Yep, that’s me on the cover of the RiverMaps Guide to the Cherry Creek/Upper and Main Tuolumne River. Duwain Whitis apparently shot a bunch of photos in 2009 and selected this one for the cover.
I heard from a friend of mine that I might be on the cover. He recognized the boat. It is a pretty easy boat to recognize with those custom curves and it being probably the only one of its type out there. This set of custom Sotar tubes has been down a lot of rivers and never ceases to turn heads, not only with its shape, but because it surfs waves so well. At any rate, I attempted to contact Terry Wright, the author of the original guide to the Tuolumne River and co-author of the RiverMaps guide. His daughter steered me directly to Duwain at RiverMaps and he sent me the photo so I could confirm that it was me. It definitely is me in the photo and I sent him some other photos of the boat in action so he would know I was for real. He also sent me my very own copy of the guide for free. Very Cool!
Thanks Duwain! The rest of you Tuolumne boaters or wannabees need to get a copy of this RiverMap. It is so much more than a mile by mile guide. It’s packed with information on the geology of the canyon, information on plants and wildlife, and the history of activity in the canyon. Great pictures too!