The All-Outdoors Whitewater Rafting California River Blog

OK so I missed a week. I have a good excuse though. I was, uh…at the place doing that really important thing.

All right, maybe no good excuse. But now the Thursday Photo Showcase is back, and better than ever. I’ve bought a brand new waterproof camera and will be taking it with me everywhere that I guide, scaring strangers all over the place by randomly taking pictures of them while they’re just out trying to have a good ole fashioned adventure. Even better- I’m going to post them online!

So, without further ado, this week’s pictures are from the Tuolumne River 1-day trip this last Monday. The sun was shining, water was high, guests were fun… a wonderful day! Enjoy the shots:

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We get creative, and usually try to ensure that we amuse everyone else in the process.

Don’t get me wrong… these are not angry fights, he-said, she-said rumor mills, or anything quite that serious. (We’re all pretty content with our jobs and each other’s company.) There is, however, a tendency in the guiding community towards quite a bit of heckling, jokes, nick-names, etc.. Sometimes, this will end up in an extended war of wits of sorts, 2 guides facing off against each other at random times throughout the season, usually to the benefit and amusement of everyone who happens to observe.

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The theme on the Kaweah River these past few weekends has been all about team bonding and brotherhood. With two fraternities doing trips (one from UCLA and one from USC), and then a masters women’s rugby team joining us this last Sunday, we were prepared for some pretty rowdy and crazy days.

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The last time California saw as much snow as this year was sometime in the early 1980s. Point being: high water years don’t come around very often. Since some rivers change more dramatically than others do when the water gets high, it’s a good idea to try and see those particular runs in May and June while the water is still up, and take advantage of such a unique situation.

So to help out with deciding where to go, here’s my vote: the Tuolumne, Merced, and Kaweah are the most significantly changed, and fun, in a high water year.

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On Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday this week, All Outdoors conducted an advanced, high water guide school on the Tuolumne River. Flows varied between 7400 and 9000 cfs, and we rafted the whole river each day.

The main idea behind the training was to refine high water technique and, as Adam put it with a big grin on his face: “expand some of your comfort zones.” All of us that were supposed to row boats down through Clavey Rapid on the second and third days had already experienced high water trips the year before, but not on flows as big as we would be facing in those three days.

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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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These are a little bit of tease, because the Middle Fork of the American won’t actually be at low enough flows to run until sometime in July. But just to get you thinking about it and to give everyone something to look forward to after all this exciting high water dies down, here are some of Mark Reiner’s best shots from last year’s season on the Middle Fork. I especially like his 2-day shots. This river has some of the best side hikes, creeks, and campsites of any in California, and Mark did a great job of capturing them.

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On Friday night, it took hours to get any food or service at our favorite restaurant in town, and strange animals started making noises at three in the morning. Then on Saturday, Brook “Lead Foot” Johnson found herself hiding from a very angry campground manager who was covered in the dust kicked up from her truck, and bad river karma was passed on to an unwitting guide through a harmless-looking tent. What in the world was going on in Three Rivers?!!

As may have been gathered, our first weekend back on the Kaweah wasn’t, as they say, smooth as “buttuh”. Don’t get me wrong- we had a great time seeing each other and the river again. It’s just that there were a few small kinks to make the weekend that much more interesting.

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When river guides sit around in April saying that they wish it would finally warm up and stop raining, you know that there must already be a LOT of snow up in those there mountains. Because otherwise, rain down here (from the coast to the foothills) means more snow up there, which means higher water for a longer period of time. And all river guides love that idea.Â

So, when a few friends and I were talking about how nice it would to just have sunny skies from here on out, it occured to me how spoiled we are this year with that amazing snowpack. And the numbers now are even HIGHER! It just doesn’t stop.Â

Here’s a summary of current conditions:

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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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