2008 NRS Boatin' Tales

People often think that since you work at NRS, you’re boating all the time. It would be nice, but hey, then we wouldn’t be here to answer your questions, take your orders, package and ship them to you.

Still, most of us love to boat and take every opportunity to slip away and get on the water. Not everyone likes to write about their trips, so I’ve interviewed folks on their 2008 boating. There are too many to put in one article; here is the first batch. More later.

-Clyde
e-News Editor

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Bill is the founder of NRS, starting the business in 1972. In 2008 he was busy with other projects and only got in one raft trip. Well, if you can only do one trip, having it be through the Grand Canyon is the way to go. He said it was his eighth or ninth transit down the “Big Ditch.” They went in June and travelled the length of the Canyon, from Lees Ferry to South Cove on Lake Mead. Bill says, “My favorite time to make this trip is in May, but any time you get a chance to experience this national treasure is a real gift.”

Jenni’s one of our Purchasers. She and her husband, Brian (a former raft guide and former NRS Wholesale Account Manager, who is now in graduate school) were guest guides on a Main Salmon trip in July with Idaho River Journeys. An extended family booked the whole trip and a fun time was had by all. Jenni and Brian, along with their parents and some other NRS folks, put on the Salmon Middle Fork September 1st. They went in from Boundary Creek with two rafts and two kayaks. The upper end was super bony, really cold and they had to repair a holed boat on the second day. Then the sun came out and the rest of the trip was fine. The new Cove Creek Rapid (in the Tappen series) was very interesting, but they made it through fine.

Gabe is a water rat who’s boated and paddle boat guided all over the place. He’s now a Customer Service Rep here at NRS. This year he learned to C1. Why? Call and ask him. Says he probably got 60 days in the single blade kneeling position this year. Lots of playboating and a great run on the Class IV-V Farmland stretch of the White Salmon. Also did some rafting – Lochsa at the 9-foot level, Riggins stretch of the Salmon at 50,000 cfs and a dandy multiday Lower Salmon trip over Thanksgiving. At one point he had a raft, Shredder, two canoes and five C1s. He’s down to three C-boats. One unique occurrence happened on our local Potlatch River. It’s a small stream and he was real surprised to reach the takeout and find three guys in a little jet boat. They offered to give him a ride back to his vehicle. He accepted the offer but said the ride scared the heck out of him!

Jason is a rafter, fulltime student and part time Warehouse Associate. He grew up rafting with his family and their boating group gets on the Middle Fork Salmon most years. This year 15 of them put on July 19 for a six day trip. They were having lunch at White Creek Camp when a microburst hit with driving rain and strong wind that toppled a tree right in camp – pretty scary. The severe weather caused blowouts in three side streams, creating new rapids. Their group was the second one to come upon the new rapid at Cove Creek, in the Tappan rapid series. They elected to run it right, having to first cut off a large branch jutting out of the river bank. Jason ran his 16’ raft through, then hiked back upstream to pilot a 14-footer through. Exciting stuff.

Ashley is a member of the Marketing Team, doing studio product photography and other graphics work. She got in half a dozen Lochsa trips in her kayak: very intense, boated it up to 8.5 feet. Then in April, she took her brother on the Lower Owyhee River for a great multiday rafting and kayaking adventure. Later, up to Howe Sound in British Columbia at a summer camp where she led a girl’s four-day sea kayaking trip. June found her on the multiday Main Salmon Running the River Both Ways trip. Throw in lots of playboating and the Lower Salmon and she had a busy boating season!

Brinton is a kayaker and Wholesale Coordinator. He grew up in Wyoming and came to NRS this year after a career in outdoor retail and gear repping. He got on the water later than normal, but in the Northwest the season lasts longer so he was able to get in some paddling at Salmon River play spots. He also got to do some sea kayaking off the Washington coast. Back in Wyoming to get married, some of his old kayaking partners proposed a “bachelor party” river run on the Cache la Poudre. In spite of having to be totally outfitted in borrowed gear, he had a fine run, even surviving Mishawaka Falls without incident. A perfect pre-nuptial send off.

Jim came to us in the fall. During the summer months he spent 115 days on his previous gig, a fishing guide on the Flathead, Missouri, Blackfoot and Clark Fork rivers in Montana. In addition to guiding, he’s spent lots of time working in fly fishing shops. A real highlight came in late October when some of his guide buddies from several western states came together for a four-day steelhead fishing float on Oregon’s Grand Ronde River. Excellent fishing during the day and great evening campfire chats with good friends. Jim says, “Bunch of fishing guides get their first day off and what do they do? Go fishing, of course.”