Westwater this weekend

[Alex]

hehe tanya, here is a good one:

How do you know when a river runner is lieing?






....when his mouth opens

[tanya]

I don't think I could keep up with another group..... I need time to play too.


Funny Alex

[soitgos]

I don't think I could keep up with another group..... I need time to play too.

You have to join to read the stories, but you don't need to participate. Just choose "No email".

[tanya]

I don't think I could keep up with another group..... I need time to play too.

You have to join to read the stories, but you don't need to participate. Just choose "No email".

I have been a member for a long time..... but now I know you are in there I will have to peek in more.

[soitgos]

I have been a member for a long time..... but now I know you are in there I will have to peek in more.

The stories I'm referring to are in the "Files" section. You can read them without searching through emails.

[Felicia]

Several years ago we were running the Kings River, CA in spring. I went out at mule rock. Got sucked down to the bottom. I never open my eyes under water....but I did that day. I was always told to "let your life jacket save you", relax and the hole will spit you out. That is what I did. I remember thinking that it was taking a long time.......I could see the boat above. Then all of a sudden I shot up out of the hole......bumped my head on the bottom of the boat and then back down. Damn...no air. OK...so really, your life does start flashing before your eyes. All of a sudden, up I went again....broke the surface. Forgot to breath and down I went again. Sat on the bottom for a moment.....and back-up I went again. Grabbed by the scruff of my neck (life jacket) and hauled into the boat!!!!! They all swear that I was in the water for less than 2 minutes, but it felt like a lifetime! Had a massive headache. The river was running over 8000 that day.

I do know that it is all about the life jacket.....gotta have a jacket. :-)

[soitgos]

I do know that it is all about the life jacket.....gotta have a jacket. :-)

Actually, what I said earlier is totally wrong. I was thinking of drownings where people are doing what they should be doing, or at least being reasonable.

The number one cause of river deaths is people not wearing a PFD. You're right, it is all about the jacket.

[tanya]

Several years ago we were running the Kings River, CA in spring. I went out at mule rock. Got sucked down to the bottom. I never open my eyes under water....but I did that day. I was always told to "let your life jacket save you", relax and the hole will spit you out. That is what I did. I remember thinking that it was taking a long time.......I could see the boat above. Then all of a sudden I shot up out of the hole......bumped my head on the bottom of the boat and then back down. Damn...no air. OK...so really, your life does start flashing before your eyes. All of a sudden, up I went again....broke the surface. Forgot to breath and down I went again. Sat on the bottom for a moment.....and back-up I went again. Grabbed by the scruff of my neck (life jacket) and hauled into the boat!!!!! They all swear that I was in the water for less than 2 minutes, but it felt like a lifetime! Had a massive headache. The river was running over 8000 that day.

I do know that it is all about the life jacket.....gotta have a jacket. :-)

Did you avoid the river after that?

[tanya]

I do know that it is all about the life jacket.....gotta have a jacket. :-)

Actually, what I said earlier is totally wrong. I was thinking of drownings where people are doing what they should be doing, or at least being reasonable.

The number one cause of river deaths is people not wearing a PFD. You're right, it is all about the jacket.

Is it true that those old cheap orange life jackets with the flap at the top are safer than the small and fancy types?

[Alex]

Did you avoid the river after that?

I think the more close calls you have with the mother river, the more you want to get back to her

[Alex]

Is it true that those old cheap orange life jackets with the flap at the top are safer than the small and fancy types?

Tanya, you have to look at the buoyancy rating on the PFD. The higher the rating the heavier you can be to float. There was a discussion on the PFDs on the utahrafters mailing list a while back. All you ever wanted to know about it was discussed. The bottom line is, if you want to live, get a higher floatation PFD and have it CLIPPED in and not just on you when you are on the river.

Any life jacket is better than nothing, I think the biggest mistake people make is not adjusting it correctly and/or clipping all the clips in. Pretty much all the newbies that come on my trips do not have adjusted life jacket. I usually throw them in to the flat water (before rapids) and see if they fight the life jacket or not. It's a great wake up call for them and then they easily let me adjust them because they almost lost their PFD in the flat water.

[Felicia]

The following year we went back, but I the kids with me and they were too young to leave. I stayed behind and became the shuttle driver. It was fine with me.....the river was running at 13000. :-)

I would for sure go again, we just gotten side tracked with other sports.

[Felicia]

The following year we went back, but I the kids with me and they were too young to leave. I stayed behind and became the shuttle driver. It was fine with me.....the river was running at 13000. :-)

I would for sure go again, we just gotten side tracked with other sports.

[Alex]

Rafting goes well with canyoneering! They are such different sports that you get the reward from both. I actually manage to mix and match the gear I used with both sports, all the water gear in canyoneering goes great with rafting.

Felicia, next time you guys are vacationing in Utah, make sure to leave a day for the Westwater canyon (just a bit north/east of moab). It's rated as a number 1 weekend canyon in Utah (or is it in the west?).

[tanya]

Is it just a one or two day trip through there?

[Alex]

Tanya, it's roughly 5-7 hours flow, depends on the flow. You can do it in one day easily and a lot of people do that, but I like to take my time and do a two day out of it

Then you get to spend the night under the open sky with a person of your choice....

[tanya]

So this is why you and Steve hang out together?

[Alex]

So this is why you and Steve hang out together?

Hmmm, I haven't been on a overnighter with Steve yet, but he is known to have lots of babes on his trips. Babes and beer.... now there is a living.

[Alex]

So this is why you and Steve hang out together?

Oh oh... almost forgot, What happens on the river, stays on the river and flows under the bridge

[tanya]

So this is why you and Steve hang out together?

Hmmm, I haven't been on a overnighter with Steve yet, but he is known to have lots of babes on his trips. Babes and beer.... now there is a living.

Is this not what defines a River Rat?