CARNAGE RUN 2009.

This trip is THE reason Bear Valley River Company ROCKS! I put in a special request for this particular trip and they were thrilled to oblige! Bear Valley doesn't have the FANCY river front property (or even flush toilets for that matter). It doesn't have matching white school buses with their logo splattered down the sides. Their Craig's List purchased Econoline van had naughty words keyed into the doors during its earlier years. Their guides aren't cute little college students home for summer break. They are (let's just say) SEASONED! Bear Valley is definitely the company for those who are true RIVER RATS at heart. They are knowledgeable, experienced guides and I wouldn't dare ask anyone else for a CARNAGE RUN! What is a carnage run, you ask? A trip where the guide sees just how many times he can DUMP THE RAFT! Our truly seasoned guide, Jordan, gave us THE best trip down the South Fork imaginable! You can be sure I'll be rounding up a Carnage Crew again next year! Who wants to join the Payette River Swimmers Club?

READY OR NOT, HERE WE COME!

THE 2009 CARNAGE CREW . . .

JIM AND JESSIE

MOM AND DAD

THIS CRAZY LADY :)

JORDAN

AND TWO SAFTEY KAYAKERS!

UNFORTUNATELY MUCH OF OUR TRIP COULD NOT BE PHOTOGRAPHED BUT IT WAS DEFINITELY A WILD RIDE! WE HAD AN ABSOLUTE BLAST!

HERE ARE A FEW OF THE PARTS THAT WE DID MANAGE TO GET PICTURES OF!

JORDAN TAUGHT JESSIE A COOL TRICK WITH A SUBMERGED ROCK. HE LINED HER UP AND IF SHE HIT IT RIGHT, IT WOULD STAND HER STRAIGHT UP IN THE MIDDLE OF THE RIVER.

WELL, SHE DIDN'T QUITE PULL IT OFF BUT SHE'LL GET IT NEXT TIME!

INFAMOUS ROCK JUMP

DAD AND JESSIE

FOR THE RECORD, JESSIE JUMPED ALL ON HER OWN THIS TIME!

NO PUSH NEEDED!

I ALWAYS JUMP TOO--AND HATE EVERY MINUTE OF IT!

FEEL THE FEAR AND DO IT ANYWAY, RIGHT?!

STAIRCASE

RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE OF STAIRCASE (A CLASS IV RAPID) JORDAN PULLED US CLOSE TO THE SHORE, HAD US SMILE FOR THE CAMERA AND THEN WE FINISHED OUT THE RAPID! LET ME TELL YOU, A CASCADE RAFT GUIDE--INCAPABLE OF THIS MANEUVER! VERY COOL!

SURFING SLALOM

JORDAN DID MANAGE TO DUMP DAD AND I PRIOR TO SLALOM, THE LAST RAPID OF THE RUN. HOWEVER HE WAS D.E.T.E.R.M.I.N.E.D TO DUMP US IN SLALOM!

DAD AND I: BRING IT ON!

THE REST OF THE CREW: NOT SO SURE ABOUT THIS!

YOU'LL NOTICE WE ARE ROWING UPSTREAM, INTO THE RAPID!

JORDAN SET UP THE APPROACH (AND EVEN STACKED THE RAFT) IN AN ATTEMPT TO DUMP DAD AND I. WE WENT BACK INTO THIS RAPID TIME AND TIME AGAIN WITHOUT SUCCESS! UNTIL . . .

JIMMY AND JESSIE FINALLY WENT OVERBOARD!

UNCLE JIM CHURNED PRETTY GOOD IN THE RAPID BUT WAS QUICKLY PULLED BACK IN (EYES AS WIDE AS SAUCERS)! JESSIE LATCHED ONTO A RESCUE KAYAK DOWNSTREAM BEFORE CLIMBING ABOARD AGAIN. DESPITE JORDAN'S VALIANT ATTEMPTS -- HE MADE SWIMMERS OUT OF THE WRONG TWO!

IN CONCLUSION:

UNCLE JIM WAS GIVEN THE NICKNAME "MAYTAG" (FOR THE WASHING MACHINE-LIKE ACTION HE ENDURED IN A CLASS IV RAPID). HE ALSO BECAME AN OFFICIAL MEMBER OF THE "PAYETTE RIVER SWIMMERS CLUB." BETWEEN MAYTAGING AND THE SUNBURN HE GOT FROM OUR PRIOR RUN DOWN THE NORTH FORK, I'M NOT SURE WE'LL GET HIM INTO A RAFT AGAIN!

JESSIE EARNED A BIG OLD SCRATCH ON THE BACK OF HER HELMET AFTER BOUNCING OFF A ROCK IN THE BOTTOM OF SLALOM. SHE, HOWEVER, WILL BE BACK IN WATER THE SECOND SUMMER ARRIVES. AND WILL LIKELY BE ON CARNAGE RUN 2010.

AT THE BEGINNING OF THE TRIP, DAD SHOWED JORDAN A WAD OF MONEY AND THEN PUT IT IN HIS POCKET. HE SAID, "THIS IS YOUR TIP. IF IT COMES BACK WET, IT'S YOURS." JORDAN GOT A NICE TIP.

AT THE BEGINNING OF THE TRIP, MOM SHOWED JORDAN A WAD OF MONEY TOO. SHE SAID, "THIS IS YOURS IF YOU KEEP ME IN THE BOAT!" JORDAN GOT A NICE TIP FROM HER TOO!

TESS CAME HOME WITH ONE HELL OF A BRUISE SHE ACQUIRED WHILE BOUNCING AROUND IN A RAPID OF HER OWN. SHE WORE IT WITH PRIDE.

NORTH FORK RUN 2009.

For my birthday the Bingmans gave me a trip down the Cabarton stretch of the North Fork of the Payette. Which, of course, meant they all HAD to come with me! Adventure gifts are really the greatest! Uncle Jim and Aunt Dee had never been rafting and Miss Jessie was fresh off her first trip. A Cabarton run seemed very appropriate for a boat-load of newbies who, well, weren't exactly sure they wanted to get WET! Besides one small little glitch (Dee inadvertently booked our trip with the wrong raft company--oops) our trip went off without a hitch. And another addict was born . . .

Our trip was booked with Bear Valley River Company. We discovered this AFTER showing up at Cascade Raft to find they didn't have our reservations! We hurried up the road a few more miles to Bear Valley where they were expecting us! Having never rafted with Bear Valley before, I wasn't really sure what to expect. They were fantastic guides, however, and are definitely my favorite river company now!

AS A KID I SPENT SO MUCH TIME AT THIS BRIDGE! MY SISTER AND I WOULD RIDE OUR BIKES HERE AND SPEND HOURS STARRING INTO THE WATERS BELOW. I LOVED BEING ABLE TO CLIMB INTO THE RAFT AND LET THE WATERS TAKE US AWAY!

DEE AND JESSIE

SPEAKING OF DEE, SHE IS NOT PARTICULARLY FOND OF THE WATER AND COMPLETELY HATES GETTING WATER ON HER FACE! THIS PHOTO WAS TAKEN JUST AFTER HER FIRST LITTLE SPLASHY ROLLER. SHE CERTAINLY WASN'T THRILLED BUT SHE WAS BRAVE AND BARELY UTTERED A PEEP OF COMPLAINT!

UNCLE JIM JUST BEFORE TRAIN TRESTLE.

THE CARBARTON STRETCH IS CONSIDERED A DAY TRIP SO THEY STOPPED AND FED US LUNCH. IT WAS SURPRISINGLY DELICIOUS! OF COURSE WE WERE OUR GOOFY SELVES THOUGH. FOR THE RECORD, IT IS OBVIOUS I INHERITED SOME OF MY . . .

GOOFINESS!

RAINBOW BRIDGE

OUR GUIDE WAS AN EXCELLENT GUIDE.

NOT SUCH A GREAT PHOTOGRAPHER THOUGH!

RAINBOW BRIDGE WAS FUN FOR ME TOO. AFTER HAVING DRIVEN OVER IT THOUSANDS OF TIMES, IT WAS NEAT TO SEE IT FROM THE RIVER!

HOWARD'S PLUNGE IS NOW . . .

JIMMY'S PLUNGE!

ANY GUESSES WHO THE NEWEST WHITEWATER JUNKIE IS???

JESSIE CHILLIN IN THE STRETCH JUST BEFORE TAKE-OUT.

MAKES FEET HAPPY!

THE TAKE-OUT AT SMITH'S FERRY WAS ALSO RATHER STRANGE FOR ME.

BACK IN MY HIGH SCHOOL DAYS I WORKED AT COUGAR MOUNTAIN AND WAITED ON RAFTERS SUMMER AFTER SUMMER. GOTTA SAY, IT SURE WAS NICER TO BE A RAFTER THAT AFTERNOON RATHER THAN A WAITRESS!

RAFTING SURE DOES MAKE SOME GIRLS TIRED!

(they are so going to love me for posting these!)