What is new and exciting with O.A.R.S.? New trips? Last-minute openings? Hot travel tips? News from the rivers? Latest river fashions?
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Professional adventure, lifestyle, environmental and travel photographer based out of Manzanita, Oregon.
Moving water is the greatest stress reliever I know. On rivers, life is reduced to its simplest form: your only tasks are to make and break camp, make sure the kids are safe and let the current carry you downstream. Everything else is superfluous.
Mother of two and author of Outside Magazine's Raising Rippers — a blog on bringing up adventurous kids. Arnold is also a freelance writer and editor who focuses primarily on subjects such as: adventure, travel, sports, health, and the environment. Her stories have appeared in The New York Times, Men's Journal, ESPN the Magazine, Marie Claire, Runner's World, Elle, and Sunset Magazine (among others).
SOMETIMES ALL YOU NEED ARE A FEW PIECES OF GEAR AND A RUGGED LANDSCAPE TO ESCAPE and sometimes all you need is a sea kayak on the open water. Some of the most beautiful places on Earth are best seen from the quiet solitude of a kayak.
Cari Morgan is a freelance writer and founder of Evoke PR. She currently lives and plays in the Sierra Foothills.
IF YOU THINK HIKING NINE MILES IN OR OUT OF THE GRAND CANYON IS AS EASY AS WALKING TO THE STORE, AND IF YOU SORTA-KINDA GET IN SHAPE IN BETWEEN GOING TO THE MOVIES AND MAKING DINNER, YOU’LL BE JUST FINE, THINK AGAIN. VETERAN O.A.R.S. GUIDE, JEFFE ARONSON OFFERS INSIGHT INTO WHAT IT TAKES TO HIKE THE LEGENDARY BRIGHT ANGEL TRAIL.
Trust me. More than a few folks have limped their way to and from the boats, missing hikes to waterfalls and swimming holes because they’re too beat up, eating ibuprofen like candy.
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Jeffe Aronson rows dories in the Grand Canyon. His love of rivers, and evocative descriptions of wild places and the constant tension and nearness of death, has gripped travelers and readers alike for the duration of Jeffe's 36 years as a river guide and story teller. Jeffe is currently seeking an agent for his book, River God—a riveting collection of adventure narratives that reveals nature at her wildest and most beautiful, or as Jeffe says, "River God takes readers places they yearn to glimpse, but dare not go."
O.A.R.S. guide James Rodger states his case for the preservation of the Futaleufu River in Patagonia.THE FIRST TIME I VISITED PATAGONIA I WAS TOLD TO TRY A LOCAL BERRY CALLED CALAFATE. ONCE I SWALLOWED IT, MY FRIEND AND HOST KAROLINA SMILED AND INFORMED ME THAT I WOULD FOREVER BE TIED TO PATAGONIA AND WOULD ALWAYS RETURN.
That was over 10 years ago—since then many North American winters have been spent with friends and guests on the banks of the Futaleufu River. During the last 10 years I have been watching as the politics of water have been playing out on two rivers to the south of the Futaleufu. The Rio Baker and Rio Pascua have slowly been going through environmental reviews and planning for the HidroAysén project—the largest power project in the history of Chile—which would flood 5,900 hectares of some of the world’s last wilderness and include a 3,000-kilometer long power transmission line heading north past my second home, the Futaleufu. The overwhelming response of Chilean citizens who are affected by this project is negative, with protests and marches demanding a stop to it: “Sin Represas de Patagonia!” All are concerned because it may not stop with the Rio Baker and Rio Pascua.
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In July 2011, we sent 15-year-old Sarah Faller down the Snake River through Hells Canyon with a challenge to describe, in her own words, an O.A.R.S. rafting trip. (Sarah is no stranger to the river life—or to O.A.R.S. —having rafted the Main Salmon River with us in 2010.)
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I started rafting the Main Salmon River in 1992 – it was my first multi-day wilderness trip and I was very excited and a little intimidated! The put-in point is a long drive from the town of Salmon, driving alongside the river the entire way. The North Fork joins the Main just outside town and many miles downriver, the Middle Fork enters and about doubles the size of the river.
This is Lewis & Clark country as this river canyon turned them away from attempting to canoe down the canyon and they turned and went into Montana. There are many historic sites commemorating this event on the drive to the edge of the wilderness. This is the Frank Church – River of No Return – Wilderness which is adjacent to the Bob Marshall Wilderness in Montana. Together they form the largest wilderness area in the lower 48 states. Outfitters put into the river at Corn Creek which is where the road ends and you enter the magnificent river canyon.
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Adventure Media is the brainchild of founder Nancy Harrison. Nancy only started adventuring at the age of 40 when she learned to ski, whitewater raft and horseback ride while living in Winter Park, Colorado. Moving to Wyoming gave her the opportunity to enjoy fly fishing, hiking and camping, sea kayaking, and many other nature-based activities. Nancy has two grown children and four grandsons, all of whom enjoy the outdoors - fishing, hiking, camping, water sports and snow sports. Nancy is a true Citizen of the West who has lived her entire life in the Rocky Mountain States. She has become an expert in her field of media relations and spends a good deal of her time each year teaching and lecturing on PR to groups such as The International Ecotourism Society, America Outdoors, the Adventure Travel World Summit and many state and regional conferences and international gatherings.
My years of experience as a professional river guide have shown me that the trips I remember and learn from the most have been those with a purpose. Trips like these accomplish a therapeutic value from the overall experience of being in nature, and floating down a river. For me, the Green River’s, Gates of Lodore river trip was an opportunity to observe this therapeutic value through the eyes of veterans coping with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The thirteen veterans who participated in this trip were from various wartime operations, which included Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan, and Central America.
For those who suffer from PTSD, being on a river trip enables them to have new experiences and at the same time create a sense of normalcy. One Veteran summarized, “Most vets that are in these programs have lost their self-respect to the point where they feel they cannot contribute to anything anymore, so a lot of this may seem minute to some people…It is a big deal to the vets…it gives us a feeling that we can start over and still be useful”. The veterans were introduced to an oar raft, a paddle raft, and an inflatable kayak through rapids, slept in tents, and hiked up side canyons to waterfalls. All these new experiences added to the rivers ability to recharge them and build self-efficacy.
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Teresa Yates Matheson started guiding through the Colorado River in Grand Canyon in 1985 with Georgie Clark, one of the early pioneers of river running. Her twenty-year river career includes commercial and scientific expeditions, where she did research on fisheries, sediment, vegetation, and wildlife. Since her recent graduation from the University of Utah, Teresa is in the process of writing about how the environment has influenced her life, and the therapeutic value of wilderness. She has published Slithering Company and Nankoweap’s Wild Kingdom in Crista Sadler’s, There’s This River: Grand Canyon Boatmen Stories. Her image of Georgie Clark has been published in several videos and books.
“The boat slid down the Boundary Creek ramp…” – or some variation can begin the tale.
Each river has a point of reference, which triggers memories grown dim with the distractions of daily living. Around the Grand Canyon, a mention of Lee’s Ferry can make a normally reserved acquaintance into a raconteur. In the Salmon River country, referring to the Boundary Creek put-in ramp could lead to such an earful of adventures from a Middle Fork veteran that you may decide to disappear from ‘civilization’ long enough to gather a few stories of your own.
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Author of Livin' the Dream: Testing the Ragged Edge of Machismo (Raven's Eye Press, 2010), Brad Frank has done time as a: Colorado native, sawmill savage, fruit picker, artist, wanderer, poet, seasonal worker, commercial driver, photographer, traveling coffeehouse proprietor, outdoor guide, river rat and writer. Since 2005 he has been listed as a contributing editor and senior correspondent for Mountain Gazette, a magazine that sagely advises, "When in doubt, go higher." More stories from B. can be found at bfrankbroadsides.com.
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Tips, tricks and life-saving advice!When it comes to hopping on a plane for a rafting trip in Fiji, a sea kayaking expedition in the Galapagos, or any other big adventure outside of the U.S., thoughtful planning and packing is critical. We’ve compiled a list of expert advice ranging from clothing to what to have for worst case scenario peace of mind. Keep this list handy the next time you’re gearing up for a big trip. It could save you a headache, or your life.
Before you go. Make a copy of your passport, email a PDF version to yourself and if you’re traveling with a smartphone, take a photo of it. Yes, you’ve heard this one a hundred times, but it’s so easy to forget.
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Cari Morgan is a freelance writer and founder of Evoke PR. She currently lives and plays in the Sierra Foothills.
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