Approaching his 13th season with O.A.R.S., Lars has been a cornerstone of our Canyonlands operation. He’s seen his share of big whitewater, paints a pretty fancy toenail and delivers the best star talk you’ll likely ever hear on a river trip.

In 2011, we had a record breaking year for high water in Cataract Canyon. What stories come to mind when you reflect on that experience?

I stayed here in Moab, waiting to see that high water, and I finally got my chance. So there I was, in this oversized tin can, floating downstream with a family of four. We gave them every chance to get out of the boats and into the motorboats, but they said, “Nope, we’re with you guys all the way,” so I said, “Alright, here we go,” and untied our bowlines above Big Drop 1. We made it through Big Drop 1 and entered into Big Drop 2. I was the lead boat, and all of a sudden I found myself on a roller coaster of emotions. The first emotion was, “Oh my gosh, we’re really doing this, we’re really going to pump through this rapid at this amazing high flow. No one else is out here rowing this, it’s just us.” Then the roller coaster plunged off the backside and I had this horrible sinking feeling as I realized I was not making my move. And to make the move in Big Drop 2, you really have to be on the far, far right side of the river, almost brushing against the shore.

The dory didn’t make it. We were headed into a little feature we call Little Niagara, and as I dropped into that I gave it one hard push, and the dory just stood up and we looked at the sky and I thought to myself, “Wow, this roller coaster’s coming out, I’m going to make it over the backside!” and there came that sinking feeling again as we drifted back down into the pit. Then the dory flipped, we all swam, but all’s well that ends well. We were all smiling afterwards, eating lunch.

What runs through your head when dropping into Big Drop 2 and 3 at 90,000 CFS? Do you do anything special to prepare?

So when you’re down there running big water like that, before you push off from shore there’s a lot of stuff going through your mind. But once you tie up your bowline, coil it up, stow it away, my favorite technique is just to empty my head. Empty my head and let my body and brain take over because they know what to do. If I let my emotions get in there, that’s just going to get the best of me and stand in the way of me running a perfectly good line. So what I like to do is just focus, focus, focus on my run. Sometimes I close my eyes, take a deep breath, and visualize the rapid from top to bottom. Visualize every feature in that rapid, and what I need to do as a boatman to get my boat through those features and into the eddy down below.

Do you feel more comfortable rowing a raft or a dory in big whitewater? Why?

One of the things I like most about rowing a dory in any whitewater, but especially big water, is the fact they can just slice through the biggest wave. A wave that would take a rubber raft and smash it, crush it, knock it sideways and dump its occupants into the river. A dory will take that in stride, it was built for that. They were designed to slice through these waves, in the ocean, to go out and fish. We’ve taken that design to the next level now with these decked compartments and beautiful wood working; I think the dory is the ultimate craft for big water. If I had my choice, I’m gonna be in a dory every single time.

Watch the rest of this interview in the video above.

Related Articles:

How to End Up a Dory Convert

Falling for Utah: Hiking & Rafting Canyonlands’ Backcountry

Meet Stephen Kenney, Idaho & Colorado River Guide

The post VIDEO: There’s No Place Like High Water appeared first on River Currents.

Every once in a while, though, we get feedback from guests who describe the magic or transformation we hope to foster in words we wouldn’t have thought to use, in descriptions that surpass even our expectations.

Chris and Belinda Manuel, of Denver, CO, recently joined us on a Yellowstone-Grand Teton Explorer trip. They sent us a note following the trip that quickly got passed around the O.A.R.S. staff:

“At the end of the trip, on the drive back to the hotel, I remember looking at all the people parked on the side of the road or at the turn-offs taking pictures of the Grand Tetons. I remember feeling a little sorry for all of them because many of them were not ‘experiencing’ the park like we did. They were only going to capture a picture and then get back into the car. The park is so much more than a picture, and you get to appreciate this on your OARS adventure. Last year was our first O.A.R.S. trip. We enjoyed it so much that this year we are going with O.A.R.S. down the Colorado River to experience the Grand Canyon. We wanted more than a picture.”

Thank you, Chris and Belinda.

We can’t wait to see you on the Grand Canyon.

The post Guest Feedback: Yellowstone And Grand Teton National Parks appeared first on River Currents.

If you have a soft spot in your heart for rivers, then chances are Martin Litton is on your list of heroes.

He first floated the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon in 1955 — the 185th known person to follow in explorer John Wesley Powell’s footsteps. Not long after, he founded Grand Canyon Dories and has since led scores of trips on the Colorado. In 2004 he broke his own record becoming the oldest person to row the entire Grand Canyon at the age of 87.

Lifelong environmentalist and wilderness activist, the now 95-year-old Litton continues to speak mostly with his actions. He’s currently on the Advisory Committee of the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, a former travel editor for Sunset Magazine and he fought alongside fellow activists David Brower and Edward Abbey against dam proposals and the logging of Sequoia National Forest and Giant Sequoia National Monument.

How were you introduced to rivers?

At one point, I learned that a river trip — a Norm Nevills river trip, called Mexican Hat Expeditions — in 1952 was going to be running Lava Falls on a certain day. I don’t know how I found that out, but Esther and I had already taken the Toroweap Leap, that is where you step off the rim of the canyon and the whole side of the canyon starts moving with you as you go down to the bottom (to the river). We had done that and had actually climbed out at that point by Lava Falls. Don’t ever try it, it’s horrible, but at least I knew the way down and I’d decided to make a newspaper story out of it for the Los Angeles Times.

So I went over there, and a couple ladies who had gone down the river with Mexican Hat Expeditions found out about it and wanted to go with me. So we drove over there to the Toroweap Overlook (as it’s called), above Lava Falls, and we went down the so called trail. There is no trail, but as one of the ladies said, “From the moment we stepped off the rim, it was always a question as to which would reach the river first — us or the topography,” because everything moves when you move down that slide. So anyway, we got down there and I photographed what they did — they lined Lava Falls, they never ran it in those days. There was also a big cabin cruiser, a motorboat, in-board that was there being driven by Bob Rig of the Rig Brothers — that boat ran Lava Falls. So that big boat ran Lava Falls and I’ve got movies of that and stills. Those pictures of that run appeared in the Los Angeles Times, along with the article about what they were doing.

That really got me acquainted with the river because these people who ran the river with Nevills were about the only ones doing it and would always have big barbeques afterward and show all their slides. And those barbeques would be out in the San Fernando Valley somewhere, in a backyard, at night, and they would show the slides — everybody would show every picture that he or she had taken on the entire river trip. So you sat out there all night, eating and drinking and watching slides. And one of the people I met doing that, who had not been on the river at any time that I was associated with it, was P.T. Riley. He got in touch with me by phone later having met me there at this party, and wanted me to go down the river with him and row one of his boats that he was building out of fiberglass.

He knew I’d been on the crew rowing at UCLA, as if that would’ve had anything to do with skill on the river, it really wouldn’t, but as a result of that, even though I couldn’t row on the first trip because I’d had a bad accident with a horse and dislocated my shoulder. My arm was strapped to my side for the entire trip, 21 days; so I couldn’t row a boat on my first trip through the canyon. I was a passenger, and Esther went, she was a passenger, and there were a total — I think — of nine people on that trip taking these boats that P.T. Riley had made, which turned out to be [laughs] not very good boats. That started me.

Which river trip stands out most in your mind?

Maybe the second one which was the first time I rowed the boat all the way through with Esther, but actually until we got into dories — when we were no longer running those ridiculous little boats — we didn’t have great river trips because any trip in which you line a rapid and don’t run it can’t be really 100 percent great. We have to be able to handle all the rapids in the Grand Canyon, nothing from the shore, everything happens on the river, the boat makes it through and you hope you’ll be right side up at the other end, and we usually are.

What’s special about a dory?

Anyone who asks that question, what is special about a dory, has obviously never gone through the Grand Canyon in a dory. A dory is a shape that belongs on the river; it started in the ocean, conquered the waves of the ocean, and now conquers the waves or crashing water of almost any river. A dory is made for people to be in, it has the right shape. And in a Grand Canyon dory, you have the right places to put things, including yourself. The oarsman is accommodated as if the dory were made for him (or her), and it just belongs. I could describe the shape of a dory, which is a row boat, doesn’t have to be a row boat, it could have a motor on it, but ours never did; a boat propelled by two oars in the hands of a single oarsman because the decisions that are made as to the strokes you take and how you do the rowing have to be unanimous. The only way you get a unanimous decision is to have just one person making that decision, and the boatman (the oarsman) is responsible for what happens in the river because he/she is the one propelling and guiding the boat.

They show their utility, they say to you, “I belong on big waves; I’m stable, I’m sturdy, I’m wanting to go, and I respond to the oars beautifully,” that’s bragging, in a way, “and I’ll go where you want me to go, and I’ll carry what you want me to carry.” That’s what the dory does no matter how the water behaves.

How have modern-day dories evolved?

It’s hard to know how a dory evolved into the shape that it is now; although, you can say conditions caused that to happen. People wanted to go fishing in rough water in the Atlantic Ocean, Europeans. Gradually, they developed boats that were — more or less — self-righting (certainly were stable, as stable as you could get in big waves) and that were easy to maneuver, easy to row and that would move with pretty good speed. And gradually we came into the shape of what we call a dory. We say that the best representation of that was in Portugal, in the ocean fishing boats. Gradually that went West into the United States and we had fishing boats in New England that were similar; self-righting almost, very stable, easy to row, they moved readily when asked to, and so we got an Indian name, though I don’t know the evolution of the name dory exactly, but they say it’s an adaptation of an American Indian word, duri from the Caribbean Sea.

Then it became dory in New England and of course many, many fishing boats in New England are dories, rowed with oars (some are motored, of course, out into the ocean). When they moved west, we called them dories, eventually, but they were first called drift boats, mostly in Oregon where there are lots of runnable rivers and they were used for fishing, floating with the current of a river. Such as the Rogue River or the Mackenzie, and we ended up with a boat very similar, though not as big as the Grand Canyon dory. A Grand Canyon dory has to be bigger because it has to carry passengers through the canyon, not just one or two fisherman, and it has to be able to carry a load. It has to be able to haul all the equipment and all the supplies that are going to be needed on a trip of two or three weeks through the Grand Canyon which is going to take, well, time, obviously! And two or three weeks going through the Grand Canyon you need a hefty amount of supplies, so you put them in the dory, and once you close up the hatches, you hardly know they’re there. It just runs beautifully.

Why did you choose George Wendt and O.A.R.S. to carry on the dory legacy in the Grand Canyon?

The word got around, somehow, that I had other things to do. Grand Canyon Dories was doing alright, but that someone else could be owning it and managing it, yet I wasn’t willing to let it go just as a river running company and into some other hands in which it would run differently.

Things were going on in my life that demanded my attention and my presence more. I didn’t really want to stop what I was doing there, but owning Grand Canyon Dories was just too much fun. I couldn’t be having fun all the time, you know you’re not supposed to be happy in this world [laughs], and so I was ready to give up something that had made me very happy and which I’d enjoyed greatly. One of the conditions of the sale was that it would always be dories, and it would always be oar powered and they would run the trips the way we had run them. George happily signed up for that, there wasn’t a great deal of money involved. It could’ve gone higher if I had accepted some of the propositions I had from others, but George was the one I had faith in to do it right. He was doing it right with his oar-powered trips anyway, he just needed a little bit of an upgrade and that upgrade would be dories.

It said it on his license plate, “WE ROW,” and that meant that he was an advocate for rowing, so that gave him a pretty good place in my heart as one of those who wanted Grand Canyon Dories, who wanted to buy Grand Canyon Dories.

What is the most important issue facing us today?

The obvious, most important issue is numbers of people. The earth is already terribly overcrowded and overcrowding causes people to move around. In our case it causes people to move from Mexico to California, and [chuckles] we’re overcrowded. It’s the most important issue on the earth — movements of people, and growing numbers of people.

What is one thing you wish you had accomplished?

I wish I had accomplished some things in conservation that I did not. We could’ve stopped Glen Canyon Dam and we didn’t, but we didn’t try hard enough. We tried very hard in Grand Canyon dams and even harder in Dinosaur National Monument dams — those were our first big issue, and we beat them. Those were said to be necessary for the development of the West. Well we didn’t get them built, we fought against them, and they turned out to be unnecessary.

What are your favorite books about rivers?

What comes into my head immediately, and if I were to think longer I might find more, but a great book as far as the rivers are concerned (especially the Colorado River) is, Time and the River Flowing by Francoise Leydet. He’s one of the greatest writers in history that had a few problems that he couldn’t overcome, but when he did sit down and write a book it was a masterpiece. The amount of work that went into that is not only amazing, but the result is amazing. Time and the River Flowing: Grand Canyon by Francoise Leydet. Another one that he did was called, The Last Redwoods about saving the redwoods, and as a result of that book, more than any other thing, we obtained Redwood National Park.

Who are some of your heroes?

What’s heroic about having a good time? That’s what you’re doing when you’re in the Grand Canyon. Maybe not every minute, if you end up out of the boat and in the water, and the boats upside-down, you don’t feel heroic at that time.

What about conservation role models?

It certainly included David Brower who was the greatest conservationist of all time, that doesn’t limit him to the Grand Canyon though, I’m speaking of worldwide events. Dave Wegner, he worked for the Bureau of Reclamation and his job was to persuade the river runners and other conservationists that there could be dams in the Grand Canyon damming up the Colorado River in a way that would be acceptable. We said, ‘No, it will never be acceptable to put any dams in the Grand Canyon.’ And gradually, this guy from the Bureau of Reclamation who was trying to persuade us to accept dams in the Grand Canyon, came around to our side of the issue. He became a conservationist and brought the Bureau of Reclamation around in a way, and he himself more or less would not let them do what they wanted to do. As a result of that, partly, we didn’t get the dams. Dave Wegner stayed with the government and is involved in conservation within the government now in Washington D.C., he has a very responsible position, and the Bureau of Reclamation as you know doesn’t have any more ambitions about dams in the Grand Canyon, partly because we – as a group of people – talked Dave Wegner out of the idea.

[Paraphrasing Wind in the Willows…] “There is nothing, absolutely nothing quite so much worth doing, as simply messing about in boats.”

Say hi to Martin in the comments section below!

The post Meet Martin Litton, Grand Canyon Dories Founder appeared first on River Currents.

Working primarily in Dinosaur National Monument, she gets to enjoy the Yampa River, Green River through the Gates of Lodore, Split Mountain 1-day trips and many more! Zollinger has a spunky personality, mountains of geological knowledge, and sheer flower power on the river. Get to know this easy going Utah native in our regular series of guide interviews!

What water level do you enjoy rowing most, and what makes Utah watersheds unique?

I think the coolest thing about Utah, is that you have a scale of Class I to Class VI all within a 150-200 mile radius. You have extreme desert where there’s very little vegetation, to the Gates of Lodore where it’s a narrow stretch with clear water and tons of wildlife so you can kind of pick and choose. What’s really great about being here in Utah is starting in one place, and through your whole season you bounce around to different rivers and then come back to that same place. You can go from Cataract Canyon to Westwater, to Desolation Canyon to the Green River, to the Yampa River to the San Juan and meet a lot of different people because they’re choosing that adventure. When you’re always on one river, you’re seeing that same group of people, but when you’re bouncing around from a lazy river to a Class V river, it’s cool to see the variety in people.

What does the job mean to you?

The biggest thing for me is meeting a bunch of people and being able to have a lot of conversation that provides you with connections all over the world. It’s really cool to say that you have friends all over the place and that you’ve all shared a connection on the river. What keeps me going is running a rapid and having the adrenaline completely fill me up, there’s nothing better; it’s free drugs, it’s awesome! I think that’s what keeps me going as well as just being very physical all day and having that challenge and just working really hard, being at the end of the day completely exhausted — it (weirdly) helps me keep going.

What individual thing would you say inspires you the most?

I had a brother pass away approximately 12 years ago, he was an outdoor enthusiast who loved and seeked adventure; he was an extremist. When he passed away, I vowed to myself that I would live the life that he would’ve lived. So when I’m on the river or when I’m out hiking, climbing, biking, (things like that), I just consider him and think that he’s with me and we’re both able to do what he would’ve done if he were alive. We both live his life, it’s kind of cool.

What’s something you can’t leave home without?

My flowers [laughs], I’ve got a bouquet of flowers that I started doing my second year [guiding], and it sits on the front of my boat – it’s a maiden head. And it’s progressed from a bouquet of bird of paradise to a bouquet of carnations to — a couple years ago — changed to poppies. I’ve found that poppies are my power flower! And also turquoise [shows her turquoise pennant]; I always make sure to wear turquoise on the river.

Can you share a story where you’ve had a unique interaction with wildlife while on the river?

‘Skunkito bandito’ got us one night. We’re sitting there asleep on the boats, and the skunk travels up to the cooler and hops off on one of the guides — checking him out, looking him in the eye — until the guide was fed up with it. So we got out our water guns, so next time we’d be ready. An hour later he comes over and we get the water guns and squirt him, but he flips into the front of my boat and gets into the front hatch! I then open up the hatch, and there’s this pink sphincter looks right at us, we thought he was going to spray, but he didn’t, he was scared. Then I got a stick and tried to get him out, but he kept nuzzling up against it like a cat. I realized he probably didn’t know how to get out, so I made him little steps. He then went up to shore, so we went back to sleep, but woke up with him still there only to find that he pooped all over the front of my boat. We tried to wash it out, but the poop just went to the sides and into the back. The next day my whole boat stunk, and since we were in an eddy, the whole boat next to us stunk, too, so we got shunned a couple miles back from the rest of the group because we smelled so bad [smiles].

The post Meet Natali Zollinger, Utah & Colorado Rafting Guide appeared first on River Currents.

He wanted to focus more intimately on the whitewater rafting business he started in 1969, which was intended to be a weekend-only business but soon became a full time gig. As the founder and president of O.A.R.S. and recent recipient of the Adventure Travel Trade Association’s Lifetime Achievement Award, George is a true pioneer in the adventure travel industry. His passion for running rivers was born in the 60s before the inception of his company, when he became one of the first 1,100 people to descend the seldom-traveled Colorado River through the Grand Canyon.

In the decades since, O.A.R.S. has set the industry standard for first-class rafting as well as environmentally and culturally responsible travel on over 35 rivers and coastlines worldwide. To date they’ve positively affected the lives of over 500,000 travelers and in 2008 and 2009 the company was recognized by National Geographic Adventure as “The Best River & Sea Outfitter on Earth” based on education, sustainability, quality of service, spirit of adventure and references.

Over the last four decades, George has testified before the Senate Subcommittee on River Preservation on behalf of American Outfitters, helped found an eco-tourism operation in Fiji and donated countless hours and numerous trips to support youth and community organizations around the county. George is a founding member of the Adventure Collection and a regular speaker at the annual International Ecotourism Society conference. In 2006 George joined producer/director Greg MacGillivray in the Grand Canyon with Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Anthropologist Wade Davis for the filming of the IMAX movie, Grand Canyon Adventure: River at Risk, a story about the global disappearing act of fresh, clean water and wild rivers.

Many consider you a pioneer in adventure travel. How did you go from teaching middle school math to running rivers?

It was actually a fairly easy transition because as a middle school teacher I had summer vacations free. So that meant that after the last class in mid-June, I could take off for a summer of doing river trips. We did the Grand Canyon, Middle Fork of the Salmon, Cataract Canyon, [etc.] and it was something that really allowed me to recharge my batteries for the next school year.

How has O.A.R.S. evolved to meet the needs of your travelers over the last 40 years?

As our clients have gotten older, can you believe our client at one time was about 29 years years old? And they were very active as a camper. Over the years, we’ve found the typical client has gotten older and older, and today our typical client is 47 or 48 and these people in general are less willing to rough it. Therefore, we’ve had to create more creature comforts, we now supply real nice foam pads for people, we have more quality meals and we’ve actually added chairs to most of our trips. In the olden days – 35 years ago – people would sit on the ammunition case that we supplied and that was their seat for the evening. Not nearly as comfortable as the nice chairs we have now; we have better quality tents, of course the whole outdoor equipment field has evolved considerably the last 35 – 40 years.

What are the fundamental components of a good river trip?

Quality guides is number one. Great guides that are not only skilled in taking people through the rapids, but also in sharing their love for the outdoors, which ties in to telling them about the natural geology and the history of the area. It involves having good quality equipment and a very dedicated reservation staff that makes the pre-trip planning effortless.

Generally, what kinds of people take the trips you offer? What are the benefits of a guided trip?

As a professional outfitter we’ve gained the support of the National Park Service, the Bureau of Land Management and the US Forest Service, so we have dedicated trips that are available so that people can plan in advance for a trip. We take care of pretty much all the logistical details so there aren’t car shuttles that have to be done before or after the trip. Guided trips offer a tremendous number of advantages and the biggest one probably is the nice people who come on our trips, who are [typically] not all from one group. We may get a couple from Seattle, or a single attorney from Chicago, or we could get a professional accountant who travels west for her first trip all the way from Atlanta. So it’s a diverse group of people and that’s the fun [typically] on a trip with about 16 people, to get to know a lot of different professionals from different parts of the country.

What would you say to someone who is apprehensive about camping?

Actually, there is no need to be apprehensive about going off on one of our trips because we specialize in catered camping. We make it real easy since the guides take care of the camp set-up, they take care of the food detail, they set up the portable toilet and the chairs for people every evening. They’ll get out the horseshoes and it’s just a relaxed experience. The guides – both male and female – are happy to take any novice camper aside, without embarrassing them, and give them some coaching about how they can take care of their feet or anything else they might be especially concerned about.

What is the most common question that people ask you?

Where do we go to the bathroom? [Laughs]. And so this year we added a special page in the back of our 2011 O.A.R.S. catalog that shows the nice, portable toilet that we take along on the river because, as we’re trying to be good stewards of the resource, and to make it easy for our clients, this portable toilet containerizes human waste. We then take it to an approved sanitary facility after the trip.

You must have “a few” stories to share, what is one of your favorite tales to tell?

A long time ago, I got this phone call from an advertising agency in Chicago asking if I had a stamp collection. I thought that was a little bit of an unusual question, but I confirmed that I did collect stamps, and they decided that they would do a major print ad and video ad that actually ran as a 30-second commercial promoting the sale of postage stamps to collectors. This ad ran on Super Bowl Sunday, it showed at least twice during the game (maybe three times) and it was seen by millions of people all over the country. My son at the time who also was in the ad was only 3 years old, but today he is 35 and is one of the managers in the company.

What have you enjoyed most about the last 40 years?

The thing that charges me up more than anything else is hearing from clients after the trip. We get letters, phone calls and emails from people who I think very sincerely tell us that this was the best adventure vacation, or sometimes even the best vacation, they’ve ever had. And that’s especially true because families have an opportunity to dialogue together without the intrusion from various electronic devices which impact most families at home.

Got a question for George? Give him a shout in the comments below!

The post Meet George Wendt, O.A.R.S. Founder And Adventure Travel Pioneer appeared first on River Currents.

Considering his diverse boating capabilities, Kenney gets to enjoy a multitude of watersheds — the best the West has to offer in terms of alpine scenery and wild landscapes! He also has a big sense of humor, wide range of educational experience, and can occasionally be found dressed in women’s apparel while cooking on the river. Get to know this well-educated, Kentucky native in our regular series of guide interviews!

How long have you worked for O.A.R.S. and what did you do before becoming a river guide?

I’m from Terlingua, Texas, originally from the great commonwealth of Kentucky. It’s my ninth year working for O.A.R.S./O.A.R.S. Dories, and my thirteenth year as a river guide. I’ve had a pretty eclectic professional career prior to guiding — I’ve been a banker, a college basketball coach, and a professor. I have two Bachelor degrees and even a Masters, and in some crazy, roundabout way, I think it’s helped me to become a decent river guide [smiles].

What do you love about your job?

One of the few reasons why I love doing it, is that O.A.R.S. Dories loves taking people down wild and scenic places. We’re very much committed to taking care of our wildlands, trying to have as little impact as we can on the wilderness setting, and at the same time showing our customers some of the most beautiful, historic landscapes that you can find in the lower 48.

What is a typical day like for you on the river?

I like to start my work day in the morning by smelling that cowboy coffee, floating across the beach. Then the guests start to wake up smelling it, and you catch that first light hitting the canyon walls. It’s all quiet and peaceful, and you get up and cook a really nice breakfast for your clients. Then when you get out on the water, you can see that mist coming off the water as you turn corners …

There are some days where we run real technical Class III-IV water, and then we get to float on sections of just liquid glass. Our days are chock full, there are times when we get to do side canyon hikes where you’re staring at a 200-foot waterfall and then go back to running rapids. Once you get to camp and get everything set up, and you’re sitting there with your clients and your friends, and you get to enjoy the campfire and watch that last bit of light hitting the canyon walls, you all of a sudden realize, you’ve created magic again.

What is it about river trips that you find most appealing?

What I love most about multi-day river trips is the odyssey that is created with that trip, and each trip is unique unto itself. I love the blending of clients and guides with the water and the wilderness. This collective odyssey creates a sense of timelessness and a freedom, and I love sharing in that process.

How have the people you’ve met on the river impacted your life?

I have met so many amazing people from all walks of life during my years of guiding, though two probably had a particular influence on me. Both of them have terminal cancer, and they’ve done multiple river trips with O.A.R.S., and to see their incredible personal strength and sensitivity is really inspiring. To share our world with them — again and again — while watching how they value the small, little things of everyday life has been really enriching.

What important skills must a rafting guide possess?

Most all river guides, we love to talk, especially about things we know and other things we think we might know, but with the ability to listen, you’ll get to know your clients better. Then together you can start to put together the pieces of the puzzle to create a successful river trip. I think we’re able to get out clients to more quickly start to live in the moment, and then be able to start to strip back the layers of the onion that can symbolizes the challenges that they have out there in their everyday lives.

I also have a very wide collection of feminine apparel [laughs]. I really enjoy getting our guests to dress up with me. I think it helps to push to envelope a little bit, and maybe expand a few comfort zones. For me, it helps me to try not to take myself so seriously.

What do you like to do when you’re not on the river?

I really enjoy reading and scribbling out more river poetry when I’m not on the river. I also really love to sleep; I mean I really love to sleep [laughs].

Have you been on a trip with Steve? Got a question for a raft guide? Say hi in the comments below!

The post Meet Stephen Kenney, Idaho & Colorado River Guide appeared first on River Currents.

Here are a few of our favorites that you’re likely to see on almost any river trip in the West.

Bald Eagle

Once driven to near extinction due to DDT poisoning, the bald eagle has become a common sight on our river trips. Watch for the distinctive white head and tail feathers as it roosts above the river in old-growth trees.

Great Blue Heron

This large blue-grey wading bird is the largest of the herons. It can be seen standing perfectly still in shallow water hunting its preferred meal: small fish, or flying gracefully on its broad wings to its tree-top nest.

Canyon Wren

Found throughout the dry mountain country and canyons of western North America, the Canyon Wren lives near rivers where it can feed on insects and spiders. It has a distinctive song made up of loud, musical whistles.

Belted Kingfisher

The Belted Kingfisher is easily identifiable by its ruffled blue crest feathers and long beak. Look for the kingfisher sitting atop ‘watchposts’ hunting for fish, insects and amphibians. The birds nest in tunnels along the river bank.

Osprey

Smaller than the bald eagle, the osprey (or fish eagle) is an accomplished fisher and will dive from great heights to catch its prey. Listen for its distinctive, loud, repetitive chirp as it guards its tree-top nest.

Common Merganser

A large diving duck, the Common Merganser is often found along rivers in Western North America. Adept swimmers, Common Mergansers are one of the few birds to swim through rapids.

The post Common Birds Of Hells Canyon & Other Western Rivers appeared first on River Currents.

Bas (short for Basilio) Cakaunivalu has been sharpening his whitewater skills over the past year and gaining hands-on experience on rivers across the western United States. In addition to heightening his reputation as a well-versed river guide, Bas has a range of other responsibilities, including: maintaining ties with native land owners (mataqali), promoting the company and sharing his love of culture with visiting travelers.

Look into the soul of this storytelling, island native in our regular series of guide interviews!

Tell us how you ended up becoming a river guide.

I was still out on my farm when Nate Bricker [Rivers Fiji co-founder] came to the highlands looking for volunteers from Nakavika village, boys that were interested in becoming a whitewater guide. Thumbs up to Moses Vokula for penning my name down, which I found out later that night when we were at our bachelor’s house in the village back in 1998. Most of our friends were laughing at us wearing helmets and PFDs on the river because being a whitewater guide was something very new to our area.

What do you enjoy most about being a guide for Rivers Fiji?

Meeting people from different countries and telling them stories about Fiji, mostly our traditional culture.

What do you do when you’re not busy being a river guide?

I work on damaged rafts and IKs [inflatable kayaks], go on marketing brochure runs, or take photos during river trips and sell them to the customers. I also work on my vegetable garden.

Last year you traveled to the U.S. to train on the rivers of the West. What was the most memorable part of your journey?

Probably rowing my own cat [cataraft] boat down the Tuolumne River at 6000 cubic feet per second; I also really enjoyed touring most of the national parks: Yosemite Valley, the Grand Tetons, Canyonlands and Yellowstone National Park. Not to mention, rowing my own raft down the famous Colorado River through the Grand Canyon for 16 days.

What do people enjoy most about the trips you guide in Fiji?

They really enjoy the scenery, waterfalls and rapids and local stories about the area and our Fijian culture. Last but not least, they enjoy the smiling faces of our river guides and their willingness to serve our guests with their utmost ability.

How has Rivers Fiji impacted your life and your community?

Rivers Fiji has taught me a lot about tourism and has taken me to the United States for leadership courses and further training on my whitewater skills. It provides free health treatment to the community, acts as a source of income and offers job opportunities for the community. It brings awareness to some of the villagers that own land inside our Upper Navua Conservation Area regarding the benefits on how to preserve our forest for future generations. It also helps educate our primary and high school kids on the importance of preserving our forest. We also run free educational trips about this and the Upper Navua Conservation Area for the school kids and other village people, additionally providing free transportation into town and to the put in where we drop off the equipment.

What do you envision can be the future for Rivers Fiji?

Rivers Fiji will get bigger and continue to help the community to preserve other beautiful areas around the country. It has become one of the most famous educational excursions in Fiji regarding the Ramsar site [An intergovernmental treaty that embodies the commitments of its member countries to maintain the ecological character of their Wetlands of International Importance and to plan for the "wise use", or sustainable use, of all of the wetlands in their territories.]

Do you have any suggestions for how the Upper Navua Conservation Area should be preserved for the future?

Educating the future generations of the local communities about preserving the area and work closely with them to maintain good relationships. Also, encouraging and implementing an annual educational trip for the future generations that will become decision makers one day.

In your opinion, is there any way that we can help the mataqali take more of long-term interest in preserving the Upper Navua Conservation Area?

Yes, by educating them on the importance of preserving our forest and the side effects that will greatly affect their life in the future; by showing them pictures, posters, flyers and videos of the great dangers that will otherwise affect their future daily livelihood.

How can Rivers Fiji help the young people of the villages get more involved in the long-term preservation of their valuable resource?

By educating them about the importance of protecting these valuable resources with the help of some government ministries and NGOs, or organizing weekend camps to bring awareness to youth among different mataqali to bring about different opinions and perspectives; to instill in them the great importance of conservation in their life.

 Would you like to know more about Fiji? Got a question for Bas? Let us know in the comments!

The post Meet Basilio Cakaunivalu, Fiji Guide And Advocate appeared first on River Currents.

Families love O.A.R.S. Lower Klamath River rafting trips. This scenic, forested river trip features beach campsites and rafting and inflatable kayaking in warm gentle water.

Lower Salmon River, ID

Fun, exhilarating rapids, huge sandy beaches through four separate gorges — O.A.R.S. Lower Salmon River rafting trips offer something for everyone.

Rogue River, OR

Raft through forests, meadows and narrow gorges, and enjoy beach campsites and wildlife viewing. The warm water of Oregon’s Rogue River makes it ideal for swimming and inflatable kayaking.

Green River through the Gates of Lodore, CO/UT

Raft through Dinosaur National Monument, hike along rippling creeks to side canyon waterfalls, and look for petroglyphs and fossilized remains of dinosaurs preserved in ancient rock walls along the historic Green River.

Yellowstone & Grand Teton Explorer, WY

Sea kayak, raft and hike the pristine wilds of Wyoming’s Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks on the most comprehensive, all-access multi-sport tour available.

Have you been on an O.A.R.S. vacation with your family? Please share your advice and experiences in the comments below!

The post Top Family Vacation Trips With O.A.R.S. appeared first on River Currents.

Perhaps you’ve done a one-day rafting trip and you are looking to extend the excitement. Or, you want to get back to nature–maybe reconnect with family or friends. Here are our top multi-day trips for first-time adventurers.

Why not try…

• Exploring Dinosaur National Monument on the free-flowing Yampa River in Colorado | 4 or 5 days May – July, Class III-IV

• Rafting & hiking through Canyonlands National Park on the Colorado River through Cataract Canyon in Utah | 4 or 6 days April – October, Class III (During high water in late spring/early summer Cataract Canyon is rated Class IV+)

• Exploring the Native American ruins and rafting on gentle stretches of whitewater on the San Juan River in southeastern Utah | 3, 4 or 6 days March – July, Class II

• Camping and playing on football field-sized sandy beaches and riding in a dory on the Main Salmon River in Idaho | 6 days June – September, Class III

• Floating through the deepest gorge in North America on the Snake River through Hells Canyon in Idaho | 3 or 5 days May – September, Class III

• Rafting, hiking & wildlife viewing on the Wild & Scenic Rogue River in Oregon | 3, 4 or 5 days May – September, Class III

The post Top Whitewater Rafting Trips For First-Timers appeared first on River Currents.