A friend and I joined eight other intrepid paddlers at an unreasonably early hour a few weekends ago and, dressed for Class IV rapids, we paddled and portaged our way through two mild and meandering miles of LA River.

It was via Paddle the LA River, a pilot program launched this summer to test the waters -- literally -- for the feasibility of guided tours down our favorite concrete waterway.

They showed us how:

They helped us aboard:

And where needed, they helped us through:

It was scenic:

With lots of wildlife:

And plenty of trash:

Which, like good citizens, we collected:

And when it was over, we all knew our urban river a bit better. And some of us loved it even more.