Smith River

We floated the Smith River from Thursday-Sunday.  We went with Amber, Tim, and Josie Blazina, Carol and Kevin Diffendaffer, Joey Roberts, these three!  Kyler got to join us at the last minute, and it was so much fun having him!

This picture was taken at the put-in, and they were already ready for an epic adventure!

I have pictures from two cameras (my phone and the GoPro) and they're out of order...so here they are in no particular sequence. 

Luke found a nice, comfy place to sleep on top of the coolers.  

Thursday afternoon it rained for a few hours, and we had the boys put their rain coats on over their life jackets. I thought they looked so funny all bulked up (except Josh was wearing Mike's old rain coat and so it still looked baggy on him!).

Luke did not like floating in the rain, he bundled up. We huddled under a tarp to keep our legs and feet warm. 

Before we knew it, the weather had cleared enough to start doing trick panoramic photos. 

We sent the kids to find willows for smores sticks, and our boys whittled these tiny 18" long sticks.  They couldn't imagine why we thought they should go longer. 

Paisano around the campfire, an epic tradition. The 7 adults finished this huge bottle the first night.  We had a blast!  

Kyler caught the first fish for our boat, and the only one on a spinner rod.  A nice little rainbow!

One day they'll be too big to stand on top of coolers and fish, but not today!

The second morning, Tim gave each boy a feather for their hat to make them look like their own little tribe of wild boys. 

Can't beat this scenery. 

The pictures don't do it justice.  It's just breathtaking. 

Josh caught a nice rainbow later in the day. 

Luke is reeling in one of his fish. He caught four on his fly rod but couldn't get any into the boat for pictures.  

Campfire shenanigans! Josie is a great sport and hung in with these three boys so well!  She's every bit as silly as they are!

Joey was Josie's gym teacher, and was brave enough to take all four kids in his raft.  He's a river manny. :) 

Around every turn it seemed like we had another stunning vista.

This was our campsite after day 3.  20 miles on the river, and still got there before sunset. :) 

Luke didn't like getting up early after the late nights they pulled.  Dance parties in the tent are exhausting!

Our biggest fish of the boat.  

Boat selfies never get old.  We made good use of Josh's selfie stick.

Camp from Night 2.  The boys were having fun on the rock cliffs as we were setting up camp below, closer to the water. 

This boat selfie makes me laugh. I think Josh looks like he's trying to be tough.

Luke can't hide that smile, no matter how much head gear he wears.  

Happy floaters!