling in straight lines to get to the polo ball first.

Their awareness of edges came as they ran across each other's kayaks in bow races.

They gained confidence while crossing the finish line with their partner in Chariots of Fire.

The next two days on the Klickitat River barely even felt like work. The group's energy made everyone excited to be there, fostering a better learning environment. We sang, we joked and we had a blast sharing such an incredible whitewater kayaking experience.

The final rapid, Ishy Pishy, was a the ultimate way to end three days of whitewater fun. Students looked back upstream, amazed at what they had just accomplished. We, the instructors, couldn't have been more proud of the group's progression over the 3-day course in the Columbia River Gorge.

Another group of Adventure Trekkers took on bigger rapids on our White Salmon Rafting trip. With an experienced Wet Planet guide in each raft, the students not only had a fun day on the river, they also learned how to read water and maneuver through rapids.

Having groups like these to share our passion for river travel makes our day exciting. Wet Planet is grateful that our trips meet the high standards of other incredible outdoor education programs.

-Susan Hollingsworth, Wet Planet Lead Kayak Instructor

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. Our 2 other students, also from Portland, jumped right into the world of whitewater kayaking in the Pacific Northwest without even having gone rafting previously.  For them, the river was a new experience entirely. 

Father and son, Ed and Conner, from Olympia wanted to broaden their river experience through learning to maneuver a different type of craft. Spending lots of time in their canoes on long and short trips, as well as various other days on the river, these two proved to be naturals in a whitewater kayak.

The weekend was great for everyone, especially instructors Susan Hollingsworth and Ryan Copenhagen.  These two really love working together to share their passion for the sport with new enthusiasts.  With such a small ratio of instructor to student, they were also able to spend more time individually with their students.  Since everyone learns concepts differently, both instructors helped to describe and demonstrate various exercises. 

At the end of day 2 on the Klickitat River, students were blissfully exhausted.  Practicing all afternoon the skills it takes to get down the river successfully, everyone was excited for their next day on the river. 

Thanks to Loree and Ryan for the photos!

White Salmon, July 5th 2010

Susan Hollingsworth - Wet Planet Lead Kayaking Instructor

Back at 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.

We began in the pool where this amazing group of people began their journey into the world of whitewater kayaking. The enthusiastic and supportive vibe the group carried as a whole made me feel grateful that I would be a part of this experience. They cheered, they jested, and they jumped right in.

Everyone experienced the wet exit and the awkward and unnatural feeling that cmes when flipping upside down in a kayak for the first time. Most went beyond this, practicing several times. With each time, I could see them realizing that it actually was not all that hard or scary. They began to see that they were learning how to kayak.

Taking it to Rowland Lake, the group worked on paddling skills in preparation for Day 1 Grand Finale: Kayak Polo.

Stryka got vicious, Nomad got after it and Robstar even provided the group's first real wet-exit. The game was not only full of laughter, but also significantly better paddling technique. Funny how even when the activity isn't specifically getting comfortable in a kayak, that is the outcome.

Taking to the Klickatat River's Icehouse section, a favorite local teaching stretch for the Wet Planet Kayak Instruction staff, the group completed their first river trip the following day. While there were several swims, everyone seemed to understand how great life can really get. Seeing Carnage's smile reminded me how lucky we are to be able to experience such a beautiful place.

The week slowly moved on until somehow it was nearly over. The campers visited a farm at the base of Mt. Hood for fresh strawberry picking, got a few more days on the water and even rafted the famous Middle White Salmon in Husum, Washington.

Everyone seemed to be learning more about themselves everyday through their experience on the river. As an instructor at Wet Planet, I thrive on the development of confidence and passion through whitewater kayaking. This group of people perhaps showed it to me more than any other I've worked with.

Tonight the second week of First Descents in the Columbia Gorge arrives. New--and crazy--names, great people and probably some butterflies in stomaches! I can't wait to see what I'll learn this week!

Susan Hollingsworth - Wet Planet lead Kayaking Instructor

Wet Planet river guide and Rescue 3 certifying river rescue instructor Jonathan Blum continues to enlighten another group of river professionals and enthusiasts with this past weekend's Whitewater Rescue Technician course. This certification, through Rescue 3 International, helps build confidence and experience in maintaining safe river trips, as the 6 participants discovered.

The group used classroom facilities right here at the Wet Planet base to begin their three days of river rescue skill. Practicing with the equipment that a typical river guide, kayaker or rafter can carry, the group explored the benefits of mechanical advantage. Instructor Jonathan Blum demonstrated which knots and anchor systems work best for specific scenarios, allowing the participants to set up them on their own. The classroom also allowed the group to discuss the most efficient procedures in assessing a scene before taking the knowledge to the river.

Sitting right on the White Salmon River, Wet Planet's location allowed for more time spent on practicing these skills. The group used rafts and kayaks while descending the rapids to create real-life scenarios of possible problems that can occur when on the river. The most difficult part of many courses is creating scenarios on the river that can safely educate without creating a true rescue. Jonathan has been using the White Salmon to instruct the Whitewater Rescue Technician course for years.

The people at Wet Planet truly believe in creating a safe and passionate river community. By offering courses like this weekend's WRT, they know that more people will be getting out to enjoy the waters safely.

If you are interested in knowing more about river rescue, look into the next WRT course this September!

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. 

With the Columbia Gorge as their stomping grounds, Wet Planet Staff have blown away the competition in all arenas.

Winning team “Off The Cowch” comprised of four Wet Planet river staff members took the win for most vertical feet dropped with nearly triple the amount of feet of their competition. 

1^st place overall: Drew Austell 41,130 ft

3^rd place overall: Curt Joyce 30, 865 ft

4^th place overall: Lance Reif 28,205 ft

19^th place overall: Andy Round 14,965 ft

Total Vertical Feet: 149,800!  That’s 28 vertical miles!

Even more incredible the Off the Cowch team also took the win for most money raised by a landslide.  Together, these motivated river enthusiasts raised $5,610 for First Descents. 

Coming in second place is Wet Planet’s new Kayak Instructor Susan Hollingsworth and her Femme 45 team of local extreme ladies.  Winning the Women’s Division, these ladies also beat out teams in every other division.  Susan also raised nearly $800 on her own for First Descents. 

8^th place overall: Susan Hollingsworth 25,085 ft

Additionally, Kayak Instructor Heather Herbeck’s woman’s team, River Angels, took the second place in the women’s division with Heather contributing the most vertical feet for her team of talented female kayakers.

14^th place overall: Heather Herbeck18,062 feet

These highly motivated individuals have clearly shown the caliber of whitewater the region has to offer, beating out teams in all parts of the country.  Wet Planet couldn’t be more proud of their staff. 

Facilitated by lead instructor Andy Round, the two day training session not only updated new instructors on logistical procedures but also provided an open learning environment for everyone involved.  Focusing on teaching a beginner kayaking class, the instruction staff practiced explaining concepts in different ways to better reach every student.  New teaching methods were presented and classic ones were reinforced. 

The training began at Wet Planet Whitewater Center’s home base, using the private kayak pool to discuss flatwater techniques and key exercises like the wet exit, edge control and hip snaps.  Extra attention was given to refining teaching methods for the kayak roll.  From there, the group moved to Northwestern Lake at the mouth of the Middle White Salmon River to practice paddling. 

Heading to the Klickitat River on day two, the group of instructors continued to discuss various ways of reaching different students.  Focusing on eddy turns, ferrying and reading rivers; the day was filled with tons of new information. 

Veteran instructors like Lance Rief, Ryan Copenhagen, Curt Joyce, Brian Lee and Drew Austell shared their successes with various teaching methods while new instructors Susan Hollingsworth and Molly Downy contributed ideas from their teaching experience in other parts of the country. 

Together, everyone was able to walk away with more tricks up their sleeve and an even greater enthusiasm for teaching kayaking.  A more passionate and skilled group of kayak instructors would be hard to find!

Susan Hollingsworth - Wet Planet Kayaking Instructor

Learning about the White Salmon River and its Place in the Community - the 2010 White Salmon Riverfest & Symposium.  This weekend marked the fifth annual White Salmon Riverfest & Symposium. The event - each year hosted by Wet Planet Rafting & Kayking was a huge success once again - bringing 50 people to a river symposium on Friday and another 80 to a community rafting event on Saturday afternoon!

The community raft float was also made possible with the additional support of All Star Rafting, River Drifters, All Adventures Rafting and various community guides donating their time to reach out to the community. It was a huge message, and greatly appreciated by the community. We were able to reach out to many of our neighbors who in having lived here for 10 or 20 years, had never gone on the river. Until now.  One thank you note received days after the event said that a whole new appreciation was gained for both the river and its community! Mission accomplished.

A special shoutout to the historical Trout Lake Country Inn for hosting the Symposium on such short notice, and to Everybody's Brew Pub for "putting up" with the band (4 on the floor)on Saturday night, allowing our crowd to properly conclude the riverfest with music, food and beverages .... Good times for all.

Friday's Symposium was a great way for raft guides, local paddlers and other members of the community to get together to learn more about the White Salmon River. We tested our local knowledge on questions ranging from how the White Salmon got its name (salmon turn white when they die and they have trouble swimming upstream on the White Salmon) to Washington's official folk song (). That was followed by a presentation from Chip Carroll of the Headwater Institute who explained that if a 24-pack of drinks represented all the world's water, then just three drops of that total represented all the active rivers - and we need to make sure to preserve and protect the ones we have.

Lorri from the Columbia River Keepers office taught us about water quality next and what concerned citizens can do (volunteer!) to help maintain and improve the quality of the water in our local rivers. The next presentation revolved around the status of Condit Dam and hopes (and plans) for it to be removed in October of 2011. Emily Platt from Gifford Pinchot Task Force and Ross Houbon from Pacific Corp shared information about the status, and thoughts about what's next.  We got a real treat after that - as we were visited by two birds of prey (with their handler from Rowena Rapter Rescue Program, of course)! Wet Planet owner Todd Collins then told us about the geological makeup of the Columbia Gorge area, taking everyone outside for an informative - and muddy - presentation. Thank you Nicki for some great assistance pre- and during presentation! (on the picture she's seen creating the new cascade mountain range).

As great a start as that was - everyone was on the edge of their seats for the day's final presentation - a retrospective on the White Salmon and whitewater in general from 1985-1995 from the man who saw it all (and wrote about most of it): Jeff Bennett! Jeff was gracious enough to stay around and sign copies of his book afterwards, and we had to start cleaning up just to get people to leave!

While Friday's focus was on educating those who spent a lot of time on the river, Saturday was about encouraging local folks to get in a raft and get on the river! With prices slashed to $15/person and multiple rafting companies, including Wet Planet Whitewater, All Adventures Rafting, All Star Rafting, and River Drifters, donating rafts and guides - and many of the guides working on a volunteer basis themselves - 80 community members took advantage of the offer and finally sunny skies to take 13 rafts down the White Salmon in an adventure that surely nobody will soon forget.

Of course, none of the weekend's events would have been possible without so many gracious donations from those involved in the local community, including: Solstice Restaurant, Strawberry Mountain, Dog River,  Girls 4 Play, Good News Gardening, Ground Hood River, Ground White Salmon, Henny's, Immersion Research, Kayak Shed, Kokatat, Los Reyes, Next Adventures, NRS, Pistil, Shortt Supply, Solstice Restaurant, the US Forest Service, Wet Planet Whitewater, Cor Cellars, Naked Winery, White Salmon Vineyard, Wind River Cellars and Full Sail Brewing.

While planning an event like this can be challenging even in the best of times, this weekend's turnout and positive feedback already have us working on the White Salmon Riverfest & Symposium 2011! Big Big Big thanks go out to Wet Planet's Hootie Boucher and Heather Herbeck. Driven by their passion for the White Salmon River, its whitewater community and for their committment to the Wet Planet philosophy, they work really hard each winter creating each year's event.  As we further establish and develop this annual event each year, we welcome and encourage anyone's help, feedback and participation in creating the event. It is a community event - organized by and enjoyed by you all!!

Wet Planet traveled to the Mt. Hood National Forest on the Clackamas River to find a festival rich with tradition and competition. The Upper Clackamas Whitewater Festival began back in 1984 by the Northwest Rafter's Association. Over the years this event has grown to include numerous vendors, competitions and clinics.

At our booth, Wet Planet was represented by Heather Herbeck and Lori Turbes. Lori just moved out here from the Minnesota so she was experiencing a little bit of culture shock. She didn't realize how many various objects people inflated to float or row down the river! She was taken back by the rafting phenomenon that takes place in the Pacific Northwest and how popular inflatable kayaks are. She had heard of inflatable kayaks but didn't imagine how popular they were and to see people competing in them was a whole new experience. For now you'll see this Minnesota girl in a "hard shell" (whitewater kayak) but don't be surprised if curiosity gets the best of her and you see her on something inflatable!

Heather and Lori enjoyed spending the day with festival goers who stopped by to say hello, reminisce about their rafting trips on the Wild & Scenic White Salmon or learn about the many courses and clinics offered by Wet Planet! Participants had the opportunity to register for a 2 day beginner kayak course or a 4 person rafting trip on the White Salmon. Congratulations to Mike Ross for winning the drawing!

Wet Planet was also sharing exciting information on the upcoming White Salmon Riverfest & Symposium! This event will be held Friday June 4th & Saturday June 5th at the Trailhead (formely known as the Trailhead B&B) in Troutlake, WA.

Wet Planet would like to thank everyone who stopped by our booth. We enjoyed hearing about your stories and look forward to getting out on the river with you!

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.

In my opinion the course was a huge success; we got out on 4 different rivers including the White Salmon River, Klickitat River, the East and West fork of the Hood River, the Main Hood as well as the Wind River. We spent every weekend with a great group of people learning the essentials to become a whitewater rafting guide.

The 8 days on the river covered a wide range of topics relevant to turning all of us into competent and knowledgeable raft guides with continued practice. We covered river hydrology, class system ratings, learning to read water and your crew. We discussed the importance of trip talks and why it's important to inform your rafters whether they are friends on a private trip or commercial guests about what is going on during the river trip. We also practiced our trip talks on each rafting trip we took. All of us got a lot of stick time (time in the back guiding) and some of us even got to kayak for the first time! Of course we had a rescue day with our swift water rescue instructor Todd Collins where we learned a lot and got the pleasure of swimming rattlesnake rapid and practicing rescue techniques.

All in all it was a great course and with more practice we can all take the knowledge we gained and get out on the river, whether it is with friends on a private trip or working as a commercial raft guide. Wet Planet Guide School 2010 was awesome!

As the 2010 season at Wet Planet starts to gear up, the staff got a front row seat to experience one of the multi-day trips we offer on the Owyhee River in southeastern Oregon. With 4 very full rafts and 4 kayaks, 14 of us began our long journey and kicked off our official staff trip. With sunny skies and warm weather, our put-in location near Rome, OR was amazing and we set off in search of stunning scenery, raw wilderness, and great whitewater. As we wound through stunningly deep canyons and 360 degree views, we had a wide array of weather through our 4-day, 57 mile trip including snow, hail, rain, and gale force winds. The wind was so strong at times rafts were blowing up stream and kayaks were flipping!

Spring had most definitely sprung as Canadian geese and ducks led their babies along the shore. We kept our spirits high by staying plenty warm and eating a ton of delicious food prepared by our own staffers! I do believe some of us ate better at camp than we do at home. Hiking, finding natural hot springs, and the occasional bocce ball game allowed the staff to bond and enjoy some down time before the season really starts to pick up. Some staffers are just starting to reunite after leaving Husum last summer. Everyone had a great time (despite a few feeling under the weather) and pitched in, especially our oar rafts. Our take-out at Birch Creek was a bit anti-climatic as we got out to find our vehicles had not been shuttled and we were left high and dry until Todd and Curt hitched a ride back to the put-in and brought the van and truck back just as the sun was setting. After a long wait at Birch Creek, exploring an interesting truck stop, and enduring the long drive home to headquarters, it marked the end of another successful and memorable staff adventure here at Wet Planet. We offer the Owyhee River as one of our many multi-day trips and trust me; you won't want to miss taking advantage of Oregon's Grand Canyon with Wet Planet guiding you along the way.

Hard to believe right now as it is dumping snow right now (!), yesterday it was a lovely sunny spring day! Sun was out, water big, spring flowers in bloom, our guest bundled up and happy.  On this sunny April fool's day, we opened our doors and Lance and Heather pumped up our rafts to get on the river. The reservation was no joke, and the group arrived in full anticipation. With a small one boat trip, the day on the river was beautiful, secluded and full of big rapids as we sped through the deep canyons of the White Salmon River.  We had the river to ourselves!
It is shaping up to be a great season, with Guide School starting tomorrow, lots of trips on the White Salmon, Klickitat and Wind Rivers this and the following April weekends. With activity beginning to bustle around the head quarters we are all giddy with the excitement of another great season filled with rafting and kayaking adventures!

Don't fret about the cool weather, the snow and rain mean that were going to have big water this spring season. Bring it on, were ready! Check out Lance Reif leading his crew through Rattle Snake Rapid, while Heather Herbeck is providing support in her kayak. Don't be fooled by the pink outfit, she is hard core.