THe last days on the River

The past few trips I have kind of neglected to put up in a timely fashion. I'm going to try my hardest to remember all the details even though I had a few Gin n' Tonic's at Malloys with my dinner.

Thursday the 26th was a sweet day on the River. The level was under 3 feet so we had to make our own fun in places. My crew was awesome. I had Greg and Nicole (Mosca) Willbanks who were just married last night (congrats). I had some of Gregs family and also another group of 2. Gary and heather were great folks and i think they all had a really nice trip. We had a little bit of excitement in Harris Rift when Vincent (age8) fell out into a River feature dubbed Bubble Buster. He was totally sucked under for like 4 seconds and swam for a total of probably 13-15 seconds. It was scary for me as a guide because of his size and age. we managed to rescue him from the turbulent H2o and had a nice rest of the trip. I jumped out of the raft while surfing bus stop cause i was super bored and hot. It's a deep pool but i managed to violate myself on a rock somehow.

Sat June 29th. It was a nice hot humid morning. That all changed. By 12.30 or 1 pm it started to rain. We were just below Harris RIft when It started. I caught a metric crap load of Guide Air as we went down stream. I even saw John get some pretty good air( even though he is totally out of practice and getting stuck all of the time. ) My group was going to be an eleven load...yikes! but the gusts arrived with a girl who was too young and the gear wouldn't fit safely so Gary (my boss) couldn't let her on the trip. I had eight throughout the day and they were excellent paddlers. It was raining pretty much the hardest and longest i have ever experienced. Even older guides who have been around had something to say about yesterdays storm. Like John said every time you thought it was as bad as it gets it got more intense! I even listed in my guide log book how hard the rain fell. After the trip i had to zoom to a wedding for Greg and Nicole so it was a long day for me...but super fun.

Sunday the 30th (today). I had a group of folks from around Allentown PA. They were all from eastern Europe (i think it was Bulgaria) i cant remember. The five load in a small boat with all the rain from the day before made my day super easy. That was a good thing due to the fact I was up late with the wedding party. We couldn't for the life of us catch a surf but we had a fun time trying. The river just wouldn't accept our offer to play. It was a great trip, we were an excellent team and even though some of them were not so great at speaking English I feel like we all became friends a little bit on the river. The weather was great also!

If anyone got personal pictures...as always send em' 2 me ill post them

whitewater_chet@hotmail.com

Thanks for Rockin the Chazblog My next post will probably be from Thailand so stay regular and check ~Chaz

Hudson River, Saturday June 28

Real low water this past weekend. I believe the river was running somewhere around 2.8 feet. took a group of guys from Fort Ann, NY up there for one of the guy's bachelor party. They were alright, nice enough but they wanted bigger rapids (and I can't blame them) so I encouraged them to come back in the spring or to go down the Black River. I swam the bachelor twice and one and a half of his buddies. One guy fell out kind of in the Narrows (he still had his feet in the raft he was just under water, so he was the half). The other swims occured in Big Nasty (due, ofcourse, to a rock) and Mile Long. I kind of like it when people fall out when the river is this low- it adds a bit of excitement, which is nice. I got stuck on quite a few rocks, which can be expected at these summertime levels. It poured really hard for most of the river trip- it was really nice. At one point I was thinking that it couldn't possibly rain any harder and then it would rain harder. I liked it but the bachelor was like 'boo hoo I don't like the rain'. I called him a 't-shirt guy'. The rain brought the river up to about 3.5 feet so I'm sure today's trip was nicer. We got pretty far ahead of the bubble (that's what we call the extra water from the dam release in Indian Lake) and we all got stuck a lot. It was a lot of work out there this weekend. I hope the river comes up significantly as I'm planning on taking a few of my buddies down the river next Thursday. We won't go if it's below 3 feet ish. It's storming right now in Albany so hopefully it's raining up north too.

Me and Heather are going down to Long Island for the long July 4 holiday weekend, so I won't be on the river. It should be a good time, we'll be staying with Heather's sister and her Fiance. He runs a big farm out on the east end so that will be a good time and we'll do some fishing for Blue Fish in the Peconic Bay. Last time we went down we caught like 15 fish and grilled them up- pretty tasty!

I'll be going away until November pretty soon for my 'real job' (the term we use for gainful employment that's not raft guiding) so I'll be done with river trips for the year shortly. It's kind of a bummer that Summer just started and it's already ending for me. I'll just have to enjoy what time is left before I have to go away.

Hudson River June 24, 08

Today was another summertime Hudson trip. There was warm weather the level was just under 3 feet, and i got stuck on a number of rocks. I did have some awesome gusts though, the one family came b/c I took the daughter when she was in camp. The other two gusts were from NYC and they were nice too. The best part of the days trip was running bubble buster sideways. The raft defiantly caught some Sweet surf and spun all around. I'm pretty sure surfing there made the trip. I also caught a glimpse of a baby fawn on River left by the buss stop wave. It was pretty feeble looking I'm not too sure IT will be one of the survivors for the year. It was cute none the less to see him. I have to stop short as i have to get busy with the real world adult things like paying bills. No trip tomorrow but i will be out on Thursday one last time before my voyage to Thailand next week.

Stay tuned for more on rafting. I also plan on doing some Raftin in Thailand so ill post from there whenever I can!

Black River June 23, 08

Today was a nice day on the River, as always. I had a group of 10 in my raft and the level was 1700. We had good clean lines through every rapids. The group I took was Whitesboro HS Sr trip. I'm pretty sure they had a good time even though their bus driver fell while we were on the river and had to go to the ER. They had to hang around until another bus driver came all the way from Utica Area...about 1.5 hours. They didn't seem to mind, we kept them occupied and had to hold off on the consumption of labbatts blue until they left. (ARO is sponsored by Labbat! free beer after the trip fro gusts and guides alike!). So it was a nice time. I would like to have found the pictures (on wktv.com) but I'm not very good w/computers. Hopefully they read this and send them to me for more photos to admire on the blog.

Well tomorrow I have a trip on the Hudson River across the state SO stay tuned!

Black River 6-21-08

Today was a great day for all of mankind. I had a crew of 7 beautiful women from U of Rochester. They were involved with student orientation or something like that. I had a bunch of good memories from this trip even though it is already midnight after the trip and I have had a few Gin drinks. We paddled really strong and worked well as a consistent paddling crew. The River was flowing @ 1700+ so it wasn't too shabby at all...

The best part of the trip was obviously Surfing a class 3+ hydraulic called the Cruncher. It was sweet. My crew of ladies (except 1) thought I said abandon ship when I actually called hyside right. Needless to say I lost 6 into the depths of the Black River. Then It was just me and Hannah...or maybe it was Mandy....I forgot. At any rate, we surfed a little bit longer and finally got so in tune with the River that we both decided to follow our comrades to the murky depths of the sticky hole. I lost my paddle and throw bag temporarily, luckily however, the General caught up to them and brought them back 2 me. It was a wicked Psycho Surf. Defiantly recirculated me and we had dumped the whole boat. Something I'm not entirely used to doing nor do I intend to do in the near future. I would bet the River threw in something special cause' I hadn't seen it since last time I went down w/ John and paddled the glen park falls.

Ladies if you end up reading this I'm pretty sure I remember your names.
Hannah, Mandy, creature, Kate, Eleanor, Nicki, well I Guess I forgot one...sorry...if you bought the photo album from the days trip send them to me @ whitewater_chet@hotmail.com and by the way I wont ever forget this trip...Thanks again

What makes a good Raftin' company

Some Raftin' companies just don't get it. Some companies pursue the love of money over the love and respect for the Rivers in which they operate. Some organizations have found a way to find an equal balance between profits and passion. Other companies are strictly in it for the love and experience and do just enough business so the guides can have the joy of Whitewater (these are the hippies). Even though the same River route is commercially run by many companies the Gusts can have a distinctly different trip based on the company in which they choose.

There are a whole crap load of factors that make a Raftin' trip. The three most important are as follows. First off, Safety, second, the guide, and third, the outfitter. These factors stem from the type of outfitter one chooses. The small time outfit who goes raftin' for the love and not the money may have sub par gear and equipment and your guide may smell. Raftin' outfits that are profit oriented on the River have unhappy guides and sloppy trips and your guide may smell. The companies who realize the balance of profits and passion for whitewater tend to provide the safest, most clean, most fun trips available on the River and your guide may smell. That being said there is a good possibility that the same River run can provide different experiences for different folks depending on which outfit they chose. Well balanced companies have the best guides, gear, and atmosphere in whitewater for obvious reasons.

Companies who demonstrate these characteristics are easy to spot on the River. The guides run clean lines, the gusts are smiling throughout the day and if the need be they can react to a situation with confidence and courage. (At that point the smell of the guide becomes part of the trip.) Many times I have gotten complements on the River or after Raftin' drinks in the bar. Complements stem from actions that other guides see on the River and are always great to hear. The best complement I think I have heard was from a guide from ARC (another good Raftin' co) who made a mention that ARO runs consistent clean lines and has respectful and skilled guides.

Be sure to check out your surroundings when you raft with ARO and you may notice some outfitters that seem 'all over the place' out there and you might catch a glimpse of how great of a difference it is when an outfitter has the right balance between profit and passion on the river.

The glens falls 7th grade trip

Today we river runners had an exceptionally challenging day logistically. Our trip was in Lake Luzerne on the Socandaga (Soc for short) River. My boss, Gary, just secured a new outpost last week and it hasn't even been set up yet. Lynn Gary and I left Old Forge at 7am and drove to North River to fetch some extra gear. From there we completed our journey to the new outpost where we jumped right into action blowing boats (Johns Dog is called boats!!!!). Just kidding.

We had the typical day on the Soc which includes an hour trip with 12 or more in the raft. Lucky for me they were all grade 7. I hit the only wave on the River worth hitting and caught massive guide air as usual. after that we all swam and splashed in the flat water. My kids were the best splashers on the River. On the River there is a cable stretching from River left to River right 12-15 feet above the surface. As we passed under i made a mention that the cable was installed to get all the squirrls on the left side to the nuts on the right side. One grade 7 girl immediately shouted SQUIRREL NUTS!!!!! The teacher and I had a great bellowing bout of laughter. Noticing the attention one student got the whole raft flew into action repeating SQUIRREL NUTS at the top of their lungs. My ears are still ringing.

I then had a sweet move at the bottom of the River making it from the right to the left and hitting all of the waves. This move is not hard but with a crew of kids it could have put us right into John Dunkans rock pile.

All in all it wasn't a bad trip. the Soc even though it isn't really challenging or scary is fun...probably more so because there is no real danger. As a guide I am able to relax knowing it is hard to sluf up.

Until the next adventure...

Israeli Hitchhiker on the way to the Sacandaga

A few years back, Lynn (another one of ARO's Hudson River Guides) and I were on our way out to the Lake Luzerne to help on the Sacandaga River. The Sacandaga River is a family oriented trip of class II rafting and tubing. The tubing can actually be pretty adventurous and it is well worth a trip down the river. ARO takes a big trip of kids from some camp every week and we were on our way out to help out with that. On the way, just outside of Blue Mountain Lake, we saw a young man hitchhiking. I'm a pretty nice guy so I stopped to pick him up. Our boss was not very happy about that later because of the added liability, but I couldn't help it. Every time I see a hitchhiker I just imagine myself and the times I've been lucky enough to grab quick rides.

Anyway, it turned out this young guy was from Israel (I'm pretty sure his name was Adam). Adam was a former soldier in the Israeli army and soon to be engaged. He was a real friendly guy and he told us of his travels up to that point around the world and around the states. And he told us of his plans to travel around India with his soon to be fiance. He told us how he was on his way to Vermont- so it was perfect that we picked him up, Luzerne being on his way and all.

We had to stop in North River at our Hudson River base to load the trailer up with boats and load the van up with paddles, life jackets and other gear. Adam helped us load the boats and the gear and we were glad to have him there, because it made the work significantly easier. After we were loaded we were on our way to Lake Luzerne.

We got to Luzerne and I introduced Adam to everybody there. They all dug him and he told some more of his adventures and his plans. I offered him a free trip on the river as my guest and of course he agreed. He said it was the first time he had done anything like that and that he had a great time. He said he would remember it as one of the radder things he would do in the states.

At the end of the day before we took off back home and he headed down the road towards VT, we snapped a quick photo and he actually emailed it to me months later when he was back home. Here's that picture. I'm second from the right in the black life jacket and Adam is next to me in the jeans and that's Lynn to the left of him.

We had a great day with our hitchhiking friend Adam and it just goes to show you all the rad people you can meet when working in a real cool environment, at a real cool job doing what you love.

The Middle Moose Whitewater Run

The Middle Moose river is the baby brother to the Lower Moose springtime run. This run is a class two section and can be very enjoyable for the novice and expert alike. We tend to run this section in self guided kayaks called Duckies. There are one man duckies and two man duckies. One man duckies or "singles" are awesome, they are maneuverable light and very stable. The "double" duckies are a little bit more cumbersome we have nicknamed them divorce duckies.

I was on a Middle Moose trip last week and it made me remember all of the great times I have had on that River. Being in self guided boats, gusts often get stuck, flip over, swim, and even though it is a low class whitewater it is shallow and fast moving. The rescue scenarios on this River are always different, very involved and can be dangerous...well not that dangerous but bad none the less.

This past week we had a trip with a young family of four. The mother and 6yr old daughter in one double and the father and 7yr old son in the other. The level was 2.7 which is not too low but it still provides plenty of rocks to get stuck on. As with many trips involving young kids, the daughter started to cry because her mom was a crappy paddler and they hit too many rocks. She was scared so Lynn traded with the mother and they had more fun. There was a really nice husky on the side of the river and he followed me down for about half the trip. I wanted to keep it if it followed us the whole way but he got tired of us. I hope he found his owner.

The highest water I have ever seen the middle moose was like 9.5. I don't remember the exact date but it was the first time I wore a dry suit on the River. It was a fun trip. John and Jon were there. John eddy yelled at Jon Jost, he missed the best hole in the river...the one on the bottom right of the wall. so we paddled back into it and surfed the crap out of it...the other two fell out I stayed in and it was fun as heck.

Camping on Piseco, Hike to T Lake Falls

This weekend we went camping on Piseco Lake (in the South Central Adks- near Speculator). Heather and I went with a few friends. Our site was in the Poplar point campground- I wouldn't recommend it- the old DEC Ranger who was managing the joint hassled us a bit and the site was right on Old Piseco Rd. It was kind of strange, I felt like we were camping in peoples back yards. We weren't doing anything to deserve the hassle besides having one too many people in the site and one too many cars parked there- which has never been a problem before at other state sites. I think he just wanted to hassle us, thinking 'oh, here's a bunch of young kids, there going to be trouble'.

Anyway, despite all of that, it was a pretty rad time, all and all. We got down pretty good on Friday night, ate some good food and drank some tasty drinks. On Saturday we hiked into T Lake Falls. T Lake Falls is a 660 foot waterfall, about 5.6 miles in from the trailhead on Old Piseco Road. The trail is maintained by the DEC to the Lean-To at T Lake (about 3.6 miles), but they no longer maintain the trail from T Lake to the falls (another 2 miles). So we bushwhacked our way through the the woods, sometimes on the old overgrown trail, sometimes through the woods. It was a nice hike, although long and pretty strenuous at points. Heather says she doesn't want to do something like that ever again. The falls were crazy- the trail kind of just ended at the waterfall, with a couple of warnings of people dying by falling off the falls. The waterfall starts as a slide drop and I can imagine people trying to get closer to the edge to see down and then slipping off and taking the big fall. We tried to get down but couldn't figure out the trail down- we tried from either side of the water fall but the way down both times just ended with a rock face and a big drop. There's a nice pool below the waterfall which would have been nice to swim in. We chilled out above the falls and had a snack and did a little swimming in the stream- it was pretty rad.

The hike was obviously an all day sort of thing and we got back to our site around 6:30 and had dinner and got down pretty good again with tasty food and drinks. I forgot my camera but thankfully my buddy Ben remembered his...here's a couple of pics. One of a pretty cool flower we saw (anyone know what it is?), another of a smaller waterfall about a mile upstream of the big falls (we were all pretty beat and the smaller falls provided a nice quick cool off spot) and finally the third picture is of the view from the top of the falls.

another trip on the Riva'

Todays hudson trip was sweet. Well, the River was sweet, my crew was a bunch of grade eights from the NEK vermont (the NEK is the north east kingdom.. theres somtin in their water). At any rate I was on point throughout the day and had a f-in blast. I hit all the big waves, caught massive guide air in big nasty! (guide air is explicitly explained in a prior post) it was rockin. The level of the river as of this morning was about 3.93 and dropping...approx. I was the only boat with the power and the only guide with the ability to surf bus stop at the level. It was a wet surf but not very sticky. an aside...we tried a new technique for cooking the chicken bbq and it was a nice change of pace...you should try it!

Hudson River 6-7-08

The River was really nice on Saturday. The rain from Thursday night brought the level up quite a bit. The weather was perfect and the rapids were moving swiftly. I had a crew of 9 girl scouts from Ithaca area. The waves in the narrows tossed the boat because I had no weight in it which made things exciting for me. I also got guide air in a lot of places on the river. I had to make it home quick for my dads surprise party that night which was a nice time as well.

Big water! Book your rafting trip now!

With all of the rain yesterday and today, the rivers in the Adirondacks are finally coming alive again! You can check the levels with the links on the right. As you can see there is a nice upward spike and it will be a great weekend on the Black or Hudson Rivers. Book your trip now by calling 1-800-525-RAFT. No time is better than now!

Sadly, I won't be on the River this weekend. I've got some plans. It figures that the one weekend I'm not on the river is running at great levels-just my luck. Chaz will be on the river I assume, however, so request him as a Guide. Have a great weekend!

Guide 'Air'

There are many reasons one can enjoy the Guide lifestyle. Some like to simply entertain others, some like the outdoor recreation aspect, others enjoy the thrill of the unexpected. As for me however, I enjoy doing things that some would consider careless and/or reckless. Guide Air can provide many thrills to a river trip (for a Guide) on even the most mundane (yes the low water gets boring for us at times) of White Water adventures.

For the ignorant, Guide Air is a guide technique that utilizes the flex of a raft as well as timing to launch oneself into the air. The forces and effects are very similar to hitting jumps in the snowboard park! This can generally be accomplished even off of the smallest of waves when the correct technique is applied. Let me go no further without saying this is for experienced guides ONLY and can/will lead to dangerous swims through any rapids where 'Air' is 'caught'.

I cannot remember the first time I remember seeing this or using Guide 'Air' as I have been rafting 1/3rd of my life now. I will reflect on one memorable takeoff and landing, or lack thereof, in the following paragraph. I will also share with the community of river rafters some of my favorite waves to practice guide aire dangeriously.

My most memorable launch into the air is by far on the Hudson River this past April 08. So no s%&t there we were 8.5 feet in the Narrows, I had another perfect line as it was my 3-4th time of the season on the river, I saw out of the corner of my glory seeking eye a camera man on River Left. For those who don't know I'm a sucker for the moment, my moment, being captured on film. Knowing the rapids was at least half over, I waited for the perfect second, as the stern of the raft sprung onto the crest of a 20-25 foot wave my legs leapt with all their might. I was like a rocket ship launching from the forces of gravity. I was airborne at last. I felt nothing, not gravity, nor fear (of swimming or the wrath of my boss). I was looking around from the crest of my jump at the cameraman in disbelief on river left, to the kayackers picnicking on river right. I spotted my landing in the raft many feet below me. As I began to descend however, I realized my mistake. I never told my gusts in the raft to stop paddling hard forward. Sure enough the well oiled crew paddled my landing pad right out from under my feet. As I came to the realization that I was going to make a water landing I quickly snapped my legs into a tucked position to ensure they didn't penetrate too deeply into the river. I would describe the scenario as a poorly executed cannonball. due to a thunderous torrent of whitewater I held my breath as I submerged. My tattered vest brought me to the surface a little bit more slowly than I had wished. I surfaced with paddle in hand and swimming for my life (literally! the Narrows at that level is proven deadly). I was going from troth to crest of wave, after wave, no smaller than the one I had used to execute the maneuver. My adrenaline elevated my level of awareness to unimaginable heights. after swimming the remainder of the rapids I finally caught up to my raft (which was still paddling) and climbed in.

No Sooner did I regain control of the helm of the craft did I notice 4-6 gusts from Mikes raft swimming the rapids. I don't know what happened but I helped them out as well.

Some good waves to try it as far as im concerned:
Hudson
1) the indian river has a one glassy wave downstream from mels pic wave in Indian head rapids just right of center
2) No name rapids has 2-3 great potential waves as it is an easy wave train
3) the rapids by the sandy beach just up stream of the narrows has one on river right
4) Big nast has one center river in the steep section
5) fox den if you go down the waves rather than the ledge on river left

Black
1) Hole brothers river center
2) Zig half way down
3) the big wave at shave & a haircut
4) K2 @ Knifes edge - I have not done it yet as the swim can be very ugly and im a puss

Sac
The wave on river right in the first rapids I know as vesouvious (after the volcano that wiped out pompai)
any of the number of waves in the second rapids.

Moose
Yeah im not doing it in any of the named rapids but there are a few in between the big stuff that are good for a few feet there or there as you see them. maybe one day ill throw down in tannery or somthin' (for the video)

So folks keep an eye out for the flyin guide!

River trips that make you who you are

Chaz and I were talking the other day, during our epic trip down the Black that there are a few River trips that make a person who they are, that you will remember for the rest of your life. I've got a few of those sort of trips and I wanted to share one with you today.

My first real whitewater trip was a trip down the Hudson River Gorge section with ARO. It was the Senior Class trip for my High School and I had just turned 18 a couple of months prior. I call this my first real whitewater trip because I had gone down the Sacandaga River a few times as a Cub Scout with the Old Forge Troop and of course, I'd done plenty of goofing off in the rapids and drops of the Moose River growing up. Anyway, it was June and the weather was just getting warm- it was a beautiful sunny day and I was in Gary's boat along with a few guys from my High School class (Gary is a principle owner of ARO, we call him 'the big guy'- if you know him you'll know why). We had a great time with Gary taking us down the river. He told a lot of jokes and shared a lot of information that I still use on the river to this day.

The sun was hot and the Hudson can be a very long trip in the low water days of June- I got sunburned on my hands pretty serious. We surfed at Bus Stop for a while, all piling on in the front of the raft and keeping the water flowing over the bow. For the last two miles we drifted out. At the end of the day, at the barbecue, Gary asked me about working (he knew that I was looking for a job guiding). I told him I was for sure up for it and started guiding Ducky trips on the Middle Moose the following week (this was about the time Chaz was starting at ARO also, in June 2001).

So I went home and told my mom that I knew what I wanted to do for a weekend/summer gig through college- I told her I was going to be a Whitewater Guide. She was a little nervous like mothers are even though she's been rafting in some pretty big stuff along with my dad (like Moose River at nearly 9 ft and Hudson in Spring) and she told me "Johnny, I want you to be very careful out there...you came into this world on a busted rubber and I don't want to see you leaving on one."

I hope to share a few more of the river trips that have made me who I am in the future.

John's perspective for Sat Hudson, Sun Black

I just wanted to add a couple of things to Chaz's post about this past weekend. It was super-cool and super-badass.

Saturday, I was also on the Hudson. We ran two waves of trips. I was out on the first wave with 'regular people' (not boyscouts, school groups or camp kids) and Chaz, as he mentioned, was on the second wave with boyscout group. I was surprised that Chaz wasn't on the first wave with the other half of my group as we work pretty well on the river together and show people a pretty good time. Just a couple of weeks ago we both had rafts of the same group and we had a good old time splashing and goofing off, even during the drops. Anyway, I had regular peopl, a group from the city and Syracuse, led by a couple of people who have been rafting with ARO on numerous occasions this season (they love us, what can I say?). The weather was a nice solid rain for most of the river trip and turned into a solid downpour after lunch, just above the Narrows. Noone fell out of the boat and we all had a great time. I hope they come back and raft with ARO again soon.

As Chaz said, we drove to H2O ready to party and we got down pretty good. The river trip was also one of the best ever for me- Chaz and I went real big, as big as we could possibly go on the Black. It was a great time and I'm sure Chaz will post pics/vids as soon as we get them. I suggested to Chaz after the trip that we quit guiding people down the river and just do rad shit like that from here on out. Basically the only way to go bigger would be to run the Bottom Moose in a raft and I'm hoping we can do that before the end of Summer. As I've been telling people lately, Chaz and I are basically the two coolest and most badass Raft Guides you know.

Update: Here's some photos from the trip...Sarah was nice enough to send them along.

Sat on the hudson, Sun on the black

So this weekend was super rad! Well, today was rad any way, yesterday was kinda beat. On the River yesterday I took the boy scouts raftin' on the Hudson River. It was alright. We need a lot of rain to bring that River back up to adventure class levels again. We did have a lot of fun though, we hit all of the best parts of the River. I did see one of the best f--- ups by another guide that I have seen in some time though. A guide from wild waters wrapped their boat around a rock in Harris Rift (the steepest and most technical Rapids on the hudson). This chick was stuck in a really bad way. At any rate, her crew was falling out left and right taking nasty swims. I was able to play hero for a second and pull one of them into my raft. I told the fellow to pay me 20 bucks after the trip (he never did...jerk!). so that was all the rage...not really, but fun none the less

From the hudson John E and I drove across the Adirondacks to the Black River. We rolled into H20 town hot and ready to party! We got down pretty good then crashed in the boat room on an overturned raft (its pretty much the best air mattress). After waking up bright eyed and excited we got a serious breakfast at Mo's in H20 town. We prepared for our trip on the black with a metric crapload of coffee and some fine tobacco products. Our plan was to R2 (two men to a boat) a 14 foot boat and do all the rad S@#$. We left the put-in eddy before the customer trip and scampered to Hole Brothers. We surfed their for like 30-45 mins. Shortly after surfin' we had a clean line through Knifes Edge (class IV) via the true path (the most rad line in the rapids) to warm up for the Glen Park Falls. Glen Park Falls is a class VI (6...the highest in the scale of 1-6) is a series of 3 drops. First is a 4 foot drop, we ran in the center so we could drive left to the second drop which is like 8-9 feet. We got through that drop and set up for the third drop. We hit that mofo with alot of power and leaned back to bouf off of the crest of the drop. The whole thing was over pretty quickly. Needless to say we rocked that crap and cheered to 'tittie fu$*in' as loud as we could! We ran the Black River canyon and hit the Cruncher (Class III) sideways. We surfed pretty hard. I'm going to put the video on the blog soon. After that we ran the Poop Chute...a class V+ rapids. I was really nervous but John talked me into it. We nailed that then finished up the river with no trouble! We got a couple beers from the tow boat and shotgunned them for some added fun. It was basically the most exciting trip I've ever had down a River and I have had many River trips. I want to thank Tosha who got some rad pics and video of the trip and as always ARO for letting me borrow the boat.