Extras…Historic Rafting Photos From the Past (1969 -1979)
Posted July 31, 2021 by Gregg Armstrong, Co-FounderView time: 2 mins
It’s always fun to find something you didn’t know existed until you stumble upon it. That was the case here as we dug through our 94-year-old founder George Armstrongs’s photo closet! Check out the images and don’t forget to read the caption explaining the value of each nugget.
(1969) One of George’s trips with his highschool students on the Mokelumne River. Check out the old collar life jackets and the wooden paddles!
(1970) Early Armstrong family trip on the Middle Fork of the Salmon in Idaho. Notice the old “Black Military Basket Boat”. It was the only type of raft accessible when the sport of rafting first began!
(1970) George’s wife Dolores (rt) and her sister Norma on the Middle Fork of the Salmon in Idaho having a good time (= common on rafting trips from then until now).
(1972) George and son Randy on an early Rogue River trip making dinner for the rest of the family (the only spice they used in the meal = sand).
(1977) Training boat on the Main Stanislaus with Peggy (white head scarf), AO’s first female guide (during those first years of rafting trips it was a chauvinistic guide pool until George showed up).
(1979) AO’s early world operational and corporate headquarters in the US (George and Dolores' home in Walnut Creek!)
(1979) Mario, the first non-blood related guide for AO taking a crew down the Main Stanislaus. Notice the legs outside the boat = a no-no today.
(1979) Early guide Clay runs into chaos on Widowmaker rapid on the Main Stanislaus. Sometimes things don’t go as planned.