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?

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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.

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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.

According to a recent article about the wildfires in the Sonora Union Democrat, Highway 120 is open all through Yosemite National Park and over Tioga Pass.

On an entirely different note… Idaho weather has been perfect the last few days, with lots of sun but temperatures have not been too hot.  We expect temps above 100 for the first time this coming weekend.  River flows have been fluctuating daily in accordance with the temperature.  Since last Wednesday the Snake River is up to 14,300 cfs from 12,900cfs.  The Main Salmon River and Middle Fork of the Salmon River have gone down slightly.  Slight fluctuations have made for some exciting water and should make for great white water trips.
 

A June 25, 2008, satellite image of California wildfires.  Red outlines show the places where the sensor detected actively burning fires.

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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.

If you are prone to asthma or are sensitive to smoke, be sure to bring an inhaler with you.  (I have very mild asthma, but haven’t had to resort to using my inhaler as yet.)  Personally, I find the conditions to be the perfect excuse to get out on a river.  Any excuse will do.

Check out California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection for further California wildfires information.

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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…

Maybe you’ve seen some of Justin Bailie’s images in Backpacker?  Men’s Journal?  Outside?  Sunset?  Keep an eye out for his work in the 2009 catalog…  I’m thinking we need to convince him to lead an O.A.R.S. photography trip. (hint, hint)

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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.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-San Francisco, is pushing back by pointing out that oil companies already have leased 68 million acres on and offshore, capable of producing 4.8 million barrels of oil a day, which have not yet been developed. She plans a vote on a bill to bar oil firms from bidding on new leases until they start tapping the acres they already hold.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration predicted last year that if the moratorium were lifted, it would take until 2012 to start leasing the areas and until 2017 before oil began to flow. The agency estimated that U.S. oil production would increase by 7 percent - about 200,000 barrels a day - by 2030, which it said would have an "insignificant" impact on oil prices.

There was a recent article in the NY Times about the current state of oil production in Saudia Arabia. Saudi Arabia is currently pumping 9.45 million barrels a day, which is an increase of about 300,000 barrels from last month. The world’s biggest oil exporter is planning to increase its output next month by about a half-million barrels a day, according to analysts and oil traders who have been briefed by Saudi officials.

Learn the facts. Contact your senator and/or congressperson to let them know your opinion. As a reminder, the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is public land owned jointly by all U.S. citizens.

Listed below are links with more information about the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

“Study: ANWR oil would have little impact”
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4542853/

Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC)
http://www.nrdc.org/land/wilderness/arctic.asp

Alaska Wilderness League
http://www.alaskawild.org/our-issues/arctic-national-wildlife-refuge-campaign

McCain’s View in a recent NY Times article
http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/06/19/mccain-reiterates-opposition-to-drilling-in-wildlife-refuge/

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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.

He continued, “We’re running our last Merced River trip of the season this Friday. However, the Middle Fork (of the American) trips are just getting underway – that’s a great Class IV run. We’ll run trips on the Middle Fork, the South Fork and the “T” through September.”

And how about the remainder of O.A.R.S. guide schools?

“We just completed the final guide school of the year, and we hired a handful of new guides. You’ll have to check with Clavey (Wendt - Forks of the American Operations Manager) to see how our first South Fork Wine and Raft trip went. They’re out there right now sipping their day away.”

There you have it from the Big California Cheese… Good flows, good guides, good people. Yeah… it IS all good.

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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.

"This is our version of Katrina," Johnson County Emergency Management spokesman Mike Sullivan said of Iowa City. "This is the worst flooding we’ve ever seen."

I visited Iowa on a whim once (which led to a stint as a Women’s Chicken Calling Contest judge at the 2007 Iowa State Fair) and am still astounded by the kindness and generosity shown to me. Of all the places I’ve been, of all the people I’ve encountered – Iowans by far are the most genuine and friendly and caring.

In the spirit in which I was treated…

Here are some links to help with flood victims in Iowa:

http://www.kcci.com/news/16552924/detail.html

http://www.aidmatrixnetwork.org/fema/states.aspx?ST=Iowa

A great source for up-to-date news can be found in the Iowa Flood News blog and in the Des Moines Register.

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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’.

Julian reported, “If it was dammed at all, it was on the late afternoon/early evening of June 10, not the morning of June 11. If a ten-foot-high dam (a generous estimate) was emplaced, it would create a lake about 1.5 miles long (the gradient shown on the river survey is 7 or 8 feet per mile), holding an extra 5 million cubic feet of water (assuming a river width of 200 feet). It would take the river, with a discharge of about 20,000 cubic feet per second, only a few hundred seconds (i.e. about 10 minutes) to fill this volume and overtop the dam. This is consistent with what we could see at the time, albeit from a distance and in dim light. These numbers might be off by a factor of several, but a dam holding the river back for more than an hour, and certainly until the next morning, is out of the question.”

Julian also reported, “The detailed description of Les Oldham’s accident must be pure speculation, since neither Al nor Bob Holland claims to have seen or otherwise know what actually happened. Nobody who actually saw what happened has yet been found. Oldham’s partner, Al Holland, was in a separate boat, and didn’t realize anything was seriously amiss until below the rapid, when someone asked, "Where’s Les?" He says he has had nightmares about all the possibilities (broken oar, catapulting boatman, …) for years, but just doesn’t know. The replacement boatman reported that all the oars on the boat were unbroken. That’s about all we know. Roy Webb told me he doesn’t know if there was an autopsy. If there was, it might provide some evidence.

“Calling the flood a "slide" is similarly speculative. Nobody has investigated its origin, as far as I know. Our observations at the time were of an initial debris flow followed by a lot of water for a couple of hours. The cleanness of the rocks the next morning confirms this.”

Julian, O.A.R.S. Founder & President, George Wendt, Doug McDowell and others were part of the recent raft party organized by Roy Webb, from the University of Utah’s Special Collections at the J. Willard Marriott Library. The Warm Spring History trip was organized to get as many of the people who were there at the time of the events, or have first-hand knowledge of the events, to record facts.

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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.

(The main lodge.)

(The living room.)

(One of the bedrooms.)

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