Environmental Traveling Companions (ETC) provides accessible experiences in nature for youth and people living with disabilities. We were connected with them through our Street Level Cycles bicycle donation program last year and absolutely elated when they invited us to their River Camp in Lotus, CA for a white water rafting trip.
Our staff and youth headed up to the South Fork American River for three amazing days on the river. We stopped at Folsom Lake for lunch and, of course, jumped in the water before we even got to camp!
The river guides and hosts at ETC River Camp gave us a warm welcome. Their campgrounds sit directly on the river, and their outdoor kitchen offered the best hangout spot. We set up camp, made chicken burritos, and played board games underneath the stars. Falling asleep to the sound of the rolling river was absolutely the best.
The next morning, we packed lunches and headed out for our day rafting! Once again, the river guides gave us clear instructions and left us feeling very confident about the adventure we were embarking on.
It is hard to describe exactly what white water rafting is to someone who has not gone before, but all participants quickly learned just how fun it was. We practiced rescuing each other from the river when unanticipated swims happen live. We paddled our way down the river, taking on each rapid as they came. Each one had its own name and increased in intensity as we went along. We stopped for a brief lunch on the banks of the river before we kept rowing and floating to Folsom Lake.
The drive back to camp was an opportunity to reflect on the excitement of the day and worry about how sore we were going to be the next morning. That evening we had much-deserved hamburgers and eventually got some much-needed sleep.
On this trip, we learned about safety on the river, waterfowl, and the importance of the American River Watershed system – it’s where our Bay Area drinking water comes from! Our participants resoundingly said we should go again and for longer. This is definitely one for the books, and we hope there will be many more river excursions in the years to come. Thanks ETC!
If you would like to support adventures like this one, please consider a donation to Waterside Workshops.