Whitewater Rafting Blog

Bottled Water to Disappear at MaLode

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Several years ago, when we made the decision to eliminate the use of bottled water at Mother Lode and use coolers and cups instead, we had our reasons. Those reasons, and a lot more, were included in this article on bottled water Emily wrote for The High Country News as an intern there. Although Emily has moved on and is now the Neuroscience Reporter for Science Magazine in Washington, DC  (you can see her articles regularly in the print magazine ($10 per copy) or for free on the online version at ScienceNow), I thought this was an informative article that folks might be interested in. I am now reposting it as a MaLode blog favorite. Scott the RiverDoc

Tell Me Sweet Little Lies…
by Emily Underwood

Bottled water has never made sense. The fact is it has always been an elaborate PR scam, both an invented necessity and a bizarre symbol of luxury. Nevertheless, I buy bottled water sometimes, especially on long car trips. When I do, I often buy “Fiji” water. I don’t know why. I just like its square shape, snazzy palm frond label, and the frosty coolness as I pull it out of the service station refrigerator.
I have always known, vaguely, that I am being seduced by the phrase “natural artesian water,” and by the company’s more shameless greenwashing: “Every drop is green.” I know better than to believe such nonsense, but I enjoy forgetting what I know as I listen to the gurgle of gasoline filling up my tank and eat a frozen Snickers bar. Most of us know that feeling.

Every bottled water company has a special spin: Evian has tried for years now to convince us that drinking its bottled water will make us thin and sophisticated, possibly even French. Dasani, by Coca Cola, goes for mystery with its shapely blue bottle and “mouthwatering” mineral formula. Nestle’s brand name, Pure Life, shares its name with a prominent Christian group whose mission is to deliver believers from sexual sin.

Something all the bottled water companies have in common these days, however, is aggressive greenwashing. It turns out Fiji runs one of the most surreal and manipulative of the campaigns.
“We are proud to offer a fine artesian water that is good for people and good for the environment,” they say. Nonsense. A recent study by the Pacific Institute, Energy Implications of Bottled Water has forever ruined Fiji water for me.

The study, published in the February 2009 peer-reviewed Environmental Research Letters, finds that bottled water takes *up to 2000 times more energy* to produce than drinking water from the tap. The two biggest energy sucks are production of the bottles (it takes the energetic equivalent of 50 million barrels of oil per year to produce the bottles) and transportation of the bottles to their final destination.

“Artesian” means that Fiji water is from an authentic spring– and the spring is indeed on the island of Fiji. The company has promised to reduce its emissions and packaging, use more renewable energy, and use carbon offsets, as well as protect their source’s watershed, the Sovi Basin Rainforest. They have even set the goal of becoming carbon negative…someday.

However, none of those intentions can diminish the fact that Fiji bottled water travels over 5000 miles by air or boat to get to San Francisco. Fiji can’t realistically claim to be any more environmentally responsible than companies who transport water a shorter distance. And they don’t come close to being as green as municipal water, which skips the carbon-heavy bottles altogether.

To say Fiji water is “good” for the environment is quite a stretch. There is also the question of resource allocation–the island of Fiji is historically vulnerable to catastrophic drought. In past decades Fijian farmers have starved because there wasn’t enough water for irrigation, which calls into question the wisdom of shipping Fijian water overseas to be sold as a luxury item. (For a thoughtful discussion of the impact of the bottled water industry on communities in the U.S., see Christina Ammons’ 2007 HCN story, “Watershed Moment” about the controversy surrounding Nestle’s bottling enterprise in McCloud, California.)

Finally, there is little evidence to support the idea that bottled water is any better for you than tap water. Food and Water Watch in their aggressive anti-bottled water and anti-water privatization campaign, point out that quality testing standards are far less stringent for bottled water than for municipal supplies. For example, whereas municipal water must be tested for fecal coliform bacteria 100 times per month, a little over 3 times a day, bottled water plants only have to check once a week. A study by the Natural Resources Defense Council found more than the allowed amount of bacteria in more than one fifth of 103 tested brands. And bottled water, unlike constantly moving municipal water, is stagnant, and therefore more conducive to bacterial replication.

I’m not one to get paranoid about bacteria in bottled water, although the leaching phthalates, which are also unregulated, are a bit creepy. But considering the environmental costs of producing bottled water, the fact that there is no proven health benefit to drinking it makes it even crazier to choose bottled water over tap.

Americans spent $11 billion on bottled water in 2006, and drank over 33 billion liters in 2007, which works out to about 30 gallons per person. The rising rate of consumption speaks to the success of bottled water company PR campaigns.

More seriously, however, it reflects Americans’ fundamental distrust of public water systems. Concerns about deteriorating public water infrastructure, and trace contaminants that the EPA doesn’t regulate are harder to dispel than misleading advertisements. $6 billion of the stimulus package was set aside for local clean and drinking water infrastructure improvements, which have been neglected for far too long. But it will take more than infrastructure improvements to regain America’s trust in the tap.

For one thing, we need better risk assessment. Reverse osmosis, which forces water through a selectively-permeable membrane, is theoretically the best technology for purification, and companies like Aquafina and Dasani use it in their plants. However, it is also the most energy-intensive form of purification, and is no real guarantee of quality since the membranes themselves are susceptible to bacterial colonization.

In the long run, we can’t afford the bottled water solution socially, environmentally, or economically. We need better information about how much purification is actually necessary for health, and then we need to find ways to make that technology efficient and affordable to use in our public systems. Otherwise, we will be increasingly forced to drink water that isn’t significantly safer, but still costs us more than gasoline. And those of us who can’t afford bottled water will be stuck with a broken system– a situation reminiscent of Marie Antoinette’s disastrous pronouncement, “Let them eat cake.” Except this time it will be, “Let them drink Perrier.”

Cheers from Colorado,
Emily

 

River Trails: A New Concept on the American River

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The opening of the American River Trail in Coloma provides exciting new hiking access to over twenty miles of riverside trails along the banks of the South Fork of the American River in Coloma, California. In addition to hiking access, this new trail will also provide mountain bikers and equestrians with a new trailhead.

This spring Mother Lode River Trips will continue to provide a new way to enjoy the Trail and the exciting whitewater rapids of the American River itself. Called “River Trails” the adventure begins at the Mother Lode River Center which is located a short distance from the American River Trial’s easternmost trailhead. You will depart the River Center on a guided hike downstream of approximately 5 miles that will cover some of the Trail’s most beautiful terrain. You will stroll over rolling hills, through forested canopies of oaks, pines and cedars, and never be far from the banks of the river with its refreshing upstream breeze. At the hike’s end you will be treated to a hearty lunch and refreshing drinks delivered by gear boat to the lunch spot.

The excitement now begins to build, as the hikers witness the arrival of a line of state-of-the-art, self-bailing rafts each of which is being solo guided, canoe style, by an expert whitewater professional. Personal Floatation Devices are fitted, a safety briefing is performed, and the whitewater excitement begins as the hikers are transformed into whitewater rafters. Ahead lies the South Fork’s most popular whitewater run, the “Gorge”, which is filled with exciting Class II and III level rapids suitable for beginners and yet thrilling for all.

For those interested in a longer, overnight adventure, camping is available either in the luxurious riverside Mother Lode River Center with its tent cabins, flush toilets and hot showers, or, alternatively, wilderness camping is an option. In both cases delicious home cooked meals are provided that rival grandma’s home cooking and the friendly and knowledgeable Mother Lode guides share natural history interpretation of the flora, fauna, geology and human history of the region. Speaking of history, these trips all include gold panning instruction in the very area that attracted the 49ers and helped make California a State. With any luck you will cry Eureka too!

Remember it as “River Trails.”  This river trip is found exclusively at the Mother Lode River Center, your Geotourism portal to the American River.

Zip Line on the American River

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The newest addition to the Malode toy box is a 370’ zip line. This Ropes course element will be used to enhance our outstanding High Ropes programs as well as an addition to any of our rafting trips. For example, you are scheduled for a whitewater raft trip; you could add a ride on the Malode zip line for a nominal fee making your adventure on the South Fork American River even more memorable!

The Mother Lode staff will get you into your harness and helmet, go over the safety precautions then get you attached to the zip-line. The Mother Lode zip-line starts at the top of our property under majestic Blue and Valley Oaks. From this point you will launch into space and soar over the campground and through the trees reaching speeds close to 30mph! At the end another staff member will assist you onto the platform then lower you gently to the ground.

Zip line Pricing:

1 Zip: $30

2 Zips: $50

3 Zips: $60

Call for availability

Imagine Simpler Living – Visit our Yurt This Summer

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Our sedentary culture seems to nurse a love of thick-walled boxes that makes us leery of impermanent housing. Who hasn’t sneered at the man who lives in a van down by the river? But river guides will attest to the freedom and joy of transitioning from a stuffy winter box every spring into an airy, riverside bedroom. Ditching moldy roofs for translucent tarps stretched over wooden frames, and linoleum and carpet for leaf-strewn platforms, we set up house by stringing a few thrift store sheets up for privacy and hanging up a pair of board shorts. The more domestic of us arrange a few potted plants in front of the sheet-door and call it good.

This simplicity, self-sufficiency, and connection to the natural world embodies the spirit of the yurt, a lovely example of which has now arrived at Mother Lode. With no corners for the wind to catch, the earliest yurts were built to endure the wind-raw steppes of Central Asia, and yet their basic elements – circular lattice walls, cone shaped roof, and rafters that meet in a central ring – could be assembled in thirty minutes and taken down just as quickly. Two or three camels can comfortably carry a medium sized yurt and all of its household goods, just as one beat-up Subaru Legacy can carry a river guide’s wordly possessions with a kayak strapped to the top. (All this info on yurts, and more besides, can be found in the book Yurts: Living in the Round, by Becky Kemery)

Guides don’t get to live in yurts for the summer at Mother Lode –yet. But guests and guides alike can enjoy the spacious, 20-foot diameter yurt as a space to imagine a lighter, less cumbersome existence, and ponder the following quote: “If in our lifetime we suppress nomads, we shall have done by human harshness what natural harshness could not do. To abolish nomads because they have other skills, know other things, hold other aspirations, and live by other customs than ours – in short, because they are different – is as unwise as it is unworthy… There is a place for nomads in the world, often enough a place we cannot use without them. We must not steal it from them, for if we do, we reduce the richness of human life – we rob ourselves.”

Neville Dyson-Hudson

Virtual Environmental Education and Teambuilding

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Surfing the Internet I discovered something new the other evening: “virtual environmental education and teambuilding”. Apparently you can catch some pretty wild rides and achieve some serious bonding without leaving your couch!

Unfortunately, my old buddy John McKinstry never got to see it, the Internet that is. He had to settle for the real thing. Forty years ago we used to sit together on our boards at sunrise, waiting for the surf to come up. John was among the first to surf the big waves at Ghost Trees in my hometown of Pacific Grove. He had the courage to charge down the face of those massive forty footers, long before jet ski pull ins, or rather, pull outs. John pushed the limits of the possible and was an astronaut on a surfboard. Like many American pioneers he paid the ultimate price doing what he loved most.

I miss John, and a lot of other things that we enjoyed together, many of which are now paved over, but I particularly miss his questions. Once, as we passed a used car lot with a banner advertising “transportation cars”, John asked me: “What other kind of cars are there?” In this age of human induced climate change, that remains a great question.

So if we could ask John whether the experience of wild nature, or bonding with your fellow human beings, can really be replaced with virtual reality, what would he say? For that matter, let’s ask ourselves that question. But before we answer, perhaps we should ask our kids to tear their attention away from their video games, TV shows, computers and cell phones and ask them too.

Neuroscientists can now offer multiple reasons why the answer would be, at least for now, no. Memories created in the natural world are particularly vivid, long lasting and multi-sensory. Although humans are biased toward sight, memories resulting from sensory input from auditory sources generally last longer, and olfactory sources even longer. When I remember John dropping in on one of those monster waves I don’t just see him, I hear the thunder and feel the vibration, taste the salt air, and smell the rotting seaweed on the beach.

Something else happens to me. I get butterflies in my stomach, as though I too was falling, suddenly weightless, down the face of the wave. These are my “mirror” neurons, the one that specialize in giving us our ability to understand how other people feel and which lay down particularly long lasting, complex and nuanced memory tracts. I still care about and empathize with John on that wave, just as I did forty years ago.

I think we have just summed up the essence of experiential learning. Even if we could create an “app” for environmental education and teambuilding, I doubt it would be as powerful as the real thing. Repeatedly we hear from our participants, “that was the most amazing thing I have ever done and I will never forget it!” Right on, the surf’s up. See you on the river.

Scott the RiverDoc

Sorting Through the “Green” Stuff at MaLode

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There is a lot to learn about making your home, business or lifestyle “Green”. Here at the River Center we have discovered that if you want to learn how to save money and reduce fossil fuel consumption most cost effectively, it pays to stop listening and start thinking. Yes, more information is good, but so much of it consists of confusing “infomercials” for a new kind of “Green Consumerism”.

Take energy for instance. In 2007 when we drew up our Greenhouse Gas Action Plan (GAP) we were aware that most folks associated solar energy with photovoltaic (PV) panels. In fact, our neighbor had recently installed a fancy new set of PV panels that made us, quite frankly, envious. We heard there were tax credits and good deals to be had, and dreams of PV panels began dancing in our heads.

Then we did the math. Once we ranked the sources of our greenhouse gas emissions in the GAP, we discovered that not only was our use of electricity comparatively low, it largely came from pre-existing hydroelectric sources which produced very little new greenhouse gas to operate. In fact, most of our greenhouse gases were coming out of the tailpipes of our vehicles, not from our electric pole. This led to the EcoBus and our fleet of vehicles powered by waste vegetable oil (WVO), a fuel that produces 80% less carbon emissions than conventional fossil fuel.

Furthermore, we discovered that after vehicle fuel, our next largest producer of greenhouse gases was the heating of hot water with the fossil fuel, propane. Alan Carrozza, our solar expert, then suggested that after insulation, solar hot water heating was our next logical energy investment and that it would be much more cost efficient than PV electricity.

This motivated our first solar water heater, a simple “passive” system that cost approximately $1500 and which produced 28,750 BTUs of energy daily. To compare this system to PV we convert BTUs, a measure of thermal energy, into to kilowatt-hours by multiplying by the factor .0002931, resulting in 8.43 kilowatts. An 8.4 KW photovoltaic system would cost approximately $1000 per kilowatt or $84,000. Bottom line, the solar hot water heater produces the same energy 56 times more cost efficiently than the PV panels!

Just for a point of reference, we asked our neighbor if they had installed a solar hot water heater since, like the average American homeowner, over 33% of their energy is used to heat water. Predictably, the answer was no.

How could this be? These folks are not dumb; on the contrary, they are very smart, idealistic, and trying to do the right thing. What we realized, however, was that they were just like us, at risk of becoming victims of “Green Consumerism”. Like other forms of consumerism, the green variety claims that if it costs a lot, is fashionable, and or looks green, it must be green. Clearly, this isn’t true. BP and its “beyond petroleum” advertising campaign are a great example of “green consumerism” and it is no coincidence that they are the largest seller of PV panels in the US, yet they don’t sell solar hot water heaters at all. Why? Less profit!

We learned several things from this experience. One is that the mantra, “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle” is actually very logically sequenced. Unless we Reduce what we consume first, the Reuse and Recycle have a hard time reducing the net impact on the planet. As the video “The Story of Stuff” points out, the stuff we already produce would require 5 planet Earths to be sustainable. Furthermore, when we produce stuff, it is always “Toxins in, Toxins out” and those toxins always end up somewhere. Since toxins concentrate in biological systems, it turns out that human breast milk has the highest concentration of toxins of any food we consume. Wait a minute, can that be right? Check it out at www.storyofstuff.com. Once you do, you will probably agree that we should all take the advice of Daniel Goleman who proposes in his book, Ecological Intelligence, that we do the math and determine the total ecological cost of everything we buy, and let these numbers guide our purchases.

So what does this all mean at MaLode? No doubt it won’t surprise you that we now heat all our hot water at MaLode with solar energy. This requires three separate solar heaters of two basic types: active and passive. Each system “pre-heats” the water from the well with solar energy before it goes into a propane water heater. This ensures that the hot water is at the desired temperature and neither too cold (it is warmed up with propane to the target temperature), or too hot (it is cooled down by being mixed with more cold water). The passive system is best suited for a lower volume use such as the kitchens. Both types of system reduce propane use by approximately 70%.

We are particularly proud of the “active” system that powers the showers and which was designed by Alan Carrozza (pictured on the left) and completed last winter by our tenant, Cornelius (on the right). In this case an electronic brain senses the temperature in the solar hot water heating panels. If the temperature is higher than the water stored in the solar hot water reservoir tank, an electric pump is activated to circulate the water from the panels to the solar reservoir. This system can produce more hot water than the passive system, which is why we chose it for the showers where we encounter our highest volume of hot water use.

So ends another happy chapter at MaLode. We are excited about moving forward, albeit deliberately, toward energy independence and ecological sustainability. This season one of our guests suggested that we use a super efficient steam engine he has invented, which derives its energy from solar thermal panels, to turn an electric generator that would produce our electricity. Hmmm, Stay tuned. In the meantime, we look forward to your next visit and, by the way, use all the hot water you want. That is, if you can wring it out of the low flow showerheads donated to us by PG&E!

See you on the River,
Scott and the MaLode Crew

“Solar for Oil” Barter: It’s very Cool

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by Scott Underwood

Short on cash? Wouldn’t you like to find a way to reduce your utility bills, decrease America’s dependence on foreign oil, and do a favor to the environment by decreasing your use of fossil fuels? If you answered “yes” to any of these questions, you should be interested in what the Mother Lode River Center has been up to recently in nearby Cool, California.

The basic idea is simple. First, we construct a homemade “box” hot water heater from a sheet of plywood, an old retired propane water heater, a cast off shower door and some fittings from the hardware store. We plumb it all together with simple hand tools using plans available for free on the Internet. We then install it as a “pre-heater” to feed into the existing water heater at one of our favorite restaurants in nearby Cool, Ca.  This reduces the restaurant’s use of propane to heat water by 70%. Since over 33% of the energy consumed by an average household is to heat water, this cost savings and major reduction in carbon footprint is available to you too. I hope you agree that we have closed a Cool deal.  But hey, it gets better!

This restaurant uses vegetable oil to fry its food and normally pays to get it hauled off. We then barter the hot water heater for the restaurant’s waste vegetable oil (WVO).  Barter is “the exchange of goods or services without money” and is definitely a good thing because it keeps trade close to home.  Mother Lode is one of the few companies in California that runs its diesel vehicles on 100% WVO. This has several advantages. First, it produces 80% less carbon dioxide than conventional fossil fuel diesel and therefore vastly reduces our carbon footprint. Second, using WVO also reduces the particulates (the greatest disadvantage of diesel engines) by 45% and hydrocarbons by a comparable amount. Amazingly, it also reduces carcinogens by 90%. Bottom line, it is one of the cleanest and ecologically responsible fuels on planet Earth.

That’s it, “Solar for Oil”! We have created Green Collar employment for our staff, reduced greenhouse gas emissions and spared the planet’s ecosystems, helped reduce the concentration of chemicals in the air that cause asthma and cancer, and refused to ride with Osama Bin Laden. Do you support this idea? Write us a note and let us know what you think.

Mother Lode's 100% WVO Fleet

Many thanks to Alan Carrozza for his inspiration and great idea, Greg Hawkins for his construction skills, Ray and Lorrie for their patience and Emily for her photos.

Tawonga Meets the Ropes Challenge

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youth learning teamwork at Mother Lode's Outdoor Education School

youth learning teamwork

The dark-haired teenager, Shawn, stood on a platform located high up in the Ponderosa pine and gazed down. Far below, just over a dozen faces stared up. He moved cautiously to the edge then broke into dance of exuberance.

“Pterodactyl, pterodactyl,” came yells from below.

Shawn raised his arms, flapped them several times like the ancient dinosaur taking flight, gave out several convincing shrieks, and launched himself into the air.

He was not committing an act of juvenile irresponsibility, responding to peer pressure but, along with his fellow campers, achieving a goal for which they had trained all day. He had just met the “Leap of Faith” challenge.

His rope harness caught him before he could fall, and while he was gently lowered to the ground he continued his dance of delight midair to the cheers of his friends.

The group was attending Mother Lode River Trips outdoor adventure course, based at the company’s campgrounds along the South Fork of the American River in Coloma. On June 7, 2010, they were taking part in the Ropes Course.

The 12 teenagers, along with their two councilors, were spending the final few days of a two-week expedition organized by Camp Tawonga, a youth organization headquartered in San Francisco, at Mother Lode. They were there to learn about self-confidence, teamwork, the environment, and the river. They were also having a great time.

Low Ropes

The day had been spent preparing for “The Leap of Faith.”

The morning started off with “low ropes” activities, led by Mother Lode guides Mary Maliff and Emily Underwood.

One of the first games was the ball toss. The object of the game was for a baseball-sized ball to be thrown to each member of the circle until it was returned to the original thrower as fast as possible and without being dropped.

“There are only three rules,” said Mary. “Be kind to each other, be kind to each other and be kind to each other.”

As the ball zigzagged across the circle, faster and faster, the group also discussed plans for how to improve their time.

“Move in closer,” came one suggestion. “Each person take a step back once they’ve tossed the ball,” was another. “Call out the person’s name.”

Then, unexpectedly, more objects were thrown into the circle; another ball, a stuffed animal, a toy. Some started hitting the ground amidst peals of laughter.

The game was not only an exercise in communication and planning, Mary explained to the group, but also to show “plans change,” she said. “We all have lots of stuff going on.” When circumstances change and the original plan no longer works, she urged the group to come up with ideas for new plans.

Another game was called Norbert’s egg. Emily explained the rules as the group gathered in a grassy clearing with the sounds of the rushing river in the background. Somehow, she said holding up a golf ball, poor Norbert the pterodactyl “egg” had been separated from his nest and needed to get back. Each person was given a length of V-shaped metal bar. “Don’t use them as swords,” cautioned Emily with a smile. The “egg” could not be touched, had to always be moving down, and could not be rolled backwards.

After a brief planning session, the ball was placed on the first bar and began its journey. The group formed an interlocking chain with their bars, guiding the ball down the trough toward the “nest,” a hole in the ground. The ball was carefully passed from person to person moving closer and closer.

And fell just short. A collective “Awww,” arose from the group.

Undeterred, and drawing from the lessons of the previous games, the group came up with new ideas and new plans. Very quickly, they became proficient at saving Norbert the pterodactyl.

Emily explained the game demonstrated both personal and group responsibilities. They had to work together to accomplish their goal, but at some point each person was individually responsible for getting the ball safely to the next.

“You can control your own space, but not what others do,” said Emily.

Additional games followed at various locations around the oak-studded campground. Some of the games emphasized trust, others personal perspectives and how everyone views the world differently, leadership, and communication and teamwork.

“Humor helps,” said Maayan, her red hair shinning in the sun.

Julia was complimented for coming up with the idea of a “talking rock,” where the person who held the rock was the one to speak during planning stages so everyone could be heard.

Charlie, a Camp Tawonga councilor, praised the group for staying positive. “There was no ‘oh, you dropped this, oh, you did that’ kind of thing.”

Return next week to see who actually makes the Leap of Faith

Ropes Course Challenges Local Youth

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low ropes - outdoor education programToday we facilitated a low-ropes course here at Mother Lode. This time, our group is from a nearby community, a class of at-risk teens. Our goal is to help create a better working and team environment for them. They naturally arrange themselves by gender; the boys stand by themselves on one side of the grass, the girls on the other, as though there’s a line of fire between them which only they can see. By and large, they are all strangers to one another, and our course is being used as an ice-breaker to move forward with for the next few months of class. We start by asking them to take the hand of the person next to them, and immediately the boys, who were so comfortable a moment before, suddenly shift away from one another, now unsure of the boundaries which were so apparent moments earlier. It’s challenge by choice, of course, but they press forward and (with only a little cajoling), take one another’s hands. The course begins; hand in hand we press forward to meet the concerns of the larger group need.

Through the duration of our courses we find that the group dynamics can shift even in a few hours with the creation of a safe and expressive space for our students. Everyone from troubled kids to corporate groups can benefit from the ropes course, and our courses can make working together a less challenging space. Successful groups walk away from Mother Lode understanding each other better, and with tools for better group interactions in the future.

As an organization and workplace, we constantly strive to bring the best out in each group, and as a result, the types of groups that find our program successful vary widely in their backgrounds, but not in their results. In the past our Ropes Course participants have included small companies looking to create better team dynamics, at-risk youth groups, and private school Montessori students among others. Each team has come to Mother Lode with a simple but essential task: how to work together better. For some, this has meant that we have focused on team building activities through incorporating our low-ropes programming, which for many activities does not require leaving the ground! For other groups the team building element has been intertwined with the individual and group trust required for climbing the higher elements throughout our course.

As always at Mother Lode, safety is the bottom line, both physically and emotionally. Through group initiatives, problem solving, and leadership in our outdoor classroom, we develop a pathway for participants to see potential for themselves even through the challenges that fear can create for them. Our ‘challenge by choice’ philosophy allows students to stop at the point which works for them individually, within the group dynamic.  After each activity we debrief, allowing both the students and the facilitators a chance to further discuss and identify the particular focuses of the exercises.  This creates an environment where ideas ‘click’ into place for all participants.

The Ropes Courses at Mother Lode provide an outdoor group experience that benefits all creating a safe and effective learning experience, and we look forward to leading you and your group here sometime soon!

Protecting America’s Wild Places – Hooray!

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Perhaps sensing America’s need for an inspiring national pick-me-up – maybe a nice long hike on a beautiful trail in a national park, or a whitewater rafting trip on a scenic river — President Obama unrolled his Great Outdoors Initiative last week. The initiative will build on existing, successful conservation efforts through out the country by local and state governments, tribes, and private groups, like the American River Conservancy and the Mother Lode River Center. Recognizing that Americans, and children especially, are “losing our connection to the parks, wild places, and open spaces we grew up with and cherish,” a main focus of the initiative is to help families and young people get outside more. President Obama launched the Administration’s effort to promote national land conservation with a tribute to the importance of land to America’s soul. In our land, the President said, we have reason to rejoice, to “understand what an incredible bounty we have been given.” Protecting and appreciating American land protects our essential values. During the Civil War, for instance, Abraham Lincoln set aside the land that is now Yosemite. During the Great Depression, FDR formed the CCC and built many of our nations hiking trails, parks and campgrounds. We at the Mother Lode River Center applaud President Obama’s mission to protect and increase access to America’s rivers, forests, wilderness areas, parks and many natural wonders. We agree that reconnecting to, and protecting America’s wild places is vitally important to creating jobs, saving our environment, and helping our children lead healthier, happier lives. If we protect them, wild places are antidotes to human troubles. They restore our spirits and give us the fresh air and perspective we need to thrive.

Mother Lode to Collaborate with Young Environmental Authors and Film Makers

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This spring, Mother Lode is excited to announce its collaboration with the
Young Environmental Writers and Storytellers (YEWS) of El Dorado – a youth
development program being created by Emily Underwood and Shawn Dunkley in
partnership with the non-profit organization Family Connections El Dorado.

The mission of YEWS – “to create a dynamic environmental education program
for El Dorado County high school students, enrich the quality and
availability of rural environmental news, and celebrate El Dorado’s unique
natural heritage through good storytelling” – is right up Ma Lode’s alley,
so we have agreed to host the program’s workshops at our camp and give
students access to some of our fun outdoor activities, like whitewater
rafting, ropes courses, and hiking.

We can’t wait to see what these young poets, fiction writers, journalists,
and filmmakers dream up at our camp. They’ll learn about environmental
issues in the county from local experts and come up with creative projects
that inform and inspire people to address these issues, with the help and
mentorship of professional writers, editors, documentary filmmakers, poets,
etc. They’ll get to bond over s’mores with students from all over the
county, and learn what’s special about their own backyard – the forests,
rivers, foothills, and mountains of El Dorado county. After the program,
they’ll continue to produce local environmental news, creative writing, and
other forms of storytelling like film, and publish them through the YEWS and
Mother Lode website, as well as other venues.

YEWS is now recruiting students, mentors and professional environmental
storytellers for the program. The first workshop is going to focus on
documentary filmmaking. If you or someone you know would be interested in
getting involved, please contact shawndunkley@yahoo.com or
emily.l.underwood@gmail.com.

Sierra Snowpack at 107%

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So far, so good. This winter has been wet. The latest snow survey by the DWR (California Department of Water Resources), the third such survey of the season, has the current snowpack/water equivalency for the Sierras at 107% of normal. This is a huge increase from last year’s March survey, which revealed only a 80% of normal status. Electronic sensor readings show northern Sierra snow water equivalents at 126%, central Sierra at 93% and southern Sierra at 109% of normal for the date.

The DWR warns that despite the good news, it may not be enough to fully offset the effects of the last three years of drought. Reservoirs fed by the Sierra’s watersheds are still low all over the state, and dry soil conditions will absorb much of the snowpack’s water content that otherwise would help replenish the reservoirs during the spring and early summer melt. The projections for water delivery to cities and farms remain low, but if wet weather continues the SWP (State Water Project) could deliver up to 45% of requested water. DWR Director Mark Cowin stated in the report that for all these reasons plus “pumping restrictions to protect Delta fish, we must continue to conserve and protect our water resources.”

Locally, a look at the CDEC’s (California Data Exchange Center) site shows that the American River watershed’s Folsom Reservoir is currently holding about 23% below the historical average.

Still, the survey data does smile on whitewater rafting conditions for the 2010 season. With the FERC’s (Federal Energy Resource Commission) new licensing agreement for the Chili Bar Dam now firmly in place, there will be sufficient flows for rafting at least 6 days a week this season through Labor Day on the South Fork American River.

Many of us aren’t even waiting for winter to end to celebrate and take advantage of the good news. Several of the Malode Crew recently ran high-water river trips on the North Fork and Middle Fork of the Smith River. We’ve already seen the waters rise up to prime rafting levels on the North Fork American River and great high water boating conditions on the South Fork American River also during the big rains this week.

Malode Boys Ride the Elusive Middle Yuba

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It’s cold and raining…again. We definitely could use the rain after these last few years of drought, but it’s hard not to long for the warm spring months ahead when the rivers run wild, and boating conditions are at their best.

We had some great runs in the spring last year outside of the American River, my favorite of which was probably our descent of the Middle Fork of the Yuba. The Middle Yuba is a tough stretch to plan for because the dam just above doesn’t schedule regular releases, so most of the time the water is too low to boat on, trickling down at a few hundred cubic feet per second (cfs). And even when the releases do happen, the flow is often still not enough for river running. However, one of the biggest spring storms brought so much water down the watershed that water spilled over dam, creating a one day window for us to hop in a raft and ride the rapids down to Oregon Creek.

When I say “a raft”, I mean a singular raft. Unfortunately, since it was such short notice and also because it was raining and flows were unpredictable, we had several last minute cancellations from the Malode crew. Suddenly, our eight person trip was down to just three of us. The flows the day before had peaked at 9000 cfs, and from what we’d gleaned from guidebooks and internet guides, the optimum flows were supposed to be between 1500 and 2500 cfs. Right before we left for the river the next day, the flow was 3000 and falling, which was perfect. Even though there were only three of us (Lindsey, Seth, and myself), we knew it might be a long time before such ideal conditions would happen again on that stretch of river. So off we went.

When we got near the put in, the gate to the dam was locked, so we parked and started feverishly changing into our river gear and pumping up the raft. We had about a half mile to carry the raft on our heads and didn’t know how fast the water level was dropping, so we were in a hurry. The river gods must have been with us that day though because just as we were about to start carrying the raft, a huge crane-truck came down the road and unlocked the gate. The driver, with his smiling, saint-like face, offered us and our raft a lift.

When we got to the dam, we asked the driver if he wanted to ditch his job for the day and come with us, but he graciously declined. Water thundered down the hundred foot wall of concrete. We hauled the raft down the slippery slope of granite and started down river.

We all took turns guiding. The first few rapids were nice warm up class III rapids, and quickly dropped into a gorge filled with larger class IV rapids with slalom routes, and sticky holes that tried to keep and surf our small raft. The the two paddlers continually had to reach way out and pull the raft out, while whoever was guiding in back would be sunk sometimes up to the waist. Lindsey was launched from his guide seat into the front and crashed into the first aid box, gashing open his chin. The rain relented at times and we relaxed during the sparse bits of slack water, enjoying the lush, deep canyon walls. We pulled over at a tributary creek and hiked up among the neon moss, saw beaver tracks and the whittled stumps of willow it had snacked on. We scouted when we could on the larger rapids and were feeling like our run couldn’t be more perfect. We successfully ran a couple large class IV+ rapids, one of which was relentless and must have been at least 3/4 of a mile long. Another required a precision route around two giant boulders while lining up to blast through three big holes along the way.

After that one, we thought we were done with largest rapids; we’d read in a guide book that there was one class V on the run and thought that was it. Imagine our surprise then when we found ourselves suddenly and furiously paddling to eddy out above a huge roar of whitewater. We nearly made an eddy on river left and were fighting the boil line for what seemed like eternity, but we were slowly losing ground and eventually rode up on a boulder. Lindsey was still holding on to a willow upstream. Seth and I lunged way out, trying to get our paddles into the eddy. We all saw the boat start to wrap against the boulder and quickly jumped on the high side. The boat slid back down and pivoted slowly into the main current of the class V rapid; we’d just have to read and run it. We squared up to two big holes and then back paddled into a channel on the right, which looked like the only clean way to go despite a near vertical chute that crashed into a churning hole. As our boat came free of the last hole, we all looked at each other for a moment in disbelief before howling with joy and piling on top of each other.

Our Carbon Footprint: 2009

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February 2010 Greenhouse Action Plan Progress Report:
2009 saw some excellent changes in infrastructure and equipment, which we project will help us reduce our carbon footprint even further in the coming years. We now have two new solar thermal hot water heaters, a new minibus that we’ll be able to run on waste vegetable oil, and some new photovoltaic solar panels as well. The garden also was greatly enlarged when we installed our solar insulated planting bed. Our total carbon output for 2009 was 31.8 tons for 5110 people, or 12.44 lbs per person. So while we reduced our total by 1% from the year before, we increased our total carbon output per person by 13.7%.

This baffled us at first. How, after spending so much time and money on improving our infrastructure, did we actually increase our carbon output? Electric and propane usage were way up, but our fuel use was way down (see graph above). We were shocked because we expected dramatic decreases in all areas, especially propane, having installed the new solar hot water heaters. After a short time staring at our receipts and scratching our heads like deflated monkeys, we figured it out. 

How it happened:

For most of last year, we had a caretaker’s family living here on site. On one hand, that was great for our long term goals because the caretaker bartered rent in exchange for building the active solar thermal hot water heater for the guest showers and bathrooms as well as another passive solar thermal hot water heater for the upstream kitchen. On the other hand, the building that the caretaker’s family lived in has not been retrofitted for energy efficiency; it was actually a structure we considered removing as part of our overall emissions reduction strategy (see our Jan 2009 article). It’s not terribly bad on the electrical end, but the propane needed to heat it during the winter is substantial. This brought to mind some facts that we found in our research last year, in particular that the carbon footprint of just heating and cooling an average American home is about 15 tons, roughly half of our total carbon footprint here at the river center. So while the family that was living here was more conscientious about their energy use than that, the fact remains that day to day affects of heating and cooling really do have a large impact on carbon production. The average American family’s total home energy footprint is around 29 tons CO2. 

Analysis:

At first, we figured that the caretakers’ impact shouldn’t count against us because it’s not part of our normal operations protocol to have year-round residents, especially since we have very little control over their carbon consumption habits. In order to accurately calculate the carbon footprint per guest, we’ll need to separate our propane and electrical use from the renters/work-trade tenants personal use if they stay on site through the winter. Not all the carbon emissions they incur will be related to operating the business (more on that subject later in this post).

But we also realize that as our company continues to bring in more guests through our outdoor education programs, we’ll need to have staff accommodations available throughout the year. In fact, our first intern is moving in as I write this. That means we need to find fast, cost-efficient ways to green up our staff housing.

Here’s a list of strategies for the caretaker building that hopefully can get the job done:
  • Replace all incandescent light bulbs with compact florescent or LED bulbs (each saves an average of $10.50/year).
  • Install season-appropriate curtains to all windows (black on one-side to absorb the sunlight in cold seasons, white on the other side to reflect sunlight in warm seasons).
  • Turn down hot water heater until we can build our third solar batch heater, or purchase on-demand water heater. (heating water accounts for about 30% of an average energy bill).
  • Use small, energy-star space heaters instead of costly and inefficient central propane systems.
  • Encourage and educate renters/work-trade tenants to be conscientious about saving power and buying/using products with low ecological impacts.

Here is our list of improvements for 2009, as well as those in progress or planned for this year: 

Electricity:

  • Got rid of ancient refrigerator in the ‘guide ghetto’ and replaced it with one that actually had a seal to the door to hold in the cold (2009).
  • Installed timers on bathroom lights (2009).
  • Installed photovoltaic solar panels on boathouse (2010, in progress; panels are mounted but still be to be wired).
  • Install photovoltaic solar panels on ‘Mother Dome’ (2010, panels acquired but not installed).

Propane:

  • Built in-line solar thermal hot water heater (using the old refrigerator as an insulation box!) for upstream kitchen (2009).
  • Built active solar thermal hot water heater for guest shower/bathroom/changing room (2009).
  • Other upgrades for caretaker building already discussed above (2010, not yet implemented).
Gas:
  • Used over 500 gallons less gas/diesel due to a combination of using waste-vegetable oil vehicles more often as kinks were worked out of the fledgling system.
  • Used more fuel efficient conventional vehicles for errands (2009).
Food Program (not yet factored in to total footprint; see closing note):
  • Adjusted menu to group age demographic in order to waste less food. (2009)
  • Used waste vegetable oil powered Volkswagon Passat for food shopping trips. (2009)
  • Adjusted menu again to include more fruit and vegetable dishes in every meal. (2009)
  • Served more food from the organic garden than in an
    y previous year (2009; we are going to start quantifying the exact amount this year, but it was easy to assume we served more this year because the garden was nearly twice as large).
  • Supplement garden crop with weekly community supported agriculture deliveries
Property Maintenance:

Political Action:
  • Educated guests about emissions reduction policy leading up to the UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen.
  • Collected and sent hand-written letters from guests encouraging legislation that effectively deals with climate change.
An Important Closing Note:
One of our goals is to be as candid and honest as we can about tracking our carbon footprint. The calculations have definitely been an interesting, sometimes frustrating process, and we continue to educate ourselves as we move forward. We learn new things about our company’s energy use and also about the process itself. We realize our use of fuel, electricity, and propane are not the only variables, but they are undoubtedly the largest, which is why we have focused on them. Food consumption is also a part of carbon emissions, but to calculate it is a task that would make even a seasoned statistician sweat.

Consider a pound of turkey. First we need to calculate the emissions of raising the turkey. How much carbon was used producing turkey feed? Well, that depends on what it was fed; a corn-based diet (which is the most likely) has a greater footprint than a free-range diet (how much, and with what feed, of that diet is supplemented). Also, where was the turkey raised? If in colder climates, it cost more carbon to heat the roosting houses. If far away from the point of purchase, it will cost more carbon to ship it to the store. Also, where did they ship it to be butchered, and what methods to were used to butcher it; there are many ways, all using different amounts of carbon. And this is just the tip of the iceberg that seems to fractal without pause. The process of calculating the actual footprint of just this one, let alone the hundreds of products we serve, would be nearly impossible for our small staff. Even large organizations funded by companies with massive budgets like Coca Cola have failed to produce scientifically sound results.

But we don’t plan to just ignore these facets because they are difficult to calculate. We plan to use a variety of the excellent environmental guides to products and services, such as GoodGuide, which uses a database of over 1100 different base criteria from a network of academic institutions, governmental and non-governmental data sources, and private research firms to make a categorized rating system that’s user friendly. This quickly evolving ‘radical transparency’ (read about it in depth in Daniel Goleman’s Ecological Intelligence) makes deciding which products are the most appropriate much easier than it was just a few years ago, even if we can’t exactly quantify it in terms of carbon footprint.

To get a quick, conservatively high, rough estimate for now, we’ll use the average U.S. impacts of food processing and consumption per person with eating habits fairly similar to what’s on our menu (3 tons CO2 per person ), divide it by meals per year (1095/avg. person) to get the average pounds of emissions per meal (5.48 lbs/person), and multiply that to our number of individual meals we served last year (7,746) to get a total of 42,448 lbs or 21.22 tons CO2. But again, this doesn’t actually represent our food consumption accurately because we serve lunches far more than any other meal (what%), grow some of our own vegetables, etc.

An impressive stat to report on our progress though, is that even when adding this high estimate on our carbon footprint from food consumption, we still have less carbon emissions (53 tons) than the average U.S. family (60 tons).