Kokatat employee Adrien Pritchard tells us about his New Years trip down the Deschutes River.

“When the opportunity created itself for myself and 4 friends to experience the lower Deschutes River (Warm Springs to Sandy Beach, aka 52 river miles) in winter, and with the added benefit of experiencing another New Years on the water (along with a new/blue moon), we headed to Oregon! Temperatures never climbed above freezing until the last day, with winds ranging between 10-20 mph the first two days, and there was a nice mixture of snow, rain (last day), blue skies, and snow. The first morning we were greeted with 10” of new snow on the raft. First piece of gear for all on the trip was a GORE-TEX® Kokatat dry suit of course. Everyone also had the Polartec® Power Dry® liner, SurfSkin Balaclavas, Skull Caps, and Strap Caps. Proper gear on a trip like this turns what looks like (and could be) a suffer fest into something very enjoyable. Suffering can be a good thing at times, and sure it builds character, but it was an awesome experience to change between camp clothes to dry suits each day, and NEVER be cold or wet. Obviously this is not news to folks who’ve enjoyed the benefits of a dry suit, but it can seem like a fairytale to those that have done multiday trips with wearing wet cloths the whole time. Two of us had done the same trip twice before, but it was over July 4^th, and we enjoyed the beauty and solitude of this winter trip much more. The clouds barely parted on New Years’ Eve, but they did thin enough for us to see the moon’s glow.”

-Adrien Pritchard