California Whitewater Paddling

Happy Kayaking 2011_My Dream Came True_

2011-12-26T13:29:00.001-08:00

I have been lazy in updating blogger, because uploading photos to Facebook and sharing it with friends are easier than those with bloggers. For people who are not connected with me through Facebook, I extracted some impressive photos of 2011 kayaking with my son.

Jan 23 Giant Gap_NF American River (IV+~V-) at low flow (estimated to be 500~700 cfs). We ran it in July as well. Kenya running Locomotive falls

Kenya finishing the last drop of Dominator rapid (V- to V) of Giant Gap run

March 27 Kyburz, SF American (IV to IV+) is one of Kenya's favorite local runs

While Brian and I were driving back to the putin, Bill and Kenya made a snowman.

Apr 24 Pauley creek (Lower, IV to IV+) Pauley is our favorite run, but unfortunately we could have only one day to paddle it in 2011.

May 1st, Double header at Wild Plum, NF Yuba (IV to V-) and Lavezolla Creek (IV) Kenya paddling at Wild Plum run.

Wild Plum run. Kenya ran it last year for the first time.

Kenya's first paddling at Lavezolla creek, Kenya running at Double Drop (IV)

May 21-22, Kenya's first trip at Deer Creek (Lower, IV+) One overnight.

Happy Camp Fire!

Right-to-Left Falls (III+) of Deer Creek

Kenya entering the first big drop of Ishi Falls rapid (V-)

Kenya entering the second big drop of Ishi Falls rapid (V-)

May 28th, Board Xing to McKays Point, NF Stanislaus river (IV then IV+ to V-) Kenya running at Goalposts (IV+). He ran it last year for the first time.

May 30th, Devils Nose, NF Mokelumne river (III+ to V) Kenya running at Pre-Falls (IV+ to V). Photo by Tom Saffell

Mokelumne Falls (V) Roaring. Photo by Tom Saffell

Kenya entering Mokelumne Falls. Photo by Tom Saffell

June 11th, Our House Dam, MF Yuba (IV to IV+ with 1 class V) Kenya and I were both first timers

June 12th/18th Artic Mine, Canyon Creek, (South Yuba Tributary) (IV+ to V-) It was new for both Kenya and myself. 25-30 min easy uphill hike to the put-in.

Canyon Creek is a pretty run!

Lots of scouting at Canyon Creek run. A big (Bill) and a little (Kenya).

Kenya boofing at the third drop of the Triple Drop rapids (V). Photo by Bill Riedle.

Kenya boofing at the minor drop after the major part of Triple Drop rapids.

Kenya dropping at the Slide of Canyon Creek. He took the far left chute.

Bill and Kenya scouting at Zigzag (IV+) of Canyon Creek.

Kenya running at Lead In to Final Gorge (IV) of Canyon creek. There were nasty logs in the river left.

Successful Kenya's first run at the Button Rapid (V-) of Canyon Creek

Kenya's line not enough left in his second run. He was stuck in the bottom hole and swam. He was trapped in the behind the waterfall, but found a place to stand for breathing. Bill and I extracted him from behind the waterfall.

July 23 South Silver (IV-V) South Fork American Tributary Kenya's first trip. He felt relaxed after running Autobahn (V-).

Kenya running Triple Slide (IV+)

Kenya entering Boof Boof Slide (V-)

Boof Boof Slide (V-)

Kenya running Tea Cup #2 (V-)

Kenya at the bottom of Tea Cup #2

Kenya boofing at Tea Cup #6 (IV).

Aug 20th/21th, Sep 4th/5th Cherry Creek, Upper Tuolumne (V- to V) Since my son started whitewater kayaking, my dream has been paddling with him at Cherry Creek. It came true this year. Kenya was 14.5 years old. Photo by Lynn Myers.

Kenya running at Mushroom (V) On only his first day, he half-portaged the upper half of Mushroom rapid and re-putin at the left eddy in the middle

Kenya finishing Mushroom. He made it successfully for three times of three trials.

Kenya boofing at the lower half of Toadstool (IV+) Photo by Lynn Myers

Lunch spot at ~mile 5 of Cherry creek run.

Sep 23th/24th North Feather Festival. Kenya participated in the Tobin Race held at Tobin (V-). It was his first paddling day in the Tobin run. Photo by Eric Holden.

Kenya racing. Photo by Eric Holden.

Oct 1st Little Grass Valley, SF Yuba(IV to V) It was the first run for Kenya. Both Kenya and I swam at the Left Over Postage (IV+). Perhaps my boat stuck in the hole led his swimming. We took out at the Post creek. Hiking up by 400 feet elevation gain was so hard after paddling, scouting, portaging.

Oct 8th/9th Electa, Mokelumne River (II) Kenya and I participated in MOKE Race
Kenya in the downriver race.

Kenya Slalom racing.

Kenya Slalom racing

Kenya was awarded the first prize for the Junior division of the slalom races (Blue) and the second prize for the short boat division (all ages combined) of the downriver race. I got the second prize for the Novice division of the slalom race (Red).

Tuolumne, Lower (IV) overnight trip

2011-05-25T23:19:00.000-07:00

"T" is popular summer classIV run. In summer, there are constantly 1100 cfs release from Holm Powerhouse and 100 cfs from Hetch Hetchy reservoir. People run 20 miles stretch in a day ~ three days. In Sep 2010, my son and I ran it over the course of three days with Melody and Will. It was Kenya's first overnight kayak trip. He loved overnight trip.

These gears are all put in our kayaks (Little Hero and classic Salto). I invested for down sleeping bags since they can be compressed to small size.

Day 1. Right after put-in. Although Melody and Will rafted in this trip, Kenya and I carried all our gears and food by our kayaks.

Our camp spot for the first night was at the confluence with Clavy river. We enjoyed Hiking along this river and swimming. The water was not so cold.

Kenya playing on the slide. Many kayakers and rafters come and do the same thing.

Before dinner, Kenya tried to fish. Unfortunately, he could not get anything.

Portable stove. One piece of soild fuel can boil 2.5 cups of water.

Day 2. Kenya and Will went fishing in the morning. They got 5 fishes. Kenya got the biggest one in the middle. He was so excited.

Kenya and Will.

We ate all, but it was a little much.

In most pools, Will was attempting to fish. In very high frequency, he got hits.

Water Purifier. After filtering water, add five drops of sodium hypochlorite per liter. We needed two ~ three liter water per day per person.

A camp spot for the second night. It was very nice sandy beach!

Day 3, Powerhouse release begins at 7 am and ends at 11 pm. If we want 1200 cfs flow, we need to wait till 2-3 pm due to >20 miles distance from the powerhouse. It's pain to wait, so we started paddling in the morning. There was enough flow just to paddle kayaks.
Confluence with North Fork of Tuolumne was a few mile lower than our camp spot.

We hiked up. Other people were rafters who camped at the confluence.

In this pool, I got the crawl dad.

Takeout bridge. In the last a mile or so, it was nearly flat water.

Extended Park Boundary and Park Boundary_Kweah River (IV~V)

2010-09-18T22:12:00.000-07:00

In the early July of 2010, my son Ken-ya and I had a great opportunity to run the extended park boundary and park boundary run of Kweah river with Albert Sticker, Konrad Pehl, Albert's friends Jeff Gymer and Sean Sangree. Jeff and Sean guided us. We got to know Bill Pooley who is a friend of Jeff and Sean and who is the author of "The Kweah River Page. Bill has been spending his passion into everything about Kweah River. The Kweah River Page is awesome! and covers all information, river flow, weather, water temperature, and of course, river guide, etc. His house is located on Hwy 198 and a part of his backyard is a wonderful beach of the river. Thanks to Bill, we had a great camping experience there. Huge thank Bill for his hospitality. We definitely want to visit him again and paddle together next time.

Extended park boundary run is a 0.5 mi long stretch and Park boundary run is 0.6 mile. Both are very steep and continuous and have 190~200 fpm gradient with classIV~V difficulty depending on the flow. In our three times run, flows changed a little in a range between 5.25 feet and 5.45~5.5 feet, but the difficulty changed a lot. When we ran, they were rated classIV+ (with two V-). Because they are short runs, people do the two stretches three times a day. Kenya and I joined the group after others had done once, so we ran both runs twice on the first day and once on the following day.

Shown is the dreamflows flow at Three Rivers that is located several miles downstream than the gauge at Park Boundary, just west of the entrance of Sequoia National Park and the end of the Park Boundary run. The gauge indicated 5.3 feet at 14:00 (7.11.2010), 5.25 feet at 18:00 (7.10.10), 5.45~5.50 feet at 11:30 (July 11,2010), which would be 840 cfs, 800 cfs, 960 cfs at Three rivers, respectively, when they were added flow from East fork of Kweah and reached Three rivers.

The put-in of both the Extended Park Boundary run and Park boundary run is located inside the Sequoia National Park, because of which entrance fee is required. Kenya hiking to the putin of of the Extended Park Boundary run. It's about quarter mile long, no hike up, not bad at all.

The river view from the hiking trail.

Upstream view (Ash Mountain run, V~V+) from the putin. A big drop is seen.

"Double Bubble" the Put-In drop (IV+) seen from downstream

Jeff running the Double Bubble.

Korand Pehl running No name rapids (III+)

Albert Sticker running No name rapids (III+)

The upper Slalom (IV).

A video for the Upper Slalom and Slalom rapids. At gauge 5.45/5.50 feet high, it's rated V-. Video was taken at gauge 5.3 feet.

Kenya ran the Slalom. He hand-paddled in the mid-last part of this rapid, but not intentionally. Here is the "Boater and Kweah News" from The Kweah River page

# 07-11-10 The Extended Boundary saw many runs in the last three days. Your webmaster entertained guests Masa San and Kenya San from Sacramento. Kenya San at thirteen years old demonstartated himself as a solid Class 4+ boater with 4 runs on the Extended Boundary at levels of 5.20 feet to 5.45 feet on the Boundary gauge. He can be seen coming through the Chute at the completion of his Extended Boundary run on Saturday as Picture fo The Day. Not only is Kenya the youngest ever to run the difficult Extended Boundary but his run at 5.45 feet is a very stout level at the high end of the normally runnable range. Kenya sports a bulletproof hand roll on both sides that he used when a hole depaddled him and he hand rolled up out of the hole, ran the next drop hand paddling, and reteived his paddle no problem. Impressive! Watch for this youngster up on Hospital Rock someday as soon as Dad gives him the OK.

The upper part of the Slalom.

The middle part of Slalom

Jeff running the Upper Slalom (gauge 5.3)

Jeff running the Slalom (gauge 5.3)

The exit of the Slalom from downstream

The Dam (IV), which is still inside of the National Park and the putin for the Park boundary run.

Jeff entering No.11 rapid (VI~IV+ difficulty, V consequence) that has the ugly undercut hazard on the river right.

On the right of Jeff, there is the undercut hazard. Bill says that many people had problems there. I ran this rapid at gauge 5.45/5.5 and had no problem.

After the No.11 rapid, there are several III~IV+ rapids. At the Dinely bridge on Hwy 190, there are no parking space for takeout. We got into Gateway run and kept padding to the Bill's backyard. Kenya running the Chute (IV). Photo by Bill Pooley.
This image is copied from "The picture of the day" at The Kweah River Page.

Kenya swimming in the pool below the Chute.

Takeout. Photo by web camera that is linked to The Kweah River page This camera shoots images every hour.

Giant Gap_NF_American (IV~V)_updated

2010-09-16T22:27:00.000-07:00

Giant Gap is more upstream than Chamberlain falls (IV) run at North fork of American river. Its difficulty is class IV+ with three classVish rapids and it has ~120 fpm gradient at mile ~4 and 100 fpm at mile ~6. Despite we need to hike down for 1.5 miles and it has long streach (14.5 miles, long flat water in the late half), I love this run and do it for a few times a year. Usually, I spend 4 ~ 4.5 hours on the river including lunch time. I have done this run when flow was 825 ~1,250 cfs, but I think the flow below 900 cfs makes some lines more difficult, so 1,000 cfs is the optimal flow. In this blog, pictures taken on different days are shown. In 2010, my son, Kenya, 13 years old, has grown up big enough for dragging his boat down to the putin, I took him there. One of my dream has come true, since I started teaching him whitewater kayaking. More info is available at American River North Fork Giant Gap.

Hiking for 1.5 miles to the Euchre Bar putin bridge. No hike up, so it is not bad at all.

The trailhead.

Kenya, Dan (behind Kenya) and I ran it on that day at 1,000 cfs

Upstream view from Euchre bar bridge.

Kenya's favorite is Jumping into water and swimming.

Goggle is his essential gear to play with fish.

Nice waterfall behind Bruce Farrenkopf

Dan Sadowski and Kenya, maybe at mile ~1

Giant Gap canyon begins after mile 2.

Greater (IV+) at mile 2.6

Greater.

Nut Crucker (V-) at mile 3.1

Nut Crucker (V-)

Larry Horne entering Locomotive Falls (IV ~V-), easy entry with high consequence. The hole is extremely sticky.

Michael Quirk running Locomotive falls.

Entire view of Locomotive falls from downstream

Unknown rapid (IV) in the gorge.

Unknown rapid (IV) in the gorge. Far right has undercut danger, so I recently run it in the river left.

Go Chute (IV) in the river right.

Dominatortrix (IV)

Dominator (V- ~ V) at mile 5.1. The hardest rapid on the run.

David Greenleaf running the last part of Dominater rapid.

Larry Horne running the same.

Dan, nice boof!

Kenya portaged the upper section of this rapid, running the last part.

Unknown rapid (IV ~IV+) below Dominater.

Larry running second unknown rapid (IV ~IV+) below Dominater.

Kenya running second unknown rapid (IV ~IV+) below Dominater.

Lunch spot at mile 5.5 where Canyon Creek enters.

Last rapid (IV) at nearly takeout.

In that canyon, NF runs!

Wild Plum_Yuba_NF (IV ~ V-)_updated

2010-08-01T18:16:00.000-07:00

Wild Plum run is also called Sierra City to Downiville, which is a 13 mile-long stretch from Wild Plum campground in Sierra city to Downiville. It would be a very long day if the entire run is done. We usually takeout at ~ mile 10 after the moss canyon or ~ mile 7 at the Union Flat campground on the river right above the moss canyon. This run goes along the highway 49, which are very close to each other at some points and makes our shuttle easy only by 15 min drive. When just in case incident happen, it is not difficult to hike out from any places. There are many classIV~IV+ rapids and a few V- depending on the flows. I have run it from 650~900 cfs. The river difficulty is quite different at 650 and 900 cfs. The river at 900 cfs was hard and juicy.

River flow below 700 cfs is good entry flow for first timers. Luckily, there was a chance to run at 650 cfs in June 19 of 2010, so I took my son, Ken-ya, here.

Pauley creek is usually done on the other day of the same weekend. When this run has 650 ~ 750 cfs and 900 cfs, Pauley has 190~250 cfs and ~300 cfs, respectively. I wanted to let my son run Pauley at 300 and Wild Plum at ~700 cfs in the same weekend, but which was not possible at all.

Putin. The initial half mile or so is very similar to that of Kyburz. ClassIV rapids are continuous.

At ~mile 0.5 or so, there is the first classIV+ rapid. 750 cfs. Breck Overall running it. Far left is the mellowest line.

Undercut is seen in the left edges. Chris Conlin running in the center. 750 cfs.

Alan Guttenburg running in the right.

Chris Conlin running Gillespie Dam at mile 3.

Larry Horne running Gillespie Dam in the right channel. This route is easier than the left channel. 725 cfs.

Kenya running the right channel of Gillespie Dam. 650 cfs. Photo by Tim Waring.

Photo by Tim Waring.

Brian running at the Highway rapids (IV+ ~ V-) at mile 6.3. 650 cfs. This came to be classV- ~ V at 900 cfs.

Highway rapids from downstream.

Break Overall running Ladies Canyon rapids (IV+ ~ V-). 750 cfs. The rapids are not difficult to take a right line to avoid the ugly hole, but could have classV consequence. The hole in the left has strong back wash and very stickly.

Gavin Rieser running the Ladies Canyon rapids. 725 cfs.

Kenya watching his dad (me) running Ladies Canyon rapids. 650 cfs.Photo by Tim Waring.

Kenya running the Ladies Canyon rapids. 625 cfs.

Alan Guttenburg running classIV rapids just above the Moss Canyon rapids.

Moss Canyon rapids that are very ugly and sticky and possibly causes classV consequence (IV+). Mile ~9. Far left is the easy entry line, but all of us portaged at 750 cfs.

Camping at the Wild Plum campgound. Kenya enjoying camp fire.

There is a small creek just nearby the campground.

American SF (Kyburz, IV+)_updated

2010-07-16T19:28:00.000-07:00

This is my favorite run, although there are not a few people who don't like this run. For this run, shuttle is easy, driving on only hwy 50 for 10 min for 8 miles. The putin is a turnout that is west of Sand Flat Campgound (~50 yard west of the Indian falls rapids). The takeout is the Riverton Bridge on hwy 50. I ran additional ~3 miles from Riverton to Peavine (nice class III~IV) before, but the dirt road condition to the Peavine takeout was terrible in 2009. A friend of mine who has high clearance truck gave up driving to the end.

The mile to mile gradient of this run is 110, 150, 80, 80, 85, 55, 60, 30, very steep in the first two miles. Because of this nature, this run comes to be very hard run at higher flow. I have run at 2000 cfs, it was class V, no question. At 1300 cfs, it was hard class IV+. In the past, some friends of mine swam in the first mile and their boats were gone as far as quarter mile ~ a mile, or even lost.

The second half is mellower, but still has fun rapids Kyburz (III~IV). The putin for the second half section is at the bridge (not hwy bridge), which is 200~300 yards west of the first hwy bridge when you drive from Riverton Bridge to Kyburz.

In memorial day of this year (2010), I took my son, Ken-ya, down this run at 850 cfs and 1100 cfs. At these flows, this run was kind classIV+ and solid classIV+, respectively.

At the Putin. The rapid in the back is Indian Falls rapids (V+ ~ VI). I have not seen anyone ran it.

This log is located at ~ mile 1.5 or mile 2. It has been there since my first run.

Tom running at mile 2~3. 850 cfs.

We want to run left of this rapid, but Ken-ya running the center. 850 cfs.

The hole that Kenya is hitting will be a huge monster hole at 2000 cfs.

The wave was much bigger than what looks like. 850 cfs.

Tom entering a hole. He wanted to make left to right move and paddle through in the right. 850 cfs.

Tom being stuck in the hole. He escaped w/o swimming. Nicely done!

After this moment, Kenya was stuck in the hole as well, no swim. 850 cfs.

On the next day, Kenya running the same rapid as above at 1100 cfs.

Jared being stuck in the hole for a certain period of time.

In the hole shown above, Ken-ya was stuck as well. He did not swim, but he was depaddled by the hole. No swim thanks to hand roll. He hand-paddling down to me who picked his paddle.

This rapid is the last big one.

Stanislaus NF (BoardXing to Mckay's Pt, IV-V)

2010-07-06T19:08:00.000-07:00

Stanislaus NF (Board crossing to Mckays point) is very beautiful run, which has 5 mile class IV section from Board crossing bridge put-in to Calaveras Big Trees State Park and 2.5 mile class IV+ with two classV- rapids. I have run it for several times since 2006 when flow was 500 ~ 850 cfs. 500 cfs was runnable flow, but it was boring. My son, Ken-ya, started his classIV kayaking this year (2010) and is rapidly developing his skill, so I took him for his first classIV+ run when flow was 650 cfs. At 650 cfs, two classV- rapids in Mckay's section came to be easier, but this run was still fun. More informations about this run are available at cacreeks and A wet State. In this blog, I combined photos at 850 and 650 cfs river flows.

We put in below Sourgrass Ravine (V to VI) rapids. 650 cfs.

Kenya putting-in.

Beginner's Luck (IV+) at 850 cfs.

Beginner's Luck (IV+) at 850 cfs.

The slut (IV) at 850 cfs.

Kenya running a fun class IV rapids, which is more donwstream than "The thing". 650 cfs.

Tom running Upper Sequoia (IV~IV+) 650 cfs. Three of us, Tom, Ken-ya and I paddled together on that day. This rapid is just above the last rapid shown below.

Kenya entering Lower Sequoia (IV), which is the last rapid in the upper class IV section. There is a bridge here and some galleries visiting the state park were watching us. Below this bridge, classIV+ McKay's section begins. Some people take-out here.

Geoff entering Devil’s Horn (IV+ to V-), which is the first serious rapid in the McKay's section. 850 cfs.

Larry running the last part of the Devil’s Horn rapid, 850 cfs.

Kenya entering Devil’s Horn rapids from far right channel, 650 cfs.

Ken-ya hit rock in the hole at the last part of Devil's Horn rapid. 650 cfs.

Tom running the last part of the Devil's Horn rapid.

Kenya flop in the middle of Goalposts (IV+) rapid. He was going through the last part of the rapids up-side-down.

Ken-ya trying Eskimo roll. No swimming on that day.

Tom at the last part of Goalposts (IV+)

Ken-ya running Fake Waterfall (IV). 650 cfs.

Fake Waterfall (IV). 850 cfs.

The Waterfall (V-). 850 cfs.

Me running The Waterfall (V-) at 850 cfs. Video by Geoff Jennings.

Pauley Creek (IV+)_updated

2010-06-23T19:38:00.001-07:00

Lower Pauley creek is one of my favorite run. The difficulty is class IV below 250 cfs and gets more difficult but slightly at higher flow of ~300 cfs. Even at not high flow, this fantastic creek attracts many class IV ~ V+ paddlers. More info is available at UpperPauley and LowerPauley. The putin for the last half ~3/4 mile of upper Pauley creek is reachable by 20 min hike-up, which deserves to do and is a little harder than the Lower Pauley. Lavezolla creek, a twin sister of Pauley, runs just nearby, but I like Pauley creek much better. Many people do this Lower Pauley creek for two laps in a day.

In 2010, my son, Ken-ya, has developed his paddling skill to classIV level. I have been looking forward to the day when he can run the Lower Pauley creek safely. The day has come! Because his performance had appeared to be good at some classIV runs, I decided to take him to this run. He loves this run as well. Pictures were taken in different dates/years when flows were 170/240/310 cfs, and 190/210 cfs with my son.

The first rapid of upper Pauley (Below 2009, 2010 putin), 300 cfs

same rapid, 210 cfs

300 cfs

300 cfs

300 cfs

Larry running on the shelf in the right channel, 300 cfs, The bottom on the left half looked sticky and ugly.

300 cfs

Larry running the last rapid just above the putin for the Lower Pauley. 210 cfs.

Upstream view from the putin for the Lower Pauley. What a fantastic creek!!

The Gorge (IV)

In May 2010, there was a hazardous log in the Gorge. Wonderful people removed it for next coming paddlers. I am proud of being a buddy of them.

The log bridge just above the Federal falls

Federal falls (IV+), 170 cfs

Federal falls (IV+), 300 cfs. There is a hole just 10 feet upstream than the main drop. This becomes sticky hole at 300 cfs (not a big deal at 250 cfs or lower).

Larry running the Federal falls, 300 cfs.

Double Drop (IV), The bottom on the left gets sticky. I have seen someone broke his paddle in the left bottom. We want to enter in the middle of the first drop and move to right for the second drop.

Slide (IV) shot from downsteam, the bottom on the left is sticky hole. Finish this rapid at the right ledge.

Jim entering the second falls (IV+). 170 cfs. This is the second hardest rapids of the lower Pauley creek run. Easy to enter, but easy to make boat flipped and stuck in the bottom. Enter in the center to right. Boats and swimmers tend to be pushed on the right bank after the drop.

My son, Ken-ya, running the second falls. 190 cfs. In his third run of this rapid at 210 cfs, he got stuck in the hole and swam. This was his first swimming since he had started paddling with hardshell boat.

Larry running Slip and Slide (IV+), 300 cfs. We want to paddle towards center to left. Otherwise, boats go into the bottom very straight, which makes boats flipped.

Ken-ya running the Slip and Slide (IV+), 190 cfs.

Finishing this drop in the right = boat's going deep = boat's jump.

Dave running the last drop before the Pauley falls. 190 cfs.

Pauley falls (IV+). I would NOT run it below 250 cfs.

170 cfs.

My son and me at the takeout of Pauley falls, 190 cfs. Photo by Dave Wilkinson.

Yuba SF (49 bridge to Bridgeport, V-)_updated

2010-05-04T21:15:00.000-07:00

49 to Bridge port is my favorite run. It is not so far from Davis (2 hours), has countless number of exciting classIV ~ classIV+ rapids and boofs in only 7.2 miles and great sceanic views. However, there are many strainers and undercuts, so swimming here might result in significant consequence. Since 2006, I have run this section at 500 ~ 750 cfs. 700-800 cfs would be perfect flows. Here, I combined photos from 2006 to recent and have updated my blog for this run.

There is also a CA state park at the takeout where the world-longest covered bridge is. In that state park, many swimmers come to enjoy so pretty water in May. More information are available at cacreeks.com Darin McQuoid's blogsite A Wet State.

View from a eddy after a few classIV rapids. Still within a quarter mile from the putin.

Rapids of this and next two pics are in the above the Portage

Un-runnable rapids. Portage on the river left.

The same un-runnable rapids from a different location.

Mr. Squiggly (IV+).

Tyler running Mr. Squiggly (IV+). He is on the right line.

Mr. Squiggly.

Mr. Squiggly.

Mr. Squiggly.

Mr. Squiggly.

Mr. Squiggly.

Someone running Mr. Squiggly, shot from a different location

View of Mr. Squiggly from downstream

Slide Boof [El Boof] (IV) at 500 cfs

Slide Boof [El Boof] (IV) at 500 cfs. I think the gate was wrong on this date.

Slide Boof at 525 cfs, but flow looks lower than the above pic

After entering this rapid, the piton rock partially under the water is seen in the middle of our sights. Make quick left turn after the drop and go through.

Get small eddy for max three boats in the river right, but the ledge to this drop is very hard to see from that eddy.

This is river-wide twelve foot ridge (V-). Larry boofing at the "Ski Jump" in the far right of this falls.

The bottom looks so nasty hole, but "get speed, nose up and landing as horizontal as possible" works well.

When I ran the same 12 foot ridge for the first time, we took line in the far left of this rapid.

Double Airplane Turn (IV+). Enter from right, then go through left and eddy out in the left. Avoid a hole in the right of the end. 750 cfs.

Eat the Meat (V-). Enter from left, then go through right to avoid nasty holes. A Wet State describes well how to run this rapids

Corner Pocket (V) 750 cfs. I ran this only >700 cfs, shot from the last left eddy before this rapid.

Corner Pocket (V)　750 cfs.. Someone running at the ~10 feet ridge in the left. Right goes into a sticky hole.

Corner Pocket (V)　750 cfs.. Someone running at the ~10 feet ridge in the left. Right goes into a sticky hole. After the ridge, go right! Otherwise, there are undercut walls of the left riverbank.

View from downstream of Corner Pocket 525cfs.

Re-putin below the ridge, but above the undercut walls.

Re-putin just below the undercut walls.

Dues (IV) (8~9 foot boof)

Dues (IV) (8~9 foot boof)

Dues (IV) (8~9 foot boof)

Dues (IV) (8~9 foot boof)

Boof (IV)

Someone running in the center. Recently, we run in the river left to avoid a hole in the middle to right.

Yuba SF (Edwards to Purdon, IV) with my son

2010-04-11T00:12:00.000-07:00

My son started kayaking with IK in 2006 when he was 9 years old and had used IK for 16 paddling days, then switched to a hardshell kayak (Dagger Dynamo) in 2008 and have used it for 22 paddling days. Since last summer when his performance at SF American Gorge run (III+) at 1300~1700 cfs came to be very well, I have been wanting to push him up to classIV.

At least in northern California, most class IV runs not far from Sacramento are runnable in only snow melt season. If safety is considered, drysuits would be essential. It was painful to pay for S size drysuits and small creek boat that will fit my son probably only for two years (because he is 13 years old), but I got both for him.

For his entry to class IV world, I waited for lower flows at somewhere among Edward to Purdon (E2P, SF Yuba), Chamberlain (NF American) and Kyburz (SF American). After my son used his new boat (Jackson, Little Hero) one day at SFA Gorge, we could have that opportunity very soon at E2P where the flow was 470 cfs making this run easier. Fortunately, there were other participants, WillisN, DaveW and BrianG, who responded to my invitation to this run in GCP mailing list and all have run it. So, I could feel easy about taking my son there.

For more detail information, visit A Wet State

The Putin rapid.

Someone running the Putin rapid

View from the putin bridge for the downstream

Put-in above the Edwards crossing bridge. My son, Ken-ya, is ready for class IV. Face-guard helmet, arm-elbow protector, drysuits, knee pads, and creek boat.

In the rapids after Easy/Ugly, which is probably left channel of Post Easy Ugly (IV), Ken-ya got stuck in a hole at the end of rapids and his boat flop. He released his paddle accidentally, but he did not panic and did succeed in handroll. However, he was still in the hole and his boat flop again. I thought he would swim, but he handrolled again and escaped from that hole, which really impressed all of us. I was so excited and forgot to take the picture of the hole.

Here is an ordinary spot for break or lunch.

Brian boofing at Few Choices (IV)

Willis took different route from Few Choices

Dave entering Few Choices

Ken-ya entering Few Choices (IV)

Ken-ya running in class III rapids just quoter miles upstream than the takeout

He finished this run without swimming, with one roll and three handrolls. Congratulations!

Ken-ya appeared to feel relaxed during the whole day in any rapids. Rather, I felt nervous. However, thanks to other participants who had experienced this run for more than a few times, I could feel easy to take my son down this run. In California, classIII fields are not many, but there are plenty of classIV runs. This year (2010), snow packs are more than the average and snow melt season will be long. I am looking forward to enjoying class IV with my son this year.

Yuba SF (Kingvale to Eagle Lakes Rd, IV-V)

2010-04-10T22:37:00.000-07:00

I ran SF Yuba from Kingvale exit of Hwy80 to Eagle Lakes Rd exit in mid May, 2009. The flow was 750 cfs. This run goes mostly along with Hwy80 except for Rainbow. The upper part of what we ran is called as Summit Run (8.7 miles, IV+) and lower part as Spalding run (IV+ - V [V+ or P] 5.5 miles. What we ran of the Spalding run was only first 3/4 ~ 1 mile between Cisco grove to Eagle lakes rd. Although I had run it two years prior to that, I felt nervous like a first timer, since we ran it by just two of us, Tyler Jose and myself. For more details about the Summit run, visit Wet State. For Spalding run, visit Darin McQuoid's blogsite and Dream Flows.

First Rapid (IV- to IV+) Tyler was being stuck in a hole.

There were still snow remained along the river in mid May.

The upper part of Cataract (V to V+), we portaged

The lower part of Cataract (V to V+)

a waterfall (IV) before Rainbow Rapid. There is a short recovery pool before entering Rainbow rapids. The whitewater in the bottom is the entrance of the Rainbow rapid.

The upper part of Rainbow Rapid (IV+ to V)

The upper~middle part of the Rainbow rapid. There is a hole in right front of Tyler.

The lower half of the Rainbow rapid

Double Drop (IV to IV+) My friend, Scott Amundson shot me in his his video
in 2007.

Three Blind Mice (V). When we portaged the main drop, we walked on the roadside of Hwy80 shortly, which should have surprised drivers on the hwy. While driving on the hwy, that main drop had always looked runnable for me, but it overwhelmed me standing beside it.

We reput-in below the main drop, but there was a huge hole at nearly end of this long rapid, which looks like as ugly as the main drop.

A narrow cascading ramp (V to V+). This is uglier than Three Blind Mice. For us, no question about portaging on the river right.

Ski Jump (IV) is the last rapid to take out at the Eagle lakes rd exit of Hwy80.

Trinity (Pigeon Point, III) with my son

2009-09-19T16:01:00.000-07:00

Trinity trip in Labor Day weekend is an annual event of Guttenburgs. I have joined them before with my family (2007), but only my son and I joined their trip in 2009. Alan's three sons live in southern California, as all of them graduated or are still going to UCLA. They made long driving and brought their friends to Trinity river and the camping was so big having over 25 people. Alan and his wife Lauren kindly provided us all food, but I played a Shushi Chef to entertain people. I made over 60 pieces of white tuna and salmon Nigiri Sushi. Off course, all pieces were quickly done by hungry young people. They let Kenya join their games, so Kenya spent good time. It was great camping trip. We did one paddling trip for each day from Saterday to Monday. Flow was ~470 cfs made by dam release.

Put in. We had 10 double IKs and some single Kayaks and hardshell.

First classIII rapid. I requested Kenya to enter the hole. Beginner's route is in more right.

His face says "I made it".

Kenya running at classIII rapid. Double IK finishing the first 2-foot drop.

Kenya entering the upper part of Hell Hole rapids. Other 17 consecutive photos as follows.

Kenya entering Hell Hole.

Yeah! He made it!!

Kenya at the small boof.

In the Labor day weekend, Kenya tried Hell Hole rapid three times and ran it twice without roll, by which some breakthrough appeared to happen within Kenya technically and mentally. After this trip, we went to The Gorge run of SF American river. Kenya came to feel comfortable in running Satan's Cesspool, the hardest rapid of the run, although he had not felt happy to run it before our Trinity trip. Following are the serial pictures there at 1,550 cfs. Photos by www.vitaboating.com ($25 for all).

Kenya entering from the eddy on river right.

Kenya watching another photographer from whom we can buy photos if we like them

Kenya finished the Gorge run without flips. He appeared to run it easily. I think he is ready to enter classIV world in next year. I am excited when I imagine about paddling with him at classIV runs.

Upper Tuolumne (Cherry Creek: V) part 2

2009-09-19T15:11:00.000-07:00

Since my first run at Cherry creek in 2007, I have run it for ten times by the end of the season in 2009. In the beginning of my first 4 times' run, it was scary run and I felt nervous a lot. However, as I have come to get familiar with the run, I have come to feel comfortable at Cherry. On the day of my last run at Cherry creek in 2009, there was Cherry creek race held (photos by Ion Berkley). In that night, many paddlers got together at the Lumsden falls campground for the party. Although I brought some food (Teriyaki Chiken), I think I ate and drank more than that. That was a great and fun night. Thank you very much for organizers of the party.

Someone running in the upper half of Mushroom rapid (V)

Cherry creek racer running in the lower half of the Mushroom rapid (V) 1of4

Cherry creek racer running in the lower half of the Mushroom rapid 2of4

Cherry creek racer running in the lower half of the Mushroom rapid 3of4

Cherry creek racer running in the lower half of the Mushroom rapid 4of4

Another racer running at the last part of Mushroom rapid. In 2009, I also ran the entire part of Mushroom rapid, though I had portaged the upper part and re-putin at the middle before that.

Me running at Toadstool (IV+). Photo by Lynn Myers.

Me at a boof between Flat rock and Lumsden falls rapids. Photo by Lynn Myers.

Me at a boof between Flat rock and Lumsden falls rapids. Photo by Lynn Myers.

Do I look like having run Lumsden Falls rapid (V+)?

Re-putin after the portage of Lumsden falls rapid.

NF American Shirttail (II~II+) with my son

2009-03-14T23:05:00.001-07:00

Me: "Kenya, when will you start paddling this year?"
Kenya: "Uuum, end of April" Me: "Whey you start so late? Why not March?" K: "I don't like cold air, cold water." Me:"......"
These were our conversation on some day of this year, but I could take him out for paddling as early as March this year. Kenya hesitated to paddle in March, but my wife pushed his back for paddling. Weather was great on March 14 and flow at NF American river was 950 cfs, perfect flow to warm up his paddling skill for this year. He ran this run two years ago, but used IK. This was first paddle in Shirttail run with hardshell boat for Kenya. Like previously, we joined Kevin Bran's trip. Kevin, thanks for letting us join.

Put in. Water was so pretty, but cold.

We were so big group of more than 10 people. While waiting others's start, Kenya spent time for playing surfin.

At the same spot, but shot him from different position. Good Surfin, Kenya!

Everyone ready to go. Nice weather. Beautiful day!!

At the different surfin spot. He flop once here, but did not mind eskimo roll in spite of the cold water.

Next 6 photos are serial.

Shooting Kenya in rapids on my boat. I use Olympus waterproof digital camera (795 SW) and often shoot Kenya from my moving boat in rapids, but in most cases focus was good.

This is the last one rapid, at mile ~4. Next final rapid has a big hole, but he stayed away from the line going into the hole.

Kenya's paddling in the Gorge run (III-III+)

2009-01-03T18:31:00.000-08:00

For my son Kenya who hurdled Eskimo roll, the next challenge was class III run. For us, it was the Gorge run of SF American river (III~III+, ~9 miles). Some more detail informations are available at BRTinsights and cacreeks, in the latter of which the put in for the Gorge run is Mile 11.6 at Greenwood creek.

The begining a few miles are class II section. Here is our favorite lunch spot. Kenya enjoyed jumping in the water.

View of the jumping rock from the front. He also went into the water on the boat from the highest spot of the rock.

Satan's cesspool at mile 5 is the hardest rapid of this run. Next three photos at Satan's Cesspool were purchased from the photo company which provide photos at Satan's Cesspool and Hospital bar of SFA and Tunnel Chute of MFA. After paddling, we drove back to Coloma and purchased the photos.

Kenya passing through Satan's Cesspool. He flop in the hole but rolled up.

Rafters entering the Satan's Cesspool.

Kenya in the Surprise rapid (classIII).

In 2008, Kenya ran the Gorge twice with 7 times' Eskimo rolls and no swimming totally. Next year, I will take him Chili Bar of SFA after he feels more comfortable with the Gorge run.

My Son's Debut in HARDSHELL Kayaking!!!

2008-09-13T22:17:00.001-07:00

My son, Kenya, has started his hardshell kayaking. He used single IK for ~2 years (16 days in class II or III runs) since he was 9 years old. This year, he switched his boat to hardshell boat (Dagger, Dynamo), because he has grown up enough so that his legs could reach the footrests of the boat. Here, I would like to show my appreciation to people who have helped us. In particular, Alan Guttenburg let us borrow his boat and other gears that his three sons used before.

Kenya felt easy about doing even Gorge run of SFA by IK, but he did not want to paddle by hardshell in classII river unless he master the roll skill. So, I taught him how to roll in a pool. He could do hip-up roll and hand roll, however, he could not roll after he set up his paddle under the water. So, I did not expect he could roll in rapids. Anyway, we tried Coloma to Greenwood creek (C2G run) of SF American river (ClassII). He flop once, but I did on-boat　rescue. He portaged Barking Dog, which is the biggest rapid of this run.

Before going to second run at C2G, Kenya took a lesson for Eskimo roll at The Riverstore, Lotus, CA.
Current Adventure provides roll class for two students in 90 min by $50 for each person.

After the roll class, we camped at American River Resort which is just nearby the Trouble Maker rapid of SFA. Kenya loves campfire.

In next morning, campfire again.

On the second day of hardshell kayaking at C2G run, he felt relaxed much more than his first day. It's time to try what Kenya learned in the roll class.

Last picture of Kenya's hardshell kayaking on the second day.

He tried Barking Dog, but he did not enter the hardest part. He went river right and caught a eddy. He finished this run without flips, so there was no chance to roll. Kenya also did not want to practice roll in the river on that day. Therefore, we quickly finished this run and went back to Davis to practice his roll in a pool on the same day. He finally could roll even if he flipped from any side. According to Kenya, taking class helped him to make his roll solid. A week after this roll practice, Kenya practiced roll in a pool again and came to be able to roll perfectly. He was ready to try Barking Dog.

On the third day of his hardshell paddling was a memorial day for us, because Kenya could roll in a rapid even though he flop unexpectedly in whitewater. He also entered Barking Dog, but three feet left than the hardest part. He also tried to surfin at Gremlin wave-hole for a few times. I wanted him to flip and roll there, but he did not flip at all. No flip on the third day. He flop on purpose in some rapids such as the end of Highway rapid and practiced his roll. We also practiced ferryglide in some fast rapids and eddy catch.

"Hit iron while it is hot" which is Japanese proverb meaning "Don't miss good opportunity/chance to develop skills. So, a week after his third hardshell paddling, we did C2G again.

Photo by BruceT.

Kenya tried surfin wave more aggressively than the third day and got on the surfin wave for several times at Gremlin wave-hole. He also flop in the hole for a few time and rolled up, which impressed other paddlers. I was so proud of him. I shoot Kenya by movie, but missed by a snapshot.

On the fourth day, Kenya finally entered the hardest part of Barking Dog-wave hole. He paddled through it against a big wave that was higher than him. No flip, no swim, Wow woo!! There was no rooms to take a picture of him, but I put my picture at the Barking Dog. Photo by BruceT.

Success of surfin at Gremlin wave-hole made him very aggpressive in trying to surfin at other spots.

Photo by BruceT.
A link related to the last trip is BRT-Insights

So far, Kenya has done hardshell paddling for four days all at C2G run. Two flips, one on-boat resucue, one roll, no swim and several surfins&rolls. In particular, I observed big progress of his skill on the last two days. Eskimo roll in rapids is the first hurdle for all kayakers, but being able to do it in rapids made kenya's skill developed very very significantly.

P.S.
We went C2G again to practice playboating. This was Kenya's fifth paddling day. Kenya surfing at Gremlin hole.

The following three photos are parts of serial photos.

Kenya flipping in the hole. After that, he rolled up.

Kenya jumping out from the hole.

Lovers Leap of SF American (V)

2008-06-05T21:48:00.000-07:00

I ran this run with HillH and KurtS on June 1st of 2008. There are very few information about this run except for "Best whiterwater in CA" (by Holbek and Stanley). H&S book says that this is 9.6 mile classV run, very steep with average grandient of 171 fpm. Mile to mile gradient are 160, 120, 110, 150, 190, 210, 210, 250, 180, 80 fpm. There is 30-foot waterfall at mile 7. Takeout at the waterfall makes this run easier for one day trip.

Along this run, there are many summer houses, approximately 20 of which are built in a location accessible by its own road from hwy 50. We could not find takeout road to the waterfall, but explored such a couple of roads and decided where to take out. Although none of us has run it, we met together early and tried to make a trip without guide. I lead other two and scouted at many spots out of the boats. Although there were many logs that made portage necessary, our impression of this run is "This is great run, worth to do". When we did it, flow at Kuburz was probably 400 cfs (gauge shown by dreamflows did not work). It was good flow to explore this run by first timer. Our rating of this run to mile 5 (or 5.5) at 400 cfs (Kyburz) is classIV+ with several classV-~V rapids. At higher flow of 600~800 cfs, this run would be rated as solid class V. We want to come back again.

Putin spot is just nearby the bridge in Strawberry. A little bonny, but enough runnable.

There were many logs that blocked the river. We portaged this log, but reput in just below.

In the begining 1.5 mile, there were a few nice boof or rapid that had 4~6 feet height. I missed to shoot them. This rapid (IV) is around mile 1.5.

This rapid (IV+) has continuous 3 drops. We scouted it out of boats. Hill is finishing the third one. On the river left, there is undercut, but not serious.

View from downstream of the rapid in above picture. This run is like small creek.

Getting flow higher by side creek at several places.

Nice slide. Kurt getting out of the hole. At higher flow, would this be more sticky?

I took many pictures on the boat while I was waiting others running down. It was not easy to focus correctly though using auto focus.

View from downstream of the same rapid as above.

We paddled underneath the log.

We scouted this rapid out of the boat.

We paddled down not to approach the log on the right.

The entire run look like this, very continuous. Sometimes, bigger rapids. At several spots, there were serious ones to scout.

There were many boof like this.

This was one of serious rapids at probably mile 4~5. This is view of the entry part. Nasty log!

Upper to middle part. In the middle, there was nasty hole looking sticky.

In the middle of the long rapids.

Middle to lower part view.

In the lower part, this creek splits to two separate flows. River left has nice 7-8 feet boof, but river right was bonny and looked nasty.

River right. We did not go.

All of us portated the upper-middle part of this rapid and reput in the middle and enjoyed the boof. In this time, Hill shot me by my camera.

Shot by HillH.

Below the rapid in above pictures, there was short recovery pool, but soon other rapids continued.

One of top 10 hard rapids among what we did.

Zoom-in view of the rapid above.

At probably mile 4.5 ~ 5, but I misunderstood that it was almost end of run at mile ~7. I was relaxed and careless and could not find the log quickly. I could not go over the rock, which is located just underneath of the top of my boat in this picture, then my boat was stuck/pinned. There was a log that made triangle with the rock and making sieve under the log. My boat were put in the corner. We tried to rescue my boat, but could not. High flow pressue pushed my boat down to the bottom. Although two float bags were put in the front and back, boat was under the water. I gave up rescuing my boat and decided hike down to the takeout. My boat was leashed with a tree by a rescue rope. Three weeks later, I came back to here by 50 min hiking. Boat was just nearby, but someone stole so many stuffs from my boat, throw rope, many caraviners, float bags for bow and stern, wing nuts to fix foot rest, spare paddle, even drain plug. In this country, there are fxxking people even in paddlers. This incident disappointed me a lot. I still feel bad when I visit Kayak stores and see padding gears such as throw rope.

What a huge log jam! Almost making log dam. I shot this from the right river bank while hiking down. This was a big portage.

A very serious rapid at ~ mile 5. Even if I had had my boat, I would have portaged it. Bottom part of the rapid was like toaster of Bogus Thuder of NFA Chamberlain run. After this portage, we were so tired and decided to take out before our original goal. Hiked up to the hwy 50 and hitchhiked to the original takeout.

Lower Stanislaus (III~V-)

2008-02-16T18:19:00.000-08:00

I ran Goodwin Dam run in mid Sep 2007. I liked this run. It's short, but very seanic run and there are good class III and IV rapids plus three class V rapids. Please see more details.. However, I did not plan to do it. Until the previous day (Sat), there was dam release of 1,200 cfs for Cherry creek run (classV). I drove down to Cherry creek in Friday night and camped. Unfortunately, I could not get good sleep due to taking too much cafeine and gave up paddling on Sat for safety and planned to paddle at Cherry creek on Sun when dam release of 750 cfs was scheduled. The problem was how I spend time there. Hiking was good idea, but I was adviced not to hike around there by a state park ranger, as deer hunting season just started from the day. I didn't want to be shot, so I went to Yosemite National Park, where hunting is prohibited. In addition to spending time, I needed to find paddling buddy for the next day. Fortunately, I could find two buddies, who are Adam, a raft guide in Lower Tuolumne river and his friend Jef.

Next morning, we went to putin. Very unfortunately, flow was very low. There appeared to be 750 cfs release until one hour ago judging from wet rock. Thus, changes of dam release is unpredictable. According to Adams's experience, the release wouldn't be recovered again on the same day. We decided to move to Goodwin Dam run of the lower Stanislaus that is a home river for Adam and Jef. We stopped by Adam's rafing company office at Buck Meadows for closing their office until next season, as there would not be 1,200 cfs dam release from the next day. Nights Ferry takeout is only 50 min by driving from Buck meadows. It is county park like Lotus of SF American river.

Hetch Hetchy reservoir in Yosemite National Park. I hiked along the lake, but stopped it before reaching waterfalls (dried at this time). It was because other hikers who was coming back told me that they had seen bear.

Dam release from the reservoir. Looked very powerfull.

John paddling in the first classV- rapid. He is a photographer and very strong paddler.

Adam.

Jef in the second classV- rapid. I could make it since John showed us his line.

Adam. River left is a portage route.

Adam paddling in one of classIII-IV rapids.

The third classV rapid. We portaged it, but it might be runnable at higher flow.

Melissa re-entering after portaging the third classV.

Trinity (Pigeon Point, III)

2008-01-12T22:34:00.000-08:00

This is my favorite run for family paddling. My family ran it before in 2004 and my son and I did in this summer of 2007. My paddling friend, AlanG has organized his family trip in Labor Day weekend every year for over ten years and gave us kind invitation to his trip in last sumer again. We camped there for three nights. It was huge group of his family, parents of Laura (his wife), fiance of Dallen (Alan's oldest son) and her parents and a sister, families of his neighbors, and family of Alan's paddling friend, totally over 20 people. Laura served delicious dishes every night.

Yuriko (right) did this run three years ago. How would her paddling be this time? Kenya (left) did it only a month ago, but portaged twice. He decided not to portage this time.

Yuriko.

Yuriko.

Kenya.

Yuriko.

Yuriko entering the big hole at Hele Hole rapid.

Photo service available here. First one is $15, second or more are $10 on CD. Three years ago, Yuriko swam here, but

She succeeded in doing it this time. She wanted to repeat it, so I carried her IK above this rapid. She made it twice of total three times trial. She was so happy and proud of her success.

Kenya at the Hell Hole. Unfortunately, he could not make it, but his swimming was only at the Hole. Next day, he portaged it. His return match will be in next season.

Truckee river (II+)

2008-01-07T16:33:00.000-08:00

Truckee river (Boca to Floriston, II+ with two classIVs)
I ran from Boca to Floriston of this river in mid August, 2007 with Kenya (my son), BruceT, BruceF from Reno, Don and Shelly from Napa and Suisan City, respectively. Truckee river begins from Lake Tahoe and runs on East slope of Hgh Sierras in Nevada. Flow was ~450 cfs, which is controlled by a dam at Lake Tahoe. Boca (elevation: 5,570 ft.) to Floriston (5,410 ft.) run is nice classII+ run, in particular, in summer while we have very limited choices for paddling and has sceanic view and comfortable air of highland.
BruceT made more description of this trip and some more info is available at cacreeks.

Putin.

Highway I-80 and Amtrack run along with this river for a while.

BruceT and Kenya.

BruceF running Jaws (classIV). Kenya portaged this rapid.

Blonco, photographed from takeout bridge. ClassIV- with 100 fpm gradient in half a mile. Because I did not get enough info before running this run and did not hear well what BruceF told me, I let Kenya run this rapids without knowing it about difficulty. Kenya followed my line exactly and did great jobs without any problems. Wow,woo!!

Cherry Creek (V)

2007-11-02T00:44:00.000-07:00

Upper Tuolumne (Cherry Creek [V])
Doing this run has been one of my dreams since I moved to CA. This is called Cherry Creek, but cherry creek section below Holm power house is only one mile. The rest of 7.6 miles to Merals Pool takeout is on main Tuolumne river. I did this run with JesseCG, LynnM and DavidM two days in August, 2007. This is classic and popular summer classV run, since there are always flows at 1,200 cfs by dam release from Mon through Sat in July, August and early September. Average gradient of 105 fpm (2%) and 1,200 fpm flow make this run really hard, scary and amazing. At mile 4~5 called as Miracle mile, the gradient is 200 fpm. The other reason making this run very hard for me than other classVs was that we did not scout at all except for the Mashroom rapids because of time limitation of dam release. The maximal release from Holm Powerhouse was scheduled to begin at 7 am and end at as early as 11 am. Unless we finish by 12:30 or 1 pm, the flow would be lower while paddling. We putin at 9:45~9:50 am in both days and finished at 1:20 pm at Merals pool takeout (known as putin of Lower Tuolumne run) as well. When we finished, there were still 1,200 cfs flow (by gauge) at takeout in two days, but the release stopped at 12:00 in both days.

For doing this run, there is always a big problem or transportation, since the shuttle road to takeout is unpaved, rough, dusty and long, and requires high clearance vehicle. Driving usually takes longer than 30 min for one way. In one day, we could be offered a kind ride by another party. In another day, we made a great deal with unknown people who did the lower Tuolumne run. They drove down to the putin of lower Tuolumne run, which is the takeout of Cherry creek run. We drove up their vehicle to Casa Loma.

Usually I take lots of photos, but this time I could not have chances to take photos. Lynn, who is a professional photographer, took some nice pictures (see below). More pictures are seen at Lynn’s website(click other photo adventures, a dreamflows photo gallery, and a rafting company’s website. Nice video by someone else is here. More river information is available at cacreeks.

Dam release. 1,100 cfs was supposed to be released from 7 am to 11 am, but it actually happened from 8 am to 12 pm. 100 cfs was added from main Tuolumne after the confluence. After the max release of the day, there were release of 900 and 750 cfs on Fri (Aug10) and Sat (Aug11), respectively. In next year, I wanna spend the entire day to run Cherry creek by scouting and taking photos even if maximal release ends by noon.

Putin. Holm powerhouse is right back in this picture.

Lynn entering Mushroom rapid (V).

Lynn in the middle of Mushroom rapid.

Me in the upper of Toadstool, class IV+ or V- (photo by Lynn Myer)

Me in the middle of Toadstool (photo by Lynn Myer)

Me at the boof that is the end of the Toadstool (photo by Lynn Myer).

Pit river (III-IV)

2007-10-14T21:23:00.001-07:00

Pit river runs (7 miles) on west slope of north Sierra Nevadas Mtns. It has not been available for summer paddling for a long time. In 2007 summer, there was dam release (~1,000 cfs) for Pit river run on Sat and Sun in two weekends. I ran this run in one of the opportunities with AlanG, his wife Lori and his youngest son Marshall, ErikN and two Alan's friends. In summer, there are almost no choices for paddling in CA and therefore many people came here. According to Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) person who counted the number of paddlers at the takeout campground, there were ~100 paddlers coming here from CA and Nevada. I hope this number is enough to let PG&E do dam release next year agian. Below takeout campground, it is classII run. Some paddlers came with thier family and enjoyed lower class II with thier family after they did the upper run.

The feature of this Pit river run is the Pit falls. There were three channels, right 20 feet high easy waterfall with a portage at 10 feet drop, left channel of teacups and the middle 35 feet high classV waterfall. I did right and left on Sat and Sun for each, but quit doing the middle one. I had planned to do but finally gave up doing it because Alan told me there is a risk of dislocating shoulders when doing the middle one. Marshall broke his paddle in his trial of the middle fall and Alan saw a guy who dislocate his shoulder in another weekend. Here are more info and more pictures by someone else.

The biggest drop of teacups in left channel.

Someone running 35 feet high waterfall.

Right channel. Many paddlers watching others, shoothing videos at the bottom shore.

There was a terrible incident here while we were concentrating on watching other's running middle waterfall. Alan was stolen his dry bag in which he have his wallet and cash. I was so disapointed with this incident, as there was a thief among paddlers.

SF Silver Creek (V) part2

2007-10-09T01:41:00.001-07:00

I did this run last year (2006, please visit my blog), but I portaged two hard rapids, Skycraper and Plastic Surgery. This year (June 2nd, 2007), I ran this run with Evan, Geno, Brandi and Thomas and did both rapids. I got to know those people through boof.com and met for the first time on that day. Brandi's husband, Jeremy, hiked down with us from putin to takeout to shoot us by video. To see the very nice movie that Evan produced, please visit his website. You can also see lots of other wonderful videos that Evan produced. Another movie by someone else at higher flow is here.

Five weeks after paddling this run, I visited it again with my son, Kenya, for swimming. The flow was optimal to swim and play in the water. Here is the Plastic Surgery.

Skycraper and Off ramp.

Skyscraper.

Skyscraper. The spot where Kenya is standing is the line.

Last big fall of Teacups.

Kenya jumping into the pool below the first big drop of Teacups. It was very deep, maybe, 20 feet or deeper.

Kenya jumping into the pool below the second big drop of Teacups. We brought diving mask to play with fishes. We found several rainbow trouts in some pools.

Kenya jumping into the pool below the last big drop of Teacups.

Kenya's Zen training under the waterfall.

He was going to play Superman.

This is nice slide below Skyscraper and above Off ramp, but it's not easy to play here without wetsuit. Otherwise, skin is scratched by rough rock surface.

McCloud(III),Trinity(III) with Kenya

2007-09-03T22:29:00.000-07:00

In the end of July 2007, Kenya and I did Upper McCloud and Trinity Pigeon Point run on Sat and Sun. Upper McCloud river goes into McCloud reservoir and lower McCloud begins below the reservoir and goes into Shasta lake. The upper run begins with classIV sections near lower falls when flow is enough. When we did, the flow in the classIV section was very low, almost un-runnable, so we had to spend long time to go thourh it. This river runs on volcanic land made by the eruption of Mt.Shasta, which is the sacred mountain for Native Americans. In many places along the river, there are springs where snow-melted water, which penetrated into the volcanic land and have been running underground, is coming out. These spring water dramatically increases the flow of the river and make it enough runnable classIII runs with >750 cfs. In the end of this run (7 miles classIV->II), there is flat water on the reservoir for 3 miles. If there was not the last long flat water, I would do this run every year. Detail description by Bruce T is available at his blogs or cacreeks. Photos and description for Trinity run are below.

At the lower water falls. BruceH, TedD, JimH., PaulG., BruceT., me and Kenya. Photo by BruceT.

The lower falls. Photo by BruceT.

Putin. We putin ~half mile below the lower falls.

A mile or two, flow was so low, but my son, Kenya, enjoyed paddling in such a bonny section. Because of his light weight, his boat was not stuck at all unlike others. Photo by JimH.

While waiting for other's portaging at un-runnable part where Kenya could go through, Kenya was chasing fishes. He put on diving mask.

At the first big spring that dramatically increased the flow but made the river water ice-cold. Kenya was swimming just above the spring where water was still not cold.

Extremely clear and cold water came out from the spring that is behind of Kenya.

Kenya paddling in ClassIII rapids. Photo by Jim H. Kenya swam in one of small holes. Poor Kenya in ice-cold water.

Spring just above the riverbank usually makes beautiful water falls, but the water was low this time.

Another waterfall.

In the end of this run, we needed to paddle 3 miles on long flat water in McCloud reservoir. More pictures are available at Jim's album and BruceT's album

After doing Upper McCloud run, we stayed near McCloud in Sat night and moved to Trinity (Pigeon Point run, classIII) in Sun morning. My family had done this run before (my blog), but this was Kenya's first trial by himself.

Kenya jumping into rapids. Flow was 450 cfs.

Kenya in one of classIII rapids.

Photo by JimH.

Me entering Hell hole. Photo by JimH.

More pictures are seen at JimH's album and BruceT's album

My Son's Debut in Kayaking!!!

2007-08-24T23:35:00.000-07:00

My son, Kenya, born in Jan/97 started paddling in fall of 2006. I purchased extremely light single inflatable kayak (NRS Bandit I) for him. It is only 17 lbs. He first started on a lake (Lake Natoma), then did Putah creek below lake Beryessa (classII). After that, I increased the difficulty of rivers: Coloma to Greenwood creek (CtoG) of SF American river (5 miles, twice), Electa run of NF Mokelumne (3 miles, twice), Shirttail run of NF American river (5 miles, once), Rumsey run of Cache creek (5 miles, once) (all classII or classII with some classIII). When we paddled, I let him enjoy whitewater paddling first rather than practicing paddling skill. Off course, I taught him only how to do ferry glide and eddy catching, but I did not say much even if he could not do well. In easy rapids, I let him paddle freely, but in hard rapids, I let him follow me just behind. Throughout these runs, he swam only once at Barking Dog at CtoG run. In spring of 2007, he did the Gorge run of SF American river (9 miles, class III). There, he had no swimming one day, but had bad swimming on another day at Hospital Bar. I am very much enjoying that Kenya is getting famillier with paddling and improving his skill. My dream is paddling with Kenya in classV run in the future.

CtoG run of SF American river (5 miles, 1,600 cfs, classII). Kenya’s second paddling in white water.

On this day, he swam at Barking Dog rapid.

Kenya’s third paddling in white water. Electa run of NF Mokelumne (3 miles, classII with two class 3- rapids, 800 cfs). Near putin, Kenya is trying surfin.

Another easy surfin spot.

Kenya entering S-turn.

Kenya’s sixth paddling in white water. Shirttail run of NF American river (5 miles, 1,700 cfs, classII run, but this came to be classIII at the flow). This is putin bridge and also takeout of classIV Chamberlain falls run. I like the view from this bridge, because the landscape is almost HEAVEN for paddlers.

Putin. The rapid behind Kenya is the last one of Chamberlain falls run.

Photo by Albert Stricker. Thank you Albert.

On this day, John Simpkin’s group let us join. Thank everyone.

Nice big waves!!

In this picture, Kenya is laughing. Please click to enlarge. He was not scared of high wave.

Takeout bridge.

Rumsey run of Cache creek (5 miles, classII-III, 525 cfs). Photo by Geoff Jennings. We ran with Geoff and his wife, Kim. Geoff and Kim paddled on TopoDuo.

Photo by Geoff Jennings. Kenya said that he felt boring a little. His words let me decide to take him to the Gorge of SF American river (ClassIII-III+).

MF Stanislaus (Dardanelles, IV-V)

2007-08-19T22:56:00.001-07:00

MF Stanislaus (Dardanells run, III-V, 9 miles)
This run is divided into upper and lower sections by the hwy108 bridge and has upper 5 miles of class III plus two un-doable hard rapids and lower 4 miles of class IV-V, which is harder than the Mckay’s point run of N. Stanislaus. I don’t think the upper 5 miles are worth to paddle if the portaging labor is considered. Unlike the upper 5 miles run, lower 4 miles run is great particularly in the last 2 miles, which has continuous class IV-V rapids and is like miniature of Miracle Mile of classV Cherry Creek.

I did this run on July of 2006 with Jesse Costero-Good and Chris Colin, two solid class V paddlers. Flow was estimated between 400-500 cfs, a good flow to do this run. Only Jesse did it ten years ago. In our first plan, we intended to do Donnell run which is below this Dardanelles run, but the takeout road was blocked in the middle. Donnells run must have very nice class IV-V rapids that continue from the last 2 miles of Dardanelles run. I believe Donnells run deserve to do.

First three miles has class III stretch, in which section we portaged once due to logs.

This is the entrance of the first un-runnable gorge. There are three big drops here, at least one of them looked very bad.

Very narrow and scary gorge continues.

After the portage, we putin about ~600 feet below the gorge. There is 300 feet stretch of class IV rapids. Jesse is running the first drop.

However, we wrongly putin. We had to portage again since logs blocked the river.

This portage was very hard.

The second un-runnable rapids just above the hwy108 bridge. Huge rock blocks the rapids and water goes underneath it.

This is a view of rapids below hwy 108 bridge. There is a class IV boof and very hard (class V+?) rapid.

There is a rock under the water in the middle and very sticky hole in the left bottom.

Chris entered in this rapid in the left and went by the right side of the hidden rock. I portaged.

There was a huge log jam. I had not seen such a huge one. Portaged.

The last one mile section has 150 fpm gradient, and there were four or five nice class IV-V rapids, which were harder than Mckay’s point run of N Stanislaus. Because the other two are so solid classV paddlers, we scouted only once, and I just followed their lines.

Clark road bridge (Takeout).

Fordyce creek (V)

2007-04-02T17:00:00.000-07:00

This is my best favorite run among great classV runs that I have paddled by 2007. This run has lots of hard rapids and drops and is similar to South Silver above the Icehouse reservoir, but different from other classV such as 49toBridgeport (SF Yuba). There are many classV+ rapids where we portaged. The elevation of the putin is ~6,200 feet. In winter, I come to nearby for skiing. Due to snow on the road, the putin is not accessible till June. High clearance 4WD vehicle was absolutely necessary for putin road. James who guided me the South Silver also leaded us, Chris Miller, Eric Gilbert and myself. Some info is available at creekin’.

Dam release from Fordyce powerhouse. When I ran in 2006 summer, flow was 220 and 180 cfs. 220 cfs was enough, but some additional portages were necessary at 180 cfs.

Erasehead. ClassV. Scout left. Paddler was James. Even at 220 cfs, water was shallow. If boats flip, paddlers may make scratch in their faces. I got helmet with face guard for this run.

Old Man, class IV+, scout right. This name is after the mountain peak located in the south of this run.

Insanity Falls, absolultely unrunnable, portage right. Photo taken from the portage path.

Insanity Falls. From the re-putin spot after portaging.

Locomotive falls, nine feet high. Three feet from the left wall was the right line, but the bottom was sticky.

Rotator Cuff, class V, scout left. Paddler was James.

Limbo log. Just below this spot, there is Big Squeeze.

Big Squeeze, class V. The narrowest width of this rapid was almost the boat length. Boat possibly makes bridge in the middle of this rapid. Probably, this is not runnable for rafts.

Where's Barry?, class V. Although we ran it at 220, but portaged at 180.

Bad Seed, class V+, portage right.

In Your Face, class 4+ (IV moves, V danger), scout right. Although we ran it at 220, but portaged at 180.

Fordyce (Split) Falls, class V+, portage right.

The Hole that Ate the Donner Party, class V+, portage right. The bottom hole looked so sticky.

Knobs, class V+, portage right.

Super Slide. ClassIV+. This was like triple slide at South Silver, but much more hard and difficult than that.

Hide and Seek. ClassV-.

Ninja, class V-. Far right was the line. Easy entry, but needed to make quick left turn after the drop.

Upstream view from the takeout. Below this spot, there is 0.1-0.2 mile classV~V+ rapids continued. Very sadly, a paddler lost its life between here and the Spaulding lake in 2005.

From here, we needed to paddle for two miles on flat water against the head wind. Took almost one hour. So hard.

SF Silver Creek (Autobahn to Icehouse Reservor, V)

2006-07-18T23:39:00.000-07:00

South Fork Sliver Creek is CRAZY, but fantastic run. It is only 1.1 mile, but the average gradient is 590 fpm (>11%), that was almost four-times steeper than any runs that I had ever paddled. I did this run with Geoff Jennings, Chris Miller and James who guided us. James told me that this run has very narrow runnable window, only a week ~ ten days. Earlier or later than the very short season, it is too high or too low. With regard to this, I was so lucky. In this blog, some pictures were taken by Kim Luu, Geoff's wife. We thank her so much for her long waiting and taking pictures for us. Some infor. is available at dreamflows.com. More pictures are Geoff's web site.

Putin. Since as long as one day ago, I had been so nervous. Off course, my heart was beating so fast. I made lot of sighs in James' truck while we were moving to putin.

Autobahn. 350 foot slide.

Geoff.

James.

Chris is approaching Triple Slide.

Chris in Triple Slide.

James in the lower part of Triple Slide.

Triple Slide and the downstream rapids.

Chris is entering boof, boof, slide.

Boof, boof, slide from the downstream.

Geoff in the last rapid before Teacups.

There are 6 falls in total, 8', 12', 16', 3', 2', 10' in Teacups. James is running the thrid one.

Geoff is running the third one.

Me running the third one. Photo by Kim Luu.

James is running the last one.

Chris is running the last one.

Overview of Skycraper (upper half) and Offramp (lower half). Photo by Kim Luu.

Geoff is running Skycraper. Keep going!! I chickened out this rapid.

Geoff is running in the last drop of Skycraper.

Geoff in Skycraper. Photo by Kim Luu.

Geoof in Skycraper. Photo by Kim Luu.

James is running Offramp. Photo by Kim Luu.

James in Offramp. Photo by Kim Luu.

Me entering Broken Nose. Photo by Kim Luu.

Me in Broken Nose. Photo by Kim Luu.

Me in the bottom part of Broken Nose. Photo by Kim Luu.

Me in next rapid below Broken Nose. Photo by Kim Luu.

I have always been a photographer using disposable camera. But this time, Kim shot me a lot. I was so glad. This may be last oppotunity when I can put lots of my paddling photos.

Plastic Surgery. The second upper rapid above this scary drop has sticky hole in the bottom. We prepared to throw ropes in the last pool above the scary drop. In the bottom of the left half, there is hidden rock which might cause so serious injury if paddlers go into it. I portaged. Someone told me before that a decision not to do is valued more than the one to do. In next year, I wanna try both Skyscraper and Plastic Surgery if I can develop my skill further. PHoto by Kim Luu.

Geoff running Plastic Surgery. Photo by Kim Luu.

Geoff running Plastic Surgery. Photo by Kim Luu. Her camera can take 4 shots in a second.

James in Plastic Surgery.

Deer Creek (Lower run, IV~IV+)

2006-07-18T00:14:00.000-07:00

Deer creek has two runs, upper (17 miles, class V) and lower (23 miles, class IV). I did the lower run with Jesse Costero-Good, Tom Hind, Andrew Guldman, Melody Schmit and Andy, when flow was ~500 cfs in the Memorial day weekend. The flow was a little low, and we needed 200 cfs more. For this run, we paid for a shuttle driver ($60 per vehicle). We took the driver to the putin, and the driver drove our cars back to his/her house. on the next day, the drivers left cars at the takeout. The putin road (Ponderosa way) was terribly bad road, which needed high clearance vehicle.

This was my first overnight trip on the river. Before this trip, I spent longer than 3 hours to pack slepping bag, sleeping pad, vivy, fleece pants, fleece long sleeves, foods, water, dry clothes, spare paddles, etc in two float dry bags. Jesse adviced me not to put anything in the front, because stuffs need to be located as close to my body as possible to make quick turn. It makes sense. Some infor for this run is available at cacreeks.com.

Nice view from the putin bridge.

Andrew in unknown class IV rapid. For a while, I could not get familier with the heavy weight of my boat by lots of stuffs.

Andrew.

I was pinned in front of the huge rock in the right half of this picture. The front of my boat went under the rock, and my boat stood vertically and fixed in the rapid. There was no way to escape other than swimming.

Andrew.

Tom broke his paddle in the bottom of the right drop of the picture.

Very nice beach for camping.

Andrew made nice roof with the green tarp and spare paddles. In that evening, we had short rain. In next time, I have to mimic his way.

Tom brought a big sausage. Looked delicious!

What creatures gnawed this branch? Beaver??

Melody entering onto the toungue in river left. The hole in the right looked sticky.

Jesse on the first boof of the Ishi falls rapids (V-).

This picture is right after the previous photo.

Double drop. The flow in the middle was a little low to run. I did not want to be pinned anymore. We except for Jesse portaged.

Jesse ran in the river right of the Double Drop.

Andy.

SF Yuba (49 to Bridgeport, V)

2006-07-13T23:15:00.000-07:00

49 to Bridge port is my best favorite run. It is not so far from Davis (2 hours), has many exciting rapids and boofs in only 7.2 miles and great sceanic views. However, there are many strainers and undercuts, so swimming here is very bad. In 2006, I did this run three times at 500 cfs, 730 cfs and 730 cfs. 700-800 cfs would be perfect flows. There is also a CA state park at the takeout where the world-longest covered bridge is. River flow is nice flat water and many swimmers come to enjoy so clean water. Some infor is available at cacreeks.com.

Putin bridge on Hwy 49.

Corey Tucker in the last rapid in the boulder garden

25 feet waterfall. Portaged.

Brian Tupper entering Mr. Squiggly (IV+)

Brian on the El Boof (IV).

Downstream view of El Boof.

This and next rapids are consecutive. Making river right through left move is the first line. In the bottom of both rapids, there are nasty holes.

Making river right through left move is second.

Ledge #2 (V-). David describes in his web site that a river-wide, twelve foot ledge. The right side is ugly, junky, and has nasty hydraulics. The cleanest line is generally left of center, heading right to avoid the awkward seam on river left.

Corner Pocket (V). line is making right to left move and go over the ledge in the right half. However, there are nasty undercuts beyond the ledge. The right side has nasty sticky hole. When I tried this rapid for the first time, I could not make good right to left move and entered the right hole. Fortunately, I was not caught in the hole.

Corner Pocket

SF American (Kyburz, lower half, III~IV)

2006-07-13T21:36:00.000-07:00

This is one of very convenient classIV run because of easy access from Sacramento and easy (10 min) shuttle. I did lower half of this run for the first time in 2004 at only 500 cfs.

The riverbed in the middle of this picture was completely under the water at 1,300 cfs or higher.

SF Yuba (Edward to Purdon, IV)

2006-02-26T17:41:00.000-08:00

This is nice and popular classIV run (four miles), but is not long-runnable because of the upstream dam. I usually kayak this run for a couple of times a year.
Yuba river south fork Edwards to Purdons

This run had often muddy water. Pictures were taken on different days of clear and muddy water.
This is class IV rapid just below the put in.

The same classIV.

The hardest rapid in this run. Far right was the line.

There is an undercut just beneath the middle horizontally long rock.

Eric was on the line for the same rapid.

A six-foot drop.

MF Cosmunes (IV+)

2006-02-26T17:05:00.000-08:00

Unlike ohter sierra rivers, we cannot expect enough flows by snow-melting. Only after much raining,it is runnable. Particulary for weekend paddlers, there might be only one chance a year. Fortunately, I could do this nice class IV+ run (9.6 miles) three times in 2005. There are many better pictures in the website Cosumnes River Middle Fork.

Half or three-quater mile hiking to the put in after parking.

Amphitheater Slot. A serious strainer is just below this drop. Someone was prepared to throw rescue rope on the river left.

Auto-Slalom. View from upstream of this rapid.

Funnel Chute

NF Feather (Tobin;V, Lower Tobin;IV)

2006-02-26T13:23:00.000-08:00

There has been releases of 1,000~1,400 cfs from Rock creek dam for this run and from Cresta dam only in last weekends of July~Oct of recent years. I tried Tobin run for the first time in Sep of 2004. Tobin and lower Tobin have ~2 miles of classV and IV for each, but 0.3 mile part of Tobin is rated classV+ with 150 fpm gradient. It is because paddlers cannot see rapids or lines beyond boofs in front and also scouting is not easy. Swimming is not very good because there are many strainers. I had a bad swim at a very sticky hole in this section. It was very pitty that the spot was only quater mile above the Tobin takeout. Since I could not have room to take pictures in the V+ section, most pictures were taken in the first 1~1.2 mile section.

Below this bridge, classV rapids began.

Paddker is Chuck. He and I swam at the same boof later.

Rock creek powerhouse at the lower Tobin takeout. Just in front of this powerhouse, there was a sticky hole which looked like not bad and is known to some paddlers. I had second swim here. This was bad luck day for me.

NF Yuba (Sierra city to Downiville, IV-V)

2006-02-26T12:00:00.000-08:00

Sierra city run of North Fork Yuba is one of my favorite classIV with several classV rapids. I had paddled this run several times at 700~750 cfs. I was so exhausted with the 13 mile-long run but always satisfied. There is no dam above this run, flows in winter and spring are stable.

Breck is in the classIV+ rapids.

Far left is undercut. Right channel is a line.

Chris is brave. He caught up with us here. Did he listen about the undercut???

Alan guided us this day. Although he had done this run only three times before, he remembered lines very well.

Gillespie Dam. Someone prepared to throw rescue rope.

Ladies Canyon. We scouted from Hwy 49 in advance. This is classV because of very fast flow, high wave and a nasty rock under water but visible in the middle to right channel, far left was the line.

ClassV. Breck was on 3 feet-wide line. Left side is very sticky. Someone prepared to throw rescue rope. Before approaching this drop, there was a small drop and wave. It made me feel nervous.

View from downstream of the classV.

ClassIV rapids just above Moss canyon classV

Moss canyon classV. River-wide drop. Far left was a possible line, but we portaged on right side.

Cache Creek (Wilderness, II-III)

2006-02-25T22:39:00.000-08:00

Wilderness run of Cache creek is a great class II-III run. I do this run once a year. This year, I took my daughter, Yuruko. For her, it was a great and long adventure in wilderness. This run is pretty long and has ~2 miles on the north fork of Cache creek and 15 miles on the main Cache creek. The north fork gets flows by the release from Indian valley reservor and merges with the main flow coming from the Clear lake. When we did this run, the flow was ~300 cfs on the NF and 3,300 after the confluence. Flow was so fast and we finished 17 miles in four and quater hours on the river. Because Bald eagles are coming down around here for mating in winter, we could see many bald eagles, adult and young ones, couples and their nests in addition to coyotes and waterfowl, etc. Yuriko was so excited to watch them.

We kayaked with Bruce Thomas and Jim Hardwick. There was another big group of many rafts and IKs.(Photo by Jim Hardwick)

This section is usually dry. When water level goes up, many dangerous spots appear, where trees or branches protrude and make narrow channels or strainers. Bruce said, "This run has class II rapids, but class IV strainers." When the release from Indian valley reservor is only 100 cfs, it is easy class II. At 300 cfs, flow becomes very fast and also difficult for beginners (photo by Jim Hardwick).

This day was unusual, because the weather was fine. We were very lucky. Whenever we did, it was cloudy or rainy.

We found a track of big animal, bigger than Yuriko's hand. Is it a mountain lion (puma)? Many mountain lions are living in this region.

Class 2 on the main Cache. Riverbank presents good view of stratum. Here is a good place to learn how the stratum has been formed.

Yuriko is paddling hard in class 2 rapids. On the main Cache, there were sevral class 3 rapids.

Yuriko is following Jim.

NF American (Chamberlain falls, IV)

2006-01-16T22:35:00.000-08:00

I paddle Chamberlain falls run of North Fork of American river for three to five times a year. It is 4.8 mile class IV run, easy accessible from Sacramento. When I could not find people to kayak with, I used to come here and find people to paddle. I mean, here is a very popular run. Also, our group had let unknown people join us. Because there is no dam in the upstream, the spring flow is stable and runnable from the begining rainy season in Nov or Dec through June. More info at American River North Fork Chamberlain Run.

In spring, lots of beautiful flowers bloom on the hillside to takeout.

Upstream view from the takeout bridge. It looks like almost Heaven for paddlers.

One of nice class IV rapids.

Some outfitters organize the commercial rafting trips.

The tongue. Seven(or eight?)-foot drop.

Rafters play going through a tunnel underneath the room-size rock in the Shirttail creek. I have not done it, because the play looks scary.

The Bogus Thunder, the hardest rapid of this run.