Whitewater, Bluegrass:
Tuolumne Rafting Trip Offers the Best of Both Worlds
By Gary Linehan
Reprinted with permission
from
The Union Democrat, Sonora, CA
Friday, August 8, 1997
Life on the road is standard fare for most musicians, but bluegrass star Laurie Lewis takes it a step further by touring on wild rivers.
Earlier this summer, she and musical companion Tom Rozum made their third "Bluegrass and Whitewater" trip on the Tuolumne River with the Echo Wilderness Company of Oakland.
Participants spent three days in the open, rafting one of the world's most challenging rivers by day and listening to some of the world's best music by night.
"It's my idea of a perfect vacation," said equine veterinarian Nancy Elliot of Pescadero, who was on her second Tuolumne bluegrass trip with her husband, Ernie, a horse shoer, and another Bay Area couple, also farriers.
"The first time, we saw the trip in her newsletter," Elliot said. "We jumped on that and got the last four spots. This year we planned on it and we'll probably do it again next year, wherever she goes."
Lewis and Rozum, both residents of Berkeley, have made a total of 10 musical river trips so far. The others were on the Rogue River in Oregon, Salt River in Arizona, Rio Grande River in Texas and New Mexico, and Chama River in New Mexico, Arranged either by Echo or Far Flung Adventures of Big Bend, Texas.
"The people on these trips are more or less fans of ours," Lewis said before embarking on a two-week tour of the East Coast and England. "We set the trips up in advance, with Tom and myself playing music as part of the package. We're among the guests all day and when we get to camp, we play music. It's so fun. It's great for everybody--even the guides get entertainment while they're cooking and cleaning!"
The Tuolumne trip is one of her favorites.
"It's such an incredibly beautiful river," she said. "California rivers speak to me in a way that not all rivers do. I grew up going to the Stanislaus River every summer, so California rivers feel like home to me."
The six boats on the mid-July Tuolumne trip carried 18 guests, six guides and all the gear necessary for cooking, camping, and concerts.
Fine dining is always part of the guided rafting experience. The menu on this trip consisted of steak, chicken and wine one night and fajitas with margaritas the next.
After dinner comes the music, probably the most intimate performances Lewis' fans will ever see.
"Sometimes we'll try out our new songs, but this time we didn't, and I've been working on a lot of new songs," Lewis said. "We did pull up some stuff we don't normally play. We had so many requests we just played what people wanted to hear."
Elliot's request on her birthday was "Love Chooses You," one of the songs Lewis and her band Grant Street played at the Elliot's wedding in June 1991. "Four or five couples got up to waltz with us," Nancy said.
The second night turned into a talent show lasting until midnight. "We just kind of passed the guitar around," lewis said. "People told stories and jokes and sang songs. It was really wonderful and there were some very talented people."
"This trip was much more musically inclined," Elliot agreed. "People were much more into the bluegrass side of it, and you can't get a better spot for good bluegrass."
Come daylight, the group was back on the water.
The entire trip covered 18 miles from Meral Pool to the Wards Ferry Bridge, including 30 rapids, among them the famous Clavey Falls and Ramshead runs. Rivers are rated on a difficulty scale of 1 to 6 based on their most challenging rapids, with 1 being very easy and 6 being unrunnable.
The Tuolumne alternates between Class 4--difficult, with powerful, irregular waves, dangerous rocks, boiling eddies and strong currents requiring precise maneuvering, and Class 5--extremely difficult, with long and violent rapids, extremely obstructed riverbed, violent drops and very steep gradient requiring expert maneuvering.
"It's a risky business," said Echo guide Vladimir Gavrilov. "The Tuolumne is one of the most difficult rivers in the United States. Guides must have very good skills in psychology, be very patient and, especially in high water, should create an atmosphere where the people trust in themselves. Echo calls the Tuolumne the Dom Perignon of whitewater and wilderness."
Participants meet at Casa Loma Store off Ferretti Road near Smith Station, then board a bus for what the brochure calls a "spectacular 45-minute drive down the canyon."
Gavrilov more succinctly calls it a "Class 5" road.
Gavrilov, manager of Echo's Tuolumne operation, has 26 years of river experience, six of them with Echo. In his native Soviet Union, he was a physicist and led sports expeditions for 20 years.
Rozum was one of those aboard Gavrilov's boat on the July trip. "We had a great time with him and he and I had something in common because he has Slavic ancestors," Gavrilov said.
"There's a very friendly, warm relationship between the people on these trips," he said. "I've seen millionaires, world famous people and politicians, and all of them have been very open and available. The river makes people equal."
Lewis agreed, noting that the guests don't mind her appearance conforming to prevailing river standards.
"You don't get dirty riding all day on the river, but you can get very unkempt," she said.
But that's all part of the fun.
"It's a prefect blend of wilderness experience and luxury," she said.