The All-Outdoors Whitewater Rafting California River Blog

Friends of the River’s annual California River Festival just got even better.  AO owner Scott Armstrong has been invited to present a slideshow and talk on his 2005 expedition to Ethiopia’s Blue Nile.  Scott helped lead the expedition’s international team from the source of the Nile to the Sudanese boarder.  There were nights in bat caves, dinners of power bars and tuna, snapping crocs, remote villages, thundering whitewater in rock-walled canyons, and lots of high adventure. 

As you can imagine the expedition provided many opportunities for whipping out the camera, and I can personally attest to the beauty (and sometimes humor) of Scott’s photography.  We’ve all sat through excrutiating travel pics, trapped in the monotony of one boring snapshot after another–in fact let’s face it we’ve all probably been the person droning on and on–but I am here to tell you that this is one slide show you will really enjoy.  You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll be really grateful for the infrastructure in the United States. (more…)

Bookmark This!

Cupid’s summer home must be the clouds above our River Office because we have some serious love goin’ on around here, love that has turned into over 20 AO marriages, and a veritable pre-school of future river guides. Veteran guide Greg “Uncle Dunkel” got the bright idea a few years ago to round everybody up, circle the diaper bags, and have a baby party on the South Fork. It’s turned into an annual tradition, and Greg’s wife Saskia took a bunch of pictures of brand-new sprouts and big kids alike:

(left: Greg and Rowan, Steph and Owen)

(more…)

Bookmark This!

Tessa, Adam F., Steve S., Heather and I did a fun private trip this fall on the Ice House run of the South Fork of Silver Creek (off Highway 50 above Pollock Pines). For those of you familiar with Coloma on the South Fork of the American, the Ice House put-in is about a 45 minutes drive east of there. It is a Class IV run which flows during a small 2-week time period in November, when Ice House Reservoir releases anywhere between 500 and 1000 cfs out of the dam. Here’s a review I posted about it in a rafting forum when we got home, in case anyone is thinking about joining in next year!

Ice House was fun this last weekend! There were an unbelievable amount of people there. The weather was beautiful, and the trees weren’t nearly as bad as I imagined after hearing people’s stories from years past. In our group we had two kayaks, and two small 10 foot rafts. I was one of the rafters (we were R-2ing), and had a great time in that little boat. For anyone else thinking of rafting it, I think you could fit an AVON Explorer in that canyon as well. (Flows were around 500 cfs). The kayakers had to portage around four trees, and we had to portage five. The two most exciting rapids were the very first one, and (more…)

Bookmark This!

A massive oak tree fell down on the property across the street from the AO River Center in the early January storm. It was well over a hundred years old—might have been growing here in this valley during the Gold Rush. It shaded the old Lotus hotel before it bit the dust, shaded a tiny cabin and storage sheds, provided a home for hundreds of birds, creepy crawlies, and chattering ADD squirrels. It watched silently as Lotus Road turned from a sleepy country road into an increasingly busy thoroughfare. Buggies and old Ford trucks have changed into SUVs and Subarus with Kayaks strapped to the top.

Walking around the gigantic fallen trunks I noticed a remarkable thing—the tree had grown around a huge rusty iron chain. The links are thick as a finger and the wood had literally absorbed it, had just slowly and patiently grown around the invader, making it part of its body. This chain weaves in and out of the wood as though it were nothing but an errant branch, a strange leaf cluster, a patch of metallic lichen. It struck me how incredibly absorbent nature is, how deeply powerful rocks and trees and water remain in the face of humanity’s relentless transgressions. Iron chain didn’t stop that oak, and neither did the boards nailed to its side for an old tree fort. The tattered ropes tangled in its branches are puny reminders of how little the tree cares about the tiny machinations of man. Of course armed with a chain saw or some gasoline and a match, even I could wipe out that tree in a few murderous moments—but the point is that when we’re fairly matched, the tree is mightier than we are, and I think that deserves some respect. It wasn’t the nails or the chain or the traffic brought that tree down—it was the wind. (more…)

Bookmark This!

The question on every rafter’s mind right now is how the recent storms will impact the 2008 California rafting season. Our informants living in Tahoe tell us they are snowed in, skiing fresh powder, huddled by their heaters, and watching the snow pile up. Is this great news or what?

Well, yes and no. Frustrating though it may be, the reality is it’s just too soon to predict anything. What we do know is the storms were massive and even record-breaking in some regions. They were so big they took the Sierra snowpack from downright dismal to average for this time of year almost overnight, which is great news. We also know much of the snow had really good water content, which is also good news for rafters. However, the storm season isn’t over, and we don’t know what will happen in the next few months.

Until we can tell you more, enjoy the ski season (you’ll probably see some of us on the slopes if you head up to Tahoe!), and keep hoping for more winter storms!

Bookmark This!

All-Outdoors’ 2008 whitewater rafting guide schools are on the books.

Our first school will be a split session in the spring. Guide school begins April 17-20 (Thurs-Sun) and continues the next week April 25-27 (Fri-Sun). We split our spring whitewater school into two sessions to make it easier for people to fit it into school and work schedules. Our second guide school will be a solid week in June, running from the 17th to the 23rd.

Each whitewater school will introduce students to the fundamental techniques of navigating whitewater rivers. Topics include reading water, class III guiding, swimming rapids, safety skills and using rafting equipment. Our guide school will also introduce you to the wide world of commercial guiding, including things like cooking in a wilderness setting, people skills and ethical wilderness exploration.

(more…)

Bookmark This!

Happy new year everyone! Here at the AO River Center in Lotus we’re hunkered down in the midst of a great big storm and even though the office floor is a muddy leaf-strewn mess, a tree fell down on my dad’s pasture fence last night, and we all look sort of like drowned rodents in our rain gear, wool hats, and boots, we’re excited by the reports of snow dumping down on the Sierras. Get out your chains when you dust off those skis and goggles–the snow is coming down hard.

It’s way too soon to predict what the snowpack will look like in the end, but at the moment, All-Outdoors is happy the new year is beginning with a good winter storm in our neck of the woods. When we have more information, Gregg A will get out his looking glass, magic beans, common sense, and years of experience and write up his 2008 California whitewater predictions. We’ll share that info with you as soon as we have it. For now though, we’re looking ahead to a great year !

(P.S: Holy Cow! The storm just cranked up a few notches–I think it’s trying to go from 10 to 11 on the dial. Branches are snapping off, sheets of rain are pummeling the road, and our ornamental garden is swimming in water. I think the power is threatening to go off at any second! I better hit publish before I lose contact with the outside world . . . )

Bookmark This!

Thanks for helping me clear out some room in my merchandise storage! I am happy to report I am officially out of the AO fleeces and I am ready to move on to fabulous new products for 2008.

As usual, our company garments will be original, guide-designed, and as eco and community friendly as possible. For me, that means I comb the ends of the earth for opportunities to buy American-made shirts, use local screen printers, and find garments made from recycled, organic, or other sustainable fabrics.

For years now we’ve had hemp shirts, organic cotton tanks, and recycled fleece and guide-issue board shorts–in 2008 I’ll continue to investigate opportunities to build the most sustainable merchandise program I can put together. It won’t be perfect, but as the garment industry begins to appreciate that many consumers and retailers want products that are hip, affordable, and also responsible, I hope I’ll have even more options. For now, I’ll continue to search out the needle in the haystack–I’ll let you know what I find.

Bookmark This!

I ordered too many fleeces and I’m on a rampage to clear out my storage space. Someone is bound to benefit from my early spring cleaning! This is the perfect Christmas present for the whitewater lover in your life!

The deal: I have a limited quantity of brand-new Patagonia fleeces that are embroidered with our “surf logo” on the chest. They are pull-over style, with kangaroo pocket in the front and they’re made from recycled fleece! Patagonia means they are made to last for ages. Frankly, they’ll last so long they’ll go out of style and still be going strong long enough to eventually be authentically retro. And on that distant day when your fleece finally gives up the ghost you can recycle it through Patagonia’s “Common Threads” recycling program.

The inevitable downside: I only have size large left. And I only have “Sultan Red,” a dark marroon-y red appropriate for both ladies and gents.

The bargin: These fleeces are $76 new–it says so right on the tags. But you can get your hands on one for a mere $45. I’ll even ship it to you for free. If you contact me soon I can get get it in the mail in time for Christmas……..

Email me at malina@aorafting.com or even better call me at 530 626 0882 extension 103.

(Danny doesn’t want to model but at least you can see the color)

Bookmark This!

The first day of August was unlike any other. After years of preparation, buckets of sweat, hundreds of crossed t’s, dotted i’s, foiled plots and careful designs, AO guides met AO guests at our River Property in Lotus. The

All-Outdoors River Center was officially open for business!! I rolled in late and missed everything because I was busy making a Coffee Cake to mark the occasion (one of my signature moves in life is to be late because I’m making a Coffee Cake). Luckily for all of us, Scott A had his camera at the ready and documented the momentous occasion. Frankly though, even his eagle eye and swanky camera couldn’t really capture the magic of the moment—it’s hard to articulate how much work and commitment went into bringing a raw and beautiful piece of property into a polished and beautiful space ready to welcome the public—our guests—to their day on the river with us. (more…)

Bookmark This!