Floating the Skagit

[+Ambrosia]

I'm opening a thread to discuss and inform everyone about the GeoRafting trip that we're doing at the end of the month.

 

Here's the link to the cache page: Floating the Skagit

 

This will be the third GeoRafting Event that we've held, but this one's a bit diferent than the last two, which were white water runs on the Wenatchee River. This one is going to be on the Skagit, and it's a calm class 1 ride, to watch Bald Eagles.

 

As the Event Page explains, we are providing at least 4 rafts, maybe 5, rafting guides, and life jackets (although we have a limited amount of youth and children life jackets, and no baby life jackets). That should seat 30-45 people (I'm guessing). People can also come with their own boats - kayaks, canoes, white water rafts, etc.

 

Like the other two trips, we're asking for a donation (unless you bring your own boats and equipment), for upkeep of equipment and costs and to help with guides and other helpers. The suggestion is $50 dollars per person. Normal commercial trips on the Skagit are around $80.

 

We have a reserved list of cachers already, although I'm still waiting on a confirmation from some of them, plus a few people are already signing up on the cache page. If we run out of room, we will put people on a waiting list for people who may drop out.

 

Reserve list, confirmed:

 

1 - GrievousAngel

1 - Right Wing Wacko

3 - ruck (he's going to go in his own kayak, making his party 4 total)

 

On the reserve list, but I'm waiting for confirmation (how many):

 

-Hawk-

1fairygirl

nteclpr

Jayel57

Team Sagefox

Cacher

Cacher

Cacher

Cacher

Cacher

 

People signed up on cache page:

 

1 - lucyandrickie (lucy's going down the river, rickie will be nearby for moral support)

1 - Craftea

2 - Rey del Roble

Edited January 15, 2008 by Ambrosia

[+TotemLake]

1 - lucyandrickie (lucy's going down the river, rickie will be nearby for moral support)

 

Is he afraid I might show up?

Edited January 15, 2008 by TotemLake

[+Ambrosia]

1 - lucyandrickie (lucy's going down the river, rickie will be nearby for moral support)

 

Is he afraid I might show up? ;)

[lucyandrickie]

He's decided that I would be an acceptable sacrifice this year

We still laugh about the dunking on that last trip

[+Ambrosia]

He's decided that I would be an acceptable sacrifice this year

We still laugh about the dunking on that last trip

It's the wild outdoors, anything can happen. It's an adventure!

[+Ambrosia]

A couple more things:

 

I didn't word things correctly in my first post, although I did on the cache page. The requested donation is if you use our rafts - if you bring your own boats you're fine. Hopefully we can have a big caravan on the river.

 

On the cache page, a couple people mentioned hot drinks and hot food at the end (rickie and Half Canadian). I think that sounds wonderful. I had thought about that posibility, but didn't mention it because I didn't know if people would be cold and want to go home, and that no one would want to have responsibility for that. But if people want to, I think it's wonderful. The parking lot is nice and open, and I think it would work fine. We'll be providing some hot chocolate on the rafts, but coming back for more resfreshments would be great, and much appreciated.

 

Thanks for the help and involvement.

[+Allanon]

Question...if the cache page is the coords for the put-in, what are they for the pull-out? Sorry if I missed that.

[+Half-Canadian]

Ambrosia,

I sent a link to the event page to a few of the local cachers, some of whom are fairly new and may not know about the forums.

 

I see that you didn't include anything on the cache page about a suggested donation, and it might be awkward if these folks arrived for the trip without being aware of this. You might want to add something to the cache page mentioning a donation, if it fits Groundspeak's guidelines for events.

[+Wander Lost]

Ambrosia,

I sent a link to the event page to a few of the local cachers, some of whom are fairly new and may not know about the forums.

 

I see that you didn't include anything on the cache page about a suggested donation, and it might be awkward if these folks arrived for the trip without being aware of this. You might want to add something to the cache page mentioning a donation, if it fits Groundspeak's guidelines for events.

 

It's on there, but very small and unobtrusive. If 'Bro wants something a bit more pronounced she'll have to sweet talk a few ppl at froggie central.

[+Half-Canadian]

 

It's on there, but very small and unobtrusive. If 'Bro wants something a bit more pronounced she'll have to sweet talk a few ppl at froggie central.

 

Aha -- I see it now...almost needed a magnifying glass to spot it, though

[+Ambrosia]

All41 and I have gone around and around about how much to say about a donation. He would like it to be worded stronger, but I keep telling him that I'm worried about getting spanked by Signal.

 

I assure him that whatever happens, it will all come out in the end. We certainly would never turn anyone away, even if they don't bring a dime. It's always worked out in the past. At the very worse, if our rafting events stop breaking even, then we'll just not have anymore in the future.

 

Thanks for the concern.

Edited January 16, 2008 by Ambrosia

[+-Hawk-]

I mentioned on the Event listing, but I will do so here as well, that due to a business trip to Kansas City over that time period, I won't be able to attend . You can go ahead and pull me off of the reserve list and open it up to some other lucky soul that CAN attend. Maybe the next time. It was definitely something I wanted to attend.

[+Ambrosia]

Thanks for the update, -Hawk-. I'm sorry that you have to miss out. Hopefully we'll be doing another rafting event soon, either on the Wenatchee or the Skagit in another year.

[+WeightMan]

I am planning on doing a road trip up the Skagit a few days before this event. I won't be able to make the event, but you are welcome to use my bookmark list of the caches between Rockport and Marblemount.

[+Ambrosia]

I am planning on doing a road trip up the Skagit a few days before this event. I won't be able to make the event, but you are welcome to use my bookmark list of the caches between Rockport and Marblemount.

That's great! I was just wondering if I should make a bookmark, when I saw your post. Should I post it on the cache page?

[+WeightMan]

I am planning on doing a road trip up the Skagit a few days before this event. I won't be able to make the event, but you are welcome to use my bookmark list of the caches between Rockport and Marblemount.

That's great! I was just wondering if I should make a bookmark, when I saw your post. Should I post it on the cache page?

Sure, go ahead. It is not published on the listed caches pages so that is one of the few ways to find out about it.

 

I intend to delete it shortly after your event.

[+Ambrosia]

Question...if the cache page is the coords for the put-in, what are they for the pull-out? Sorry if I missed that.

Sorry I haven't responded yet, I got caught up in the whole donation discussion.

 

The event coords are to the put in. After looking at google maps, All41 is 99% sure that we're taking out just before the intersection of 20 and 530, where the river loops up to highway 20. I don't have the exact coords! I guess the closest ones would be to Kicking Cache.

 

Hope that helps!

Edited January 16, 2008 by Ambrosia

[+Ambrosia]

I am planning on doing a road trip up the Skagit a few days before this event. I won't be able to make the event, but you are welcome to use my bookmark list of the caches between Rockport and Marblemount.

That's great! I was just wondering if I should make a bookmark, when I saw your post. Should I post it on the cache page?

Sure, go ahead. It is not published on the listed caches pages so that is one of the few ways to find out about it.

 

I intend to delete it shortly after your event.

Thanks for sharing.

[+-Hawk-]

Thanks for the update, -Hawk-. I'm sorry that you have to miss out. Hopefully we'll be doing another rafting event soon, either on the Wenatchee or the Skagit in another year.

 

Your welcome, and keep me posted, I hope I can make one of them.

 

All41 is 99% sure that we're taking out just before the intersection of 20 and 520, where the river loops up to highway 20. I guess the closest ones would be to Kicking Cache.

 

I believe that is highway 530, not 520

[+robinego]

 

On the cache page, a couple people mentioned hot drinks and hot food at the end rickie and Half Canadian).

 

<perk> Frito pie!!!???

 

Sounds like there is plenty going on that weekend and since the geo-ignorant spouse is out of town, I may just have to spend the weekend on that side of the mountains...

[+Ambrosia]

Thanks for the update, -Hawk-. I'm sorry that you have to miss out. Hopefully we'll be doing another rafting event soon, either on the Wenatchee or the Skagit in another year.

 

Your welcome, and keep me posted, I hope I can make one of them.

 

All41 is 99% sure that we're taking out just before the intersection of 20 and 520, where the river loops up to highway 20. I guess the closest ones would be to Kicking Cache.

 

I believe that is highway 530, not 520

Lol. If that's the only mistake that I've made in this whole thing, I'll be happy. The last couple days I've been trying to keep my eyes open while doing all this work. It's been a losing battle. I've wondered what sort of horrible mistakes I may be making, like getting the date of the event wrong and bringing everyone out there for nothing, or something.

[+Ambrosia]

 

On the cache page, a couple people mentioned hot drinks and hot food at the end rickie and Half Canadian).

 

<perk> Frito pie!!!???

 

Sounds like there is plenty going on that weekend and since the geo-ignorant spouse is out of town, I may just have to spend the weekend on that side of the mountains...

 

That's what we were hoping. With the Garmin/Groundspeak event on Saturday, and the GeoRafting event on Sunday, people can make a nice weekend of it.

[+Three Bottles]

Ambrosia,

I sent a link to the event page to a few of the local cachers, some of whom are fairly new and may not know about the forums.

 

I see that you didn't include anything on the cache page about a suggested donation, and it might be awkward if these folks arrived for the trip without being aware of this. You might want to add something to the cache page mentioning a donation, if it fits Groundspeak's guidelines for events.

 

I shared the event info with some fellow Bellingham cachers. I didn't mention the suggested donation... I did direct them to the cache page so they should see it in the description.

[+Ambrosia]

So.....as has been posted in the Event page......the same weekend as the Event, January 26-27, is the Upper Skagit Bald Eagle Festival. I hope that this doesn't affect our trip too much. I guess I mainly worry that the birds aren't bothered by extra people, and that we have room in the parking lot to enjoy our refreshments and each other's company.

 

I posted this over there, but I'm doing it here as well. I found a Bald Eagle count page for the Skagit River: Linky You can click the Home button on that page and get info about the Festival.

[+ruck]

Looks like my hiking buddy from Three Fingers might be coming too, but he and his girlfriend will be in his double kayak. Shouldn't effect the count.

The Eagle Festival is that weekend. Should make parking interesting.

http://www.skagiteagle.org/

[+Ambrosia]

Hydnsek brought up the 5/5 rating in the cache page, I thought I'd discuss it here, so that there aren't more notes on the cache page.

 

I made this a 5/5 because 'Tudles rated the 2006 GeoRafting Event that way. I'm not really sure what's best here.

 

The 5 for Terrain is easy, because you need a boat to go down the river (although people who don't float, but stay behind for pictures and food and support can log an attended on the event without boating).

 

But what should the difficulty be? It's not a physical cache, but it's not a normal Event (as in, going to a restaurant). Is the Difficulty in finding the coordinates/put in? If that's the case, then it should be a 1.

 

It's been fun having some of these 5/5's out here, but if it's not correct, I'll change this one quickly.

 

Your thoughts?

[+hydnsek]

Hydnsek brought up the 5/5 rating in the cache page, I thought I'd discuss it here, so that there aren't more notes on the cache page.

 

I made this a 5/5 because 'Tudles rated the 2006 GeoRafting Event that way. I'm not really sure what's best here.

 

The 5 for Terrain is easy, because you need a boat to go down the river (although people who don't float, but stay behind for pictures and food and support can log an attended on the event without boating).

 

But what should the difficulty be? It's not a physical cache, but it's not a normal Event (as in, going to a restaurant). Is the Difficulty in finding the coordinates/put in? If that's the case, then it should be a 1.

 

It's been fun having some of these 5/5's out here, but if it's not correct, I'll change this one quickly.

 

Your thoughts?

I was kinda teasing, but the Difficulty of 5 does seem a tad high, unless there are some really gnarly caches along the way. What I noticed with two of the Challenge caches: the Difficulty rating is that of the hardest cache you had to get (the History and Well-Rounded ones, specifically). Ditto for Terrain, but that's covered already.

 

My vote would be for a lower Difficulty rating, to keep rate inflation in check. I like to honestly earn those tough 5's when possible. (I realize not everyone feels that way.)

Edited January 16, 2008 by hydnsek

[+Ambrosia]

Hydnsek brought up the 5/5 rating in the cache page, I thought I'd discuss it here, so that there aren't more notes on the cache page.

 

I made this a 5/5 because 'Tudles rated the 2006 GeoRafting Event that way. I'm not really sure what's best here.

 

The 5 for Terrain is easy, because you need a boat to go down the river (although people who don't float, but stay behind for pictures and food and support can log an attended on the event without boating).

 

But what should the difficulty be? It's not a physical cache, but it's not a normal Event (as in, going to a restaurant). Is the Difficulty in finding the coordinates/put in? If that's the case, then it should be a 1.

 

It's been fun having some of these 5/5's out here, but if it's not correct, I'll change this one quickly.

 

Your thoughts?

I was kinda teasing, but the Difficulty of 5 does seem a tad high, unless there are some really gnarly caches along the way. What I noticed with two of the Challenge caches: the Difficulty rating is that of the hardest cache you had to get (the History and Well-Rounded ones, specifically). Ditto for Terrain, but that's covered already.

 

My vote would be for a lower Difficulty rating, to keep rate inflation in check. I like to honestly earn those tough 5's when possible. (I realize not everyone feels that way.)

 

Well, it's something I've wondered, so I thought this would be the perfect time to get people's feedback.

 

The difference between a challenge cache and an event cache, is that events aren't supposed to be about a cache or caches. They're about getting together with other geocachers. So even if there were no caches along the route, this would still be an event. So I don't think that the difficulty should be determined by the caches.

 

Otherwise, I think that it's a good probability that this should have a lower difficulty. But what number? It's arbitrary, unless it's just 1.

[+Right Wing Wacko]

Ambrosia,

I sent a link to the event page to a few of the local cachers, some of whom are fairly new and may not know about the forums.

 

I see that you didn't include anything on the cache page about a suggested donation, and it might be awkward if these folks arrived for the trip without being aware of this. You might want to add something to the cache page mentioning a donation, if it fits Groundspeak's guidelines for events.

 

One could easily argue that the event is free. Anyone can bring their own raft / kyak. Those that don't can reserve a spot in a raft for an appropriate donation.

 

I am really looking forward to this trip. In fact, I am taking part of the day off on sunday to go since that is a normal work day for me. Before All4one brought this up I was looking at scheduling a trip that the City of Marysville parks department is sponsoring on the Stilliquamish River. Doing this with some of my Geofriends sounds like much more fun

 

I only wish I could bring my wife along as she would love to do this kind of trip. Unfortunatly her health won't allow it right now.

[MarcusArelius]

And isn't the event for the dinner. The dinner doesn't require a boat.

[+Ambrosia]

Ambrosia,

I sent a link to the event page to a few of the local cachers, some of whom are fairly new and may not know about the forums.

 

I see that you didn't include anything on the cache page about a suggested donation, and it might be awkward if these folks arrived for the trip without being aware of this. You might want to add something to the cache page mentioning a donation, if it fits Groundspeak's guidelines for events.

 

One could easily argue that the event is free. Anyone can bring their own raft / kyak. Those that don't can reserve a spot in a raft for an appropriate donation.

 

I am really looking forward to this trip. In fact, I am taking part of the day off on sunday to go since that is a normal work day for me. Before All4one brought this up I was looking at scheduling a trip that the City of Marysville parks department is sponsoring on the Stilliquamish River. Doing this with some of my Geofriends sounds like much more fun

 

I only wish I could bring my wife along as she would love to do this kind of trip. Unfortunatly her health won't allow it right now.

That's a good point.

 

That's interesting that you were going to something similar to this at the same time. I hope that our trip is wonderful. But they always are, even when we pop rafts and even when it rains buckets on us, we still have a blast because we're having an adventure outside with great people!

 

I'm sorry about your wife. I hope that things go better for her. Tell her that we're thinking of her! (hugs) I might not be able to be there, either. At the very most, I was planning on waiting in the car with pillows and stuff, but now All41 is asking why I can't go down the river if I can sit in a car, instead of staying at my brother's in Seattle (because we're going to the Garmin/Groundspeak event on Saturday). Rafting would be a lot harder than sitting in the car, but I guess if I'm having a fantastic day and if there's room there's a small chance. I was really bummed to miss last year's family Skagit float. The trip just sounds fantastic.

 

And isn't the event for the dinner. The dinner doesn't require a boat.

This is true, people can come to eat and that's still part of the Event. Although, I believe I don't really need the dinner to make it an Event. We're kinda used to using dinners as an Event vehicle. I think that this is the only description of what an Event needs to be:

 

Event caches are gatherings that are open to all geocachers and which are organized by geocachers........In addition, an event cache should not be set up for the sole purpose of drawing together cachers for an organized hunt of another cache or caches.

 

When we did the 2006 rafting event, a few of us logged an attended even though we didn't raft. But we were at the put in, and then we drove to a bridge along the route to watch the rafters go under (and picked up rafters who wanted to stop rafting), and then we were there at the take out. And we took pictures of everything. So even though we didn't raft, we participated. The same applies to this one, especially now that there are volunteers to help provide refreshments where people can hang out and extend the Event!

[MarcusArelius]

What I meant is the event terrain doesn't require a 5 rating.

[+TotemLake]

When we did the 2006 rafting event, a few of us logged an attended even though we didn't raft. But we were at the put in, and then we drove to a bridge along the route to watch the rafters go under (and picked up rafters who wanted to stop rafting), and then we were there at the take out. And we took pictures of everything. So even though we didn't raft, we participated. The same applies to this one, especially now that there are volunteers to help provide refreshments where people can hang out and extend the Event!

You just couldn't resist the double entendre could ya? Nicely done.

[+Ambrosia]

What I meant is the event terrain doesn't require a 5 rating.

I knew that my long post was silly, and unneeded.

[+Ambrosia]

When we did the 2006 rafting event, a few of us logged an attended even though we didn't raft. But we were at the put in, and then we drove to a bridge along the route to watch the rafters go under (and picked up rafters who wanted to stop rafting), and then we were there at the take out. And we took pictures of everything. So even though we didn't raft, we participated. The same applies to this one, especially now that there are volunteers to help provide refreshments where people can hang out and extend the Event!

You just couldn't resist the double entendre could ya? Nicely done.

 

Are you not going?

[+TotemLake]

Without going into further details; if there is room and the timing is right, I can be there.

[+WeightMan]

For more information on the eagles and the festival check out Skagit Eagles.

[+Recdiver]

If there is still room I would love to do this.

I promise to behave this time, no really, I mean it this time.

PLEASE Can I go, Please...

[+WeightMan]

I have added the caches on Fir Island to my bookmark list for those that might like to see the snow geese.

[+Babybackpackers]

I have a couple of questions. Since I am bringing my kayaks I need to know if the pull-out spot has parking. I don't know how the transportation is going to be. Should I bring two cars? One on either end of the trip. This is how I usually do it but was curious if there was a way to take only one car? Is there room for two 10 foot kayaks and two people on the way back to the starting point? We will be there either way, just would like to know what to expect.

 

Thanks BBP

[+Right Wing Wacko]

I have a couple of questions. Since I am bringing my kayaks I need to know if the pull-out spot has parking. I don't know how the transportation is going to be. Should I bring two cars? One on either end of the trip. This is how I usually do it but was curious if there was a way to take only one car? Is there room for two 10 foot kayaks and two people on the way back to the starting point? We will be there either way, just would like to know what to expect.

 

Thanks BBP

 

The pullout that has been mentioned earlier is actually a bigger park than the put-in. There should be plenty of parking at both locations.

[+Ambrosia]

Without going into further details; if there is room and the timing is right, I can be there.

Good. I hope you can be there. Do you want me to put you on the page as a maybe?

 

For more information on the eagles and the festival check out Skagit Eagles.

Thanks for the link! It's funny, I looked over the forum thread and see that that cache page has been linked to 3 times now.

 

If there is still room I would love to do this.

I promise to behave this time, no really, I mean it this time.

PLEASE Can I go, Please...

Wellll..........as long as you're going to be a good boy. <pats Rec's head patronizingly>

 

Is T2A going to be there?

 

I have added the caches on Fir Island to my bookmark list for those that might like to see the snow geese.

Thanks!

[+Ambrosia]

I've updated the list of who's coming on the cache page. I've added a little time and date stamp on my final count, so people know when it's up to date.

 

If I'm forgetting anyone, or mis-counting, please let me know.

 

My only concern is the reservation list. I still have 7 people who have not gotten back to me (unless I forgot any before I updated the list). I had emailed everyone on the list Monday morning (14th), asking for them to respond. Thank you to everyone who did! My only worry is that since all the email addresses were written by hand, I couldn't read some of them very well and there's a chance I may have sent things to wrong addresses I suppose. I'm going to write to three of them through their GC.com account since I know their names, but the other 4 I have no clue. So, at what point should I just take their names off the list so we know the correct count? Should I write to all of them tonight and give them a deadline to sign in by? They could be not coming, or bring just themselves, or bring multiple people. All of which could skew the count. Thanks for any advice.

 

 

Thanks, RWW for discussing the put in and take out parking room. All41 will post later tonight in the thread and discuss his plans for getting everyone back and forth to their cars.

[Team Misguided]

To put the terrain issue to rest. I think this one clearly qualifies for a level 5 terrain rating. The event is the rafting trip which requires a boat. The fact that there is a meal planned afterwards that is open to all cachers not just those rafting doesn't change that.

[+Recdiver]

 

If there is still room I would love to do this.

I promise to behave this time, no really, I mean it this time.

PLEASE Can I go, Please...

Wellll..........as long as you're going to be a good boy. <pats Rec's head patronizingly>

 

Is T2A going to be there?

 

I invited her however she hasn't responded yet.

 

So are water cannons allowed on this trip...or does that go against my promise of being good?

Edited January 18, 2008 by Recdiver

[+TotemLake]

Without going into further details; if there is room and the timing is right, I can be there.

Good. I hope you can be there. Do you want me to put you on the page as a maybe?

My situation is so iffy right now I'm not even sure I can qualify as a maybe. But you can if you want to.

[+SweetSassyPants]

To put the terrain issue to rest. I think this one clearly qualifies for a level 5 terrain rating. The event is the rafting trip which requires a boat. The fact that there is a meal planned afterwards that is open to all cachers not just those rafting doesn't change that.

 

I'm working overtime trying to convince the family that while we don't wanna do the boat thing it'd be fun to attend the pre- and -after party, (helping Lucy out by keeping an eye on Rickie) visiting and chatting (about the Colorado) with the other landlubbers.

 

After the fact, will I log it as attended? Or just note that that were there??

 

BTW, can I sign up to bring something??

[MarcusArelius]

So are water cannons allowed on this trip...or does that go against my promise of being good?

Be careful the water might freeze before getting over to the other boat.. You could put an eye out

 

Have fun and stay warm!!

Edited January 18, 2008 by MarcusArelius

[+Pyewacket]

I would absolutely love to do this, but it would be the third very busy day in a row for me while I'm still fighting colds and possibly the flu that I've had since Christmas.

[+LandRover]

Are there any parking permits required at either the put in or the take out and if so which permits?