The All-Outdoors Whitewater Rafting California River Blog

And we’re out.  We’ve gathered gear near and far, emptied the trash, and rolled the sleeping bags:  no more Merced River rafting in 2009.   They powered through high water, extended trips,  and had a flip here and there, but the Mer-Men and Mer-Maids are now off to new assignments on the South and Middle Forks of the American River and the Tuolumne . . .

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http://www.vimeo.com/824003Word on the street around here is that the Merced River is going to have a slightly extended season.  It’s hot now, but the cool beginning to the summer means that the snowpack lasted a little longer than we’d usually expect. Sooooo……if you thought you’d missed your chance for a little rafting on the Mighty Mer, think again and make some plans.  We’re currently booking Merced rafting trips through Sunday, July 12th.  Check out our Merced rafting video and whet yer whistle!

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Good news for spring rafters!  The strong snowpack from winter 2009, combined with this week’s warming trend, mean water levels are rising on springtime rafting trips.  This might mean free-flowing rivers like the Merced will have slightly shorter seasons, but conditions are wonderful right now.   It’s really an even trade in the end–especially if you’re looking for high water, big hydraulics, and powerful currents.   Dam-controlled rivers have plenty of water for long, solid seasons.

Be sure to catch the North Fork of the Stanislaus while flows are up there.  (After the melt is over, the North Folk will be too low for rafting trips.)  Don’t forget the South Fork of the American either–the hills are still green, wildflowers are still out, and higher flows make the South Fork extra fun.  Faster spring water also makes whole river trips–rafting all the way from Chili Bar to Salmon Falls–a fantastic day.  If you usually raft the South Fork in the summer months, this time of year will give you a whole new perspective!

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Well kids, it’s time to pack up your sleeping bag, brush the cookie crumbs out of your tent, and head on home–the Merced River is officially out of commission until next spring when its rolling waves trains will reverberate with the happy hollering of soaked-to-the-bone whitewater rafters once more.  Until then, if you need a fix of class IV whitewater you have two great options for Northern California rafting left this year.  First, you have the Middle Fork of the American River, whose 17 miles of rafting goodness will surely satisfy your need for speed.  If its incomparable class IV rapid Tunnel Chute doesn’t do it for you, then I really don’t know what to say.  Perhaps skydiving is your thing?  You also have the Tuolumne, with its beautiful clear water, gigantor boulders, and the highlight of Clavey Falls, a class IV+ drop that creates wall-to-wall whitewater…… 

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The Mighty Mer is a fickle river, with a character as inconstant as the moon depending on flows.  Until recently, we’ve had flows of around 2200-2000 cfs.  This amount of water creates the huge rolling wave trains that make the Merced such a fun whitewater river, but it also makes it inappropriate to run the lower section of the river, which is called Quarter Mile.  Now that the water is starting to drop to approximately 1500-1600 cfs, we can start running the Quarter Mile section.  This includes s a long class IV rapid with a 3 remarkable drops to the river trip, and also a 25 foot waterfall to the day!  We scout the different sections of the rapid–and we push the boats over the falls and walk around to the bottom.  Current flows, combined with the level of the reservoir below the raftable section of the Merced, (more…)

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