There will be one less author in the blogosphere this week. I’m heading to the Rogue River for an O.A.R.S. photo shoot. Keep an eye out for my images on the O.A.R.S. facebook group. (and hopefully the 2009 catalog and website) Do you facebook?
Just got my National Geographic Adventure magazine in the mail this morning… and there is a sweet article about the Arctic’s Firth River. The trip is led by our very own Brian McCutcheon of O.A.R.S. sister company, R.O.A.M.
As mentioned in my previous post, O.A.R.S. is still running all of its California whitewater rafting trips on the South Fork American, Middle Fork American, Tuolumne, Upper Klamath, Lower Klamath and Cal Salmon as scheduled. (The rafting season is over for the North Fork of the Stan, Merced and North Fork American rivers.) It is still hazy in Northern California, however, air quality is improving daily. None of the areas in which O.A.R.S. operates in California are in danger.
I’ve been attempting to collect up-to-date and correct information about the fires in the Sierra Foothills. I’ve been checking a variety of agency websites, maps, news feeds, and I have been talking to local firefighters. (There is conflicting data out there.)
I spoke with some Groveland firefighters last night, and they informed me that the North Mountain Fire is burning approximately 15 miles northeast of the put-in of O.A.R.S. Tuolumne River trips. The fire is north of Hetch Hetchy in a remote area, and as of last night had burned more than 1,000 acres. They said there is no immediate danger to any structures or to the Groveland area.
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Yeah, it is just a tad hazy here in northern California. We had electrical storms over the weekend, which ignited close to 800 wildfires throughout the state. Some are big. Some aren’t so big. Despite Mother Nature’s wild display of power, O.A.R.S. is running all their California whitewater trips as planned.
Mosquito Ridge Road, the road leading to the Middle Fork of the American River, was closed recently. (It was being used by fire crews.) However, the road is now open, and O.A.R.S. has folks heading off for a full day of rafting there as I type this.
There were three wildfires burning near the Tuolumne River (within 15 miles of my home – yeah, I was freaking out). However, those fires have all been contained.
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One of O.A.R.S. favorite photographers (mine too!) just returned from a Middle Fork of the Salmon River trip in Idaho. Here are a few images…
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At the very foundation of O.A.R.S. lies the desire to preserve and protect of the earth’s natural resources. With that in mind, I feel compelled to report on recent discussions about our dependence on foreign oil and how that affects the perception of the "need" to drill in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
Lifted from an article in today’s SFGate:
“House and Senate Republicans are leading an almost daily drive for legislation to lift the federal moratorium on offshore drilling, increase oil shale development in the Rocky Mountain West and open Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil exploration.
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I caught up with James Rodger a second ago. (He’s O.A.R.S. California/Oregon Operations Manager). We haven’t seen him around the office much lately, and I wanted to know where’s he’s been. Inquiring minds want to know. (I thought maybe he was hiding out because his rockstar girlfriend just left to guide river trips in Peru…)
He told me, “Hey, we’re busy! California whitewater rafting is up. I think people are staying closer to home maybe due to gas prices. We just had some stellar runs on the Tuolumne River this past week or so. It was flowing around 3000 cfs, which is just a great flow. We had great folks and great flows. It’s all good.”
For the record, I think it’s always ‘good’ for James. He’s definitely the go-to guy, the one you want to be on a river with. Easy going. Experienced. Upbeat. Well-traveled. Playful. Responsible.
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A powerful reminder – it’s not just about whitewater rafting…
Mother Nature reminded us in a big way the past week of her overwhelming power. The kind folks in the Midwest, particularly Iowa, have been hit hard by severe storms, heavy rains, flooding rivers and personal devastation.
Iowa Governor Chet Culver recently stated that floodwaters have affected 50% of the state as nine major rivers in Iowa are flooding. The normal flow of the Des Moines River near Des Moines is around 7,000 cfs . In 2001, the max flow was 13,700 cfs. Yesterday it reached 39,100 cfs. The governor issued disaster proclamations for 83 of the state’s 99 counties. At least three deaths in Iowa have been attributed to the flooding.
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Mea culpa…
I thought I had done sufficient homework about the creation of the Warm Springs rapid on the Yampa River. I searched exhaustively the Internet and read Roderick Nash’s “The Big Drops” book. I should have, however, checked in with the folks who were on the scene.
According to Bruce Julian, who was on the Yampa River in 1965, Les Oldham was not the first person to run the new Warm Springs rapid. Nor was the Yampa dammed ‘for a few hours’.
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Hey, we’re not the only ones who think the Lodge at Chilko rocks! Check out the July issue of Outside Magazine for the article “From Vancouver to Labrador, Canada’s best new summer adventures. Plus: Why heading north with a weak dollar isn’t as costly as you might think.”
The Chilko Lodge, located just north of Whistler, is basecamp for the O.A.R.S. Chilko Multi-Sport trip. The action-packed itinerary for this trip includes five days and four nights of hiking, whitewater rafting, sea kayaking (on Chilko Lake), as well as fly fishing, yoga, hot-tubbing and just plain relaxing. There is still space available on the following dates: 6/29, 7/13, 7/20, and 8/10.
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