FARTAB Vol 2 June 2005

I finally got the chance to find a working scanner and the time to get these rare pictures of FARTAB Vol 2 digitized and available for your enjoyment. These were taken on a $12 waterproof camera so some are a bit crappy... could be my eyesight was a bit grainy too at the time... go figure. *shrug*

Most of the Pandapas gang was there, Myself, Baldboy Wonder, Crayons Taste Like Purple, Greased Up Deaf Guy, and making a guest appearance, CobraKai.

2005 was the second year for this adventure, the first was in 2004 when BBW and I took a 2 man kayak and packed very light. I have those pictures somewhere too, but the chance of finding them is pretty slim.

So... Onto Vol 2:



This is the crew loading up boats in Arcadia off 165. We didn't get any pictures of mtbiking Thursday night, or from the Owl's House, or from breakfast that morning. But, here we are ready to push out into the river.


Soon after we started down the Wood River, CTLP and GUDG unveiled their secret weapons: Wife-Beater Ts and Speedos. Just imagine if you had taken a day off work to paddle the very peaceful river and catch some fish... when you saw this:



One poor fisherman burned his retinas by accidentally scanning CTLPs banana-hammock. Ick. BBW and I let these guys get ahead so we wouldn't have to see too much of this.

We thought we packed pretty well, until we got about 7 miles into the trip in Hope Valley and realized we were getting dangerously low on beverages. We pulled off the river at the Wyoming Dam to consider our options:



We sprung into action. I asked a very nice old lady where the nearest package store was... and she offered to drive me there! I couldn't refuse. A quick collection was held and we scraped together enough cash for a replacement 30 rack of PBR and Beast Ice. Whoo Hooo! Back on the river! Now, all the people we talked to recommended against trying to paddle the next 150 yard section of river, but BBW and I had better plans. We scouted this during the inagural event in 04, so we knew it was better to walk a semi floating boat down a shallow stream than it is to portage the freaking thing. We didn't tell the rest of the guys that though. Here we are just after we put back in, right before the massive 3' waterfall.



The rest of the day was a blur. We realized we had to pick up the pace if we wanted to make it to the campsite by dark. In our haste, we forgot the minor rapids by Burdickville rd, and all boats but one capsized with all our camping gear. GUDG was the hero for the night, he was super quick picking it all up and no one's gear got too wet. Moral of the story: pack you stuff in drybags or trashbags.

We made it to the campsite as it was getting pretty dark and scrambled up the steep slope to the site:.



We quickly setup TentCity. We had pre-made packets for dinner, and wisely brought ligher-fluid soaked coal to get the fire going. We had dinner ready w/in an hour and most of us crashed immediately after.



Saturday morning was pretty uneventful. We had to paddle the "mile" out to the road. My definition of Mile seems to be a little... off. After checking the map much later, turns out my Mile is actually five miles. Oops. Don't trust my estimates for distance, time, or effort. I'm usually wrong.

Anyhow.. that was FARTAB Vol 2. Don't forget, FARTAB Vol 3 is scheduled for June 16th and 17th.. it should be great time!

BBW is on his way down to RI now and Mrs 40, BBW, and I are going to Arcadia for a trip down the Wood River today. Cya! -40.