A Unique Father-Son Relationship Building Opportunity

Marty Sochet, a marriage and family therapist in Berkeley, and Turtle River Rafting Company invite fathers and their adult sons (18 and older) to share an unforgettable wilderness experience.
The Upper Sacramento offers thrilling class III rapids in a breathtaking gorge. We will work together, crafting an exciting team adventure.

After the trip, fathers and sons are encouraged to take advantage of a session with Marty, to discuss the highlights and challenges of the wilderness experience. At a time when fathers and sons are learning how to be adults together, to be friends and to honor the parent-child bond, this trip offers a unique opportunity to imagine and discuss a stronger evolving relationship.

Marty Sochet has been a California licensed marriage and family therapist for thirty-two years. He has worked with hundreds of individuals, families and couples, as well as facilitating thousands of hours of men’s groups. He has a particular interest in helping fathers and sons enhance their connection. Marty is a seasoned whitewater guide and often guides rivers with his son Noah.

Where:
Upper Sacramento River | Sims Campground

When:
Friday evening, May 21, 2010 to Sunday afternoon, May 23, 2010
We’ll gather the evening of May 21st at Sims Campground on the Upper Sacramento river. This will give us a chance to set up our camp, introduce ourselves and have an orientation to the weekend.

Cost:
$245 per person

What’s Included:
All rafting gear and professional guides, campground fees, meals from Saturday breakfast through Sunday lunch. Camping gear is available if needed.

Registration & Questions:
Call Rick Demarest at Turtle River 800-726-3223
By email: raft@turtleriver.com

Spring Whitewater Rafting with Ken and Rick

Ken Nelson and I have been guiding together for over 20 years. Each year as we transition from skiing to rafting, we’ve kicked around the idea of creating some special trips on the Upper Sacramento. The question always revolves around getting small groups of friends to come play with us and making it affordable.

So, for 2010 it’s no frills season on the Upper Sac…

Friends & BYOL. Get a group of 4 or more friends together and bring your own lunch. Everything else is on us – boats, life jackets, wetsuits, & splash jackets and…just a bit of chaos.

When:
Any day in April, May, and June

Where:
Upper Sacramento River | Sims Campground to Mosquito Creek

Cost:
4 to 7 people: $70 per person
8 or more: $65 per person
With 12 or more, we’ll add Ben at no extra charge.

Registration & Questions:
Call Rick at Turtle 530-926-3223
By email: raft@turtleriver.com

Down a Lazy River
Sunset Magazine Article By Christopher Tritto

River rafting brings to mind white-knuckle thrill rides through adrenaline-pumping rapids. But for those more interested in a laid-back outing than a hair-raising adventure, summer floats down peaceful stretches of California rivers offer a very different experience.

This is river touring the way Huckleberry Finn would have liked it: carefree floating with plenty of time to take in the scenery and to stop for picnicking, side-canyon exploration, and even a little fishing. With gentle riffles and long, calm-water drifts instead of big rapids, this type of trip offers a quiet retreat and an opportunity to reconnect with the natural world. With rapids rated at classes 1 through 3 (class 5 is the most difficult), these trips are as suitable for young children on their first river adventure as they are for experienced rafters craving tranquil communion with nature. All you need are shorts and a long-sleeve shirt, sunblock, a wide-brimmed hat, and a willingness to sit back and go with the flow.

Flowing between low green and gold hills near the Oregon border, the uncrowded Klamath has several sections that can be enjoyed from either the roomy comfort of a big raft or the solitude of an inflatable kayak. One popular 12-mile day trip puts in at Tree of Heaven campground near Yreka. This stretch is ideal for a nature experience. From the water, the environment is seen in a wonderfully different way. Boaters are almost sure to come across groups of turtles basking on rocks in the sun and great blue herons standing quietly along the banks, as well as osprey, deer, and river otters. On a hot day, a leisurely lunch in the shade is followed by a cooling dip in the water. There are frequent stops for swimming and, in late summer, picking ripe blackberries that grow in brambly thickets along the riverbanks.

Middle Klamath River

Close to Mount Shasta & Ashland.
Whitewater, blackberries, wildlife.
1 & 2-days | June, July, & August
Class 2+ | Ages 4 & up

Whitewater & Blackberries
Parents Press Article By Peggy Vincent

My husband and I have been taking our children on family-oriented whitewater rafting trips since the year our oldest lost his first front tooth. Now we watch our grandchildren falling in love with the rivers of the West. They strain their ears for the sound of approaching white water, and when they hear that distinctive roar growing louder and louder, we see them shiver with excitement. When they notice the guide standing up in the boat to scout for boulders, they crane their necks and look ahead, too. When we adults sit straighter and grip our oars more tightly, the children reach for the ropes on the sides of the inflatable rubber rafts. I know the thrill they’re feeling. After years of rafting rivers in California, Oregon, and Idaho, I still feel the same way.

So many aspects of rafting have become part of our family memory bank that it’s hard to list them. There’s family time together, uninterrupted by cell phones, e-mail, or carpools. There’s the food, pancakes and tabouleh salad and steak with potatoes that all taste yummier than usual because someone else fixed them and we’re eating outdoors. When a sharp-eyed paddler points out a pair of osprey diving for fish or seven bald eagles roosting on bare branches, we feel like the first humans privileged to see them. Each river is like an old friend with a personality of its own, and even the same river is different from year to year. But one thing remains constant on our trips…blackberries. During the brief summer months when the weather is temperate enough and the rain showers are infrequent enough and the water is high enough to make running rivers a pleasure, blackberries are always plentiful. They ripen over a long period of time, so it seems no matter when we camp, some little patch is ready for plucking nearby.

One year on the Klamath, we camped on a knoll above the river. From camp one could contemplate the river far below, watch the ascending sun light the canyon walls a pinkish-yellow, listen to songbirds in the nearby pines and madrone – and pluck blackberries from the surrounding bushes. They grew just close enough to afford an alfresco snack but not so close that the thorns threatened tender skin.

The next day, when we stopped for lunch, those of us who felt up to what the guides described as “a moderately challenging rock-scramble” made the trek up Ukonom Creek to the twin waterfalls that cascade into a pristine swimming hole. As we needed our hands free to aid in crawling over fallen trees and around Volkswagen-sized boulders in the path…the result of the floods of 1997 that rearranged the river’s landscape…we couldn’t gather blackberries for later eating. We just plucked and ate wherever we came upon them.

Lower Klamath

Our most popular river rafting trip. Wilderness canyons, Ukonom Falls, sandy beaches, bald eagles, river otters.
1 to 5-days | May – Sept | Class 3
Special Family Trips | Ages 5 – up

The following information is available for download:
PDF format

• COLOR BROCHURE
• TRIP REGISTRATION FORM
• LOWER KLAMATH RIVER
• MIDDLE KLAMATH RIVER
• UPPER KLAMATH RIVER
• TRINITY RIVER
• ROGUE RIVER
• UPPER SACRAMENTO RIVER
• OWYHEE RIVER
• CAL SALMON RIVER
• SCOTT RIVER

How long have you been guiding river trips?

Turtle River was started in 1976. Most of our present guides have been running rivers for 8 to 29 years. All are certified in first-aid and CPR. Many have Swiftwater Rescue training & EMT certification.

Do you offer discounts for groups?
Can we do a private trip?

If you have a group of 6 to 11 people there is a discount of 5%. For 12 or more…10%. Please call for larger group pricing. We can also arrange a private trip for groups…friends, businesses, and organizations.

How do I schedule a trip?

The best way is to call us… 1-800-726-3223 or send us an e-mail. We schedule most of our trips on a custom basis. Early in the season dates are established by request. During the season we will add to established trips or create new dates as space in our schedule allows.

What time do we start?
What time do we finish?

We meet you at 9:00 a.m. the first day of your trip (The Upper Klamath is 7:30 a.m.). Most trips finish about 4:30 p.m. the last day of the trip.

What is included?

Everything except your clothes and camping equipment is included in the trip price:
• Rafts, life jackets, helmets if needed, dry storage bags
• Professional guides
• Meals from lunch on the first day through lunch on the last day
• Shuttles from the take-out point back to the put-in

What do we need to bring? Do you rent equipment?

You only need to bring personal items and camping gear on overnight trips.
• Tent, sleeping bag, pad, and tarp.
• For sodas or alcoholic beverages in the evening, please bring whatever you prefer.
• We have camping equipment available as a rental.

What rafts do you use?

We use Hyside Inflatables…self-bailing, heavy duty commercial rafts.
• Paddle rafts: 4 to 6 people participate in paddling under the direction of a guide.
• Oar Rafts: Carries food and equipment (oar power with only a guide).
• Inflatable kayaks: Small one person boats…stable and easy to paddle. We bring a few for shared use at no extra charge. You may also rent a kayak for exclusive use.

How are rivers rated?

The difficulty of a river is classified on a scale of 1 to 5. To assist you in selecting a trip, each of the rivers we run has been given a rating. These ratings are based on the conditions we normally encounter.
• Class 2 – Easy with small rapids.
• Class 3 – Moderate…Larger rapids and more action.
• Class 4 – Difficult…Long rapids, powerful waves, lots of action.
• Class 5 – Wild…Complex rapids, steep drops, always scouted.