Larry,

Here are some pics from our Verde River trip last month. It was incredible! This section of the Verde travels through the remote Matazal Wilderness and we only saw one other person on the river in four days. The wildlife was amazing....bald eagles, river otters, white-tailed hawks, and too many herons to count. All of our photos, unfortunately just show flat water, but there's actually quite a few Class III rapids on this 65 mile stretch. The boat got swamped several times which was a complete blast, and I'm glad we didn't have the bailing patches on. The Soar 14 handled beautifully: maneuverable, spacious, and very forgiving. We even brought a cooler and had rack of lamb in the middle of the desert. Toward the end of the trip, between Horseshoe and Bartlett resevoirs, we ran into a 12,000 acre grass fire. We thought we'd be stranded for a couple days but decided to make an early morning run for it. It was a little eerie paddling through the haze, watching the flames creep down the mountainside, and let me tell you, burnt Saguaro cactus is about the worst smell you could imagine. All in all, this trip was one of the coolest things we've ever done. Can't wait to be out on the water again. Thanks again, Larry.

Jason DuPont
Phoenix, AZ