Safety:

    - I cannot emphasize enough that the Lochsa is big-time whitewater.

    - Helmets are a good idea. When your boat flips they help protect
      your head from frames, coolers, and especially flying oars.

    - A drysuit or thick wetsuit should be considered mandatory. The water
      is all snow melt and swims can be long at high water. Cold water
      saps your strength faster than you might imagine.

    - 2 extra oars are a good idea.

    - Flip lines are a good idea.

      If you choose to run the river at high water, you should be comfortable
      with the idea of flipping your boat back over while you're floating
      downstream. There are few eddies at high water and not many at low water
      either.

      On the subject of flip lines, I like having two on each side of the
      raft.  When you're standing on the bottom of your upside-down raft
      and you're trying to flip it back over before the next rapid, you
      don't want to have to worry about what side the flip lines are on,
      you just want to reach down and grab them. For this reason, I like
      my flip lines to have elastic draw strings so I can just yank on
      the loops without having to fiddle with opening the bags.

    - Remember the highway is always on the right. If you have a choice
      between which bank to swim to, pick the right one. The one exception
      is Log Jam rapid where you should swim left.

    - All left/right directions are from the perspective of floating down the
      river. E.g., left always means river left.

    - Ultimately each person is responsible for their own safety. No one
      should feel pressured to do anything they don't want to do. The
      highway follows the river the whole way so you can take out just
      about anywhere. I have had people do this before, it is not a problem.
      When someone quits a trip in the middle, it may very well be the day
      they saved their own life.

    - Since this is an OWA-sanctioned trip, all trip participants must
      read and sign the OWA liability release form.

    - Always keep the boat behind you in sight! If you can't see the boat
      behind you, pull over and wait. You might have to wait a long time
      if someone is cleaning up from a flip. That's OK, you can always
      walk up the road to see what's going on.

Signals:

    Hand Signals:

	Always point the way to go. E.g, if the rapid should be run left,
	point left. Straight down the middle is both arms straight up.

	The universal danger signal is cross your arms up over your head
	like an 'X'.

    Whistles:

	One blast is simply for getting someone's attention.
	Three blasts means emergency and/or danger.

Etiquette:

    Most of the rapids on the Lochsa should be run while pushing forward
    on the oars. (Ten Pin Alley is the notable exception.) Since we have
    such a large group it is imperative that you push forward through the
    rapids because there will be another boat right behind you who is also
    pushing forward and we don't want to be bunched up together in a rapid.

    On the other hand, always keep the boat behind you in sight. If the
    boat behind you is out of sight, slow down or stop and wait.
    (I know I'm repeating myself but this is an important point.)

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