A very fun couple days hanging out with and paddling the SF American with good friends. It was their first time paddle rafting!
I got to try something new this past week.
Although I’ve kayaked extensively for decades now, and I’ve done a fair bit of rafting at the helm of an oar raft*, prior to last week I had done virtually no paddle rafting. When I was a teen I did a 1/2 day guided trip with a friend in Colorado, but beyond that I had done nothing, not as a paddler nor guiding.
Last week while the girls were at raft camp, my friend Weber and I did two days of paddling with other parents and some experienced guides, alternating between being a paddler and guiding. It was super fun and great to experience a different method of getting down a river, especially one I’ve kayaked many many times. Later in the week our friends Paige O’Connell , Mike and their kids came up, so they were the guinea pigs for me testing out guiding. Pleased to report both days we paddled went smoothly with no flips or swims (there is video of Hazel swimming, but she jumped in on purpose). I really enjoyed a new twist on the familiar river.
Video has a bunch of semi-random clips.
*An oar raft has a frame, with a single pair of long oars controlled by a single rower. Paddle rafts each person on the boat has a paddle, and their is a guide in the back who shouts instructions to keep the group working together
