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Thread: Family in a Raft
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06-28-2019, 01:30 PM #26
Ha, yeah. Speaking of the Bitterroot, there is a great story about Alex Lowe taking a canoe solo down a stretch of the Bitterroot, dumping it, getting caught in a strainer and ALMOST dying. This while he had one arm in a cast after falling off a solo climb of the No Sweat Arete in Mill Creek the week before. Surely it was only his superhuman strength that got him out of that fix.
That river claims a lot of lives for a mellow float, eh? Strainers and diversion dams and of course just the sheer number of people who float it, lots of them sans PFD and drunk.
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07-18-2019, 02:54 AM #27
Sotar and frame. Can't wait to use it. As a guy that has always somehow made it, I'm gonna get help learning how to paddle this bee. I can't take care of the fam like I took care of myself....
"Yo!! Brentley! Ya wanna get faded before work?"
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07-18-2019, 03:14 AM #28
Good on you. It took me almost 5 years of 80 days plus on the river(s) per year to get to the point now, 10 years after that, where I can run an oar rig in my sleep through class 4 without thinking. After that, I'm thinking, but I can go from an r2 in class 5, to a family trip in class 2 and make it good.
It's just like skiing avi terrain. Exactly, actually. Time, experience, and not fucking up and letting your ego get in the way.
You got this.
The river is id. It has no ego.
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07-18-2019, 03:35 PM #29
[QUOTEThe river is id. It has no ego.][/QUOTE]
Love this, I hope you dont mind if I borrow/steal it.Samuel L. Jackson as Jules Winnfield: Oh, I'm sorry. Did I break your concentration?
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07-20-2019, 04:39 AM #30
Ok,this is sounding Ridiculous. I may give ER a few solo runs, but anyone wanna buy a raft?
"Yo!! Brentley! Ya wanna get faded before work?"
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07-20-2019, 08:13 AM #31
Wait...what, why? Does the idea of rafting not jibe with the reality of rafting? That is honestly what I say as a deal breaker most of the time. You kinda have to enjoy the organization, logistics, and planing. Rafting is work and if you ain't all in it together is starts to be a grind.
Some families run it like the military and can be up early, truck already packed, keep on a schedule, have all the river beta ahead of time etc. Some families run it lose, forget things, put in late and deal with the wind and the rain, complain a lot about the required effort and soggy sandwiches and generally feel the juice ain't worth the squeeze.
Neither is right nor wrong but if you are the late breakfast figure it out on the fly type of crew, family rafting may not be for you.
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07-20-2019, 09:08 AM #32
seriously, it ain't all that hard to learn..... you already know most of the shit you kneed to know bout running rivers from kayaking. it won't take long to pick up on how to run a raft.
and stop getting your rafting advice from a ski forum. you'll get better beta from mountainbuzz.com
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07-22-2019, 08:01 PM #33
I wanna buy a pack raft
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07-24-2019, 04:15 PM #34Banned
- Join Date
- Feb 2013
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- Highyak
- Posts
- 592
I grew-up smack dab in the middle of whitewater country, West by-God Virginia. Didn't realize how good I had it until I didn't have it in my backyard anymore. Did a number of commercial raft & ducky trips as a kid. My Boy Scout troop had a few annual river trips, mostly on Class I & II rapids, but with the occasional III thrown in there. When I was around 10 years old, my dad finally bought his own raft - a quality boat from a small company in New Mexico - so he could take the whole family out. He used the oars on most of our trips, but occasionally we'd R2 or R4 it for a good time.
He kept most of the "family" boating activity to more mild stretches of river - he wasn't comfortable having his kids or wife on much more than a Class III (although we did paddle a Class IV every once in awhile). When my older brother went off to college, he got more serious and would take me along with his other whitewater buddies to run some pretty big water - we're talking Class IV-V+ stretches people travel from far & wide to experience once in their lifetimes which we were fortunate to be able to do in a day.
I had a friend in high school whose dad was a "retired" raft guide. He taught my dad the lines on our local rivers. The family dentist was a whitewater guy, too. So we always had lots of interest and experience. When I got my driver's license, they'd hand me the keys at the take-out, pile in the backseat and make me run shuttle while they cracked beers and enjoyed the ride. For my 16th birthday my dad got me a bitchin' whitewater canoe. I never got confident enough in it to paddle the same big water we did in the raft. In fact, I kinda hated it - the damn thing would stick in every hole, no matter how small. It was fun to play in but tiring and I had a lot of long, cold swims (much to my dad's satisfaction).
Then I moved 2000+ miles across the country for school and lost the time and interest to keep paddling. I have some friends who are absolutely insane kayakers who tried several times to invite me out but I'm nowhere near their level. Plus, kayaking just feels like drowning with extra steps
I guess what I'm getting at is be like my dad, not like this guy:
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10-07-2019, 06:08 AM #35
Family in a Raft
Thought this might be appropriate here.
https://youtu.be/0ErZMyeGdtY
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10-08-2019, 12:41 AM #36
Noice. Seeing the kid inside the dry box with the life jacket unzipped made me smile. After a Summer of solo river trips with the raft, we did 6 miles on the South Fork of the American as a family on Labor Day. The water was miserably cold, and 1 y/o hated it every time we got wet(it happened often, especially at Swimmer's Rapid). Jury is still out, but the 2-2+ area is our sweet spot right now, and 2-4 miles is plenty. I hear if you're doing family, Lotus is a good spot to quit, but the rangers didn't bother to tell me that. Can't wait for next year!
Still tweaking gear on the raft, but I found two Cataract demo oars at a shop for $65 each w/blades."Yo!! Brentley! Ya wanna get faded before work?"
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10-15-2019, 02:49 PM #37
Don't recall if you have to do the whole thing (i.e. mid point take outs) but the klamath could be a good one.
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10-16-2019, 04:00 AM #38
Amen! I did the Klamath on my return trip from Idaho. I had the river to myself, and it was incredibly quiet. I really enjoyed it, and would love to explore more of that river. The stretch I did was maybe 8 miles east of Happy Camp, and ended in Happy Camp. The part above where I put in seemed much more 4ish, and I thought it may be a good choice later, after I get a few more miles in. Thanks for the suggestion!
"Yo!! Brentley! Ya wanna get faded before work?"
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11-09-2020, 05:23 AM #39Banned
- Join Date
- Oct 2020
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- 14
My son and I have not kayaked together yet, because he is only 2 years old. But I swam with friends and their 2 children, they were 8 and 11. Everything went well, without emergencies, although we were worried. The only thing you need to constantly monitor their safety.
It is important to take spare dry clothes, you will definitely need them. It is not necessary to take children's oars. We took them, the children rowed for 15 minutes, they didn't want any more. Then they just lay there. Be prepared for the fact that you will have to stop often, because children will not be interested in swimming for a long time.
We liked that weekend. If you are sure that such an active holiday will suit your children, you can try.
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11-09-2020, 05:31 AM #40
how my gonna gits a white water guide gig
with you puttins videos of my ineptitudes on the spew tubes?
thanks fer the right side ups help though
mr toaster and hannahs not from montanas split up
she shoulda been able to avoid the body out of boat experience
that caused that whole situation"When the child was a child it waited patiently for the first snow and it still does"- Van "The Man" Morrison
"I find I have already had my reward, in the doing of the thing" - Buzz Holmstrom
"THIS IS WHAT WE DO"-AML -ski on in eternal peace
"I have posted in here but haven't read it carefully with my trusty PoliAsshat antenna on."-DipshitDanno
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