Terms & Policies + FAQs
RESERVATION POLICIES:
Please reserve your spot in this tour at least two weeks prior to tour dates, so we are able to personalize your tour experience. At this time we are limiting our tours to 12 people. With a month’s notice we can schedule a tour any day of the week, as fits your schedule.
CANCELLATION POLICY:
Cancellations are possible up to 24 hrs before tour begins. We’re happy to offer a full refund, or work out the next possible date.
COVID SAFE:
We are a 98% outdoor tour. We welcome vaccinated, unvaccinated folks willing to wear masks when close, and river-friendly hand washing stations. There will be plenty of space to spread out along rivers, creeks, and at campgrounds.
CHECK-IN:
As mentioned in Tour Descriptions, please being everything you’ll need for the length of car-caravan tour you’ve chosen. This includes water bottles to drink from as well as a sealable vessel to collect the different sections of river along the tour. Clothes to match the hot weather of the Delta and the colder and potentially unexpected weather of the mountains. A full tank of gas/car charge, and a fully charged/chargeable cellphone will help. We will also stop as often as needed for bathroom breaks along the way. Check-in will occur at the location (likely a neighborhood or Bay-side outflow) described in the welcome email you’ll receive upon registration.
FACILITIES:
All of the parks and camps we’ll be staying at have potable water and very basic campground outhouses. There are country general stores a short drive away with most necessities. Even a bag of rice, in case you drop your phone in the river.
MEDICAL CONCERNS:
Please let us know (through the form filled out upon registration) any medical conditions or concerns you have that we should know about. It is your responsibility to bring whatever medications or devices you’ll need, like inhalers or epi-pens, even 2021 basics like masks/sanitizer, with you on our journey. Josh, our guide, has up-to-date Wilderness Medical Training, and knows the locations of the nearest clinics and hospitals, and expects that car camping with short hikes shouldn’t get us into too much trouble. There are some shallow swim spots and gentle-to-moderate hikes available, which should be within the range of most healthy adults and children, but we will always air on the side of safety, especially when approaching living rivers, and we’ll be happy to provide watershed engagement activities for all levels of ability.
FAQs:
1. Is this tour recommended for all ages and abilities?
This tour is for everyone who drinks water! Folks of any age will learn and experience awe at the beauty of the river. It is important to note that we do spend multiple hours driving during the day. But though swimming, hiking, and rock scrambling are available, persons with limited mobility can expect opportunities to participate at every location, and we'll be more than happy to help with camp set up or any other needs as they arise.
2. What if I don't have a vehicle?
Someday we may be able to make this a walking watershed pilgrimage. Until then, we'll find you a ride with one of our other participants.
3. Any boats on this river tour?
Boats of all kinds can be spotted along these rivers. They're also a serious next level of responsibilities if we include them in this tour. So our preliminary answer is ~ if kayaking or canoing or white-water rafting are really calling you, we can try to make it happen, just please let us know when you sign up. We're bringing some pool floaties.
4. Is the tour more educational/scientific, more political/historical, or more relaxed, and kinda "woo-woo"?
We tend to keep our tours well-balanced. There are complex integral ecological transformations occurring at multiples scales across each area of our watersheds, and we add to our scientific, cultural, and hands-on research every time we retrace this path along the river. We've also learned that by respecting the magic and emotions and creativity we experience meeting the living river we rely on, we tend to foster imaginative integrations of personal and community-oriented questions we may be grappling with, even encouraging ongoing mutually enhancing, just, and ethical relationships with our water sources. So, however you relate to the river, we're with you.