The All-Outdoors Whitewater Rafting California River Blog

After a winter hitting the slopes or (more likely) spending far too much time indoors, the North Fork American River is often one of the first whitewater trips of the year . . . the perfect “welcome back to the river” outing for many AO guides and guests alike. We recently launched a wonderful video of a North Fork rafting trip from last spring:



The American River system has three forks–the North, South and Middle Forks–and all have their charms.  But for springtime rafting trips, the North Fork takes the cake.  It may not have the flood of poppies nature unleashes on the slopes of Mount Murphy in Coloma above the South Fork, and it may not have the celebrity status of the Middle Fork’s Tunnel Chute rapid, but it does have beautiful green water rushing past (more…)

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Despite freezing cold temperatures, muddy roads, and the more important fact that there are only about 100 cubic feet per second of water flowing downstream, I am still inextricably drawn to the river! What with the holiday season, and the weeks of trying to get myself organized again after the holidays, it had been a few months since the last time I ventured into a river canyon, or done anything active at all for that matter. So, dragging my innocent parents and visiting aunt along, I took a little walk last weekend down to the North Fork American River, on a trail that I would easily recommend to anyone else needing a new place to explore…

The trail is called the Euchre Bar Trail, and winds down to the put-in for what is known in the boating world as the Giant Gap Run. This stretch of river lies above the more commonly visited “Chamberlain’s Run”, where All Outdoors offers trips in the spring months. Giant Gap is not usually rafted commercially, partly because of its Class V difficulty rating, but mostly because of the fact that you cannot drive there. Instead, you park your car at an incredibly scenic turnout a few miles off Highway 80, (more…)

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Video from last Saturday’s rafting trip on the North Fork American River:

AO Guides: Hunter Donaldson, Naomi Donovan, Scott Armstrong, Danny Walker, Matt Nunes, Amy diVitorrio, Eric Voosen, Dan Weir, Claudette Van Gordon,

Videographer: Ben Zupo Photography

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This last Friday, eight guides and thirteen brave guests set out to attempt All Outdoors’ first trip on the North Fork of the American River at somewhere between 4500 and 5000 cfs. (The highest commercial trip AO has ever run out there.)

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This last Saturday, Randy and Scott Armstrong organized a fun guides trip down the North Fork of the American River. The point was mainly to have a good time, but also to see what the river behaved like at around 4500 cfs. (A pretty high flow for the North Fork.) Kevin Elardi and I were paddling for Scott in the lead boat, and Brian Coleman guided the second boat with Hunter, Lindsey and Dan paddling. Before putting on the water, Scott informed Kevin and I that we were picked for the lead boat because he figured we were the most capable swimmers in the group. (Very comforting.)

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Yesterday, at 12 noon, they were finally revealed… Mark Reiner’s collection of photos from the 2005 rafting season! All of us guides and some of our guests from this last summer may have noticed that Mark Reiner, a fellow guide and professional photographer, was working hard all season to document rafting trips on all the rivers that All Outdoors runs. (A few people took so much notice, in fact, that they completely forgot about paddling in order to model the perfect smile or paddle-in-the-air-wahoooo… Mark did a great job of catching their ensuing swims.) Ever since then, we’ve all been waiting with much anticipation to see the final product.

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What do you get when you mix a quirky artist with an even quirkier idea, a janitor in search of treasure, a store owner with a knack for business, and the federal government? Apparently something akin to a Shakespeare comedy in which even the most honorably-motivated characters turn out fools, and mischief is an entity with motivation and momentum all its own.
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