The All-Outdoors Whitewater Rafting California River Blog

Here at AO, it’s pretty standard knowledge that we run ten of California’s best rivers. Heck, the phrase dominates our brochures! Most rafters who call in know the basics of river rafting and some even know the technology behind more advanced nuances of the sport, such as predicting flows. But one thing that is a constant struggle, even for reservationists like me, is consistently pronouncing some of the river names. While classics like the South Fork American, Middle Fork American and Cherry Creek are rarely mispronounced, we also run big trips on the Tuolumne, Kaweah and Merced Rivers.

Following is a beginner’s guide to pronouncing the names of these rivers, and a little reasoning for why they are spelled in such a confusing fashion.

Tuolumne River

[Pronounced “Too-all-um-mee” River] This gorgeous river, situated near Yosemite National Park, flows through a deep, wooded canyon. When you meet in Groveland, Calif. to begin your trip with All-Outdoors, you would be hard-pressed to miss the tranquil, nationally-preserved environment of the valley and surrounding towns.

Whether you hit the Tuolumne at high water for one of California’s most potent, intense spring runs or take a more technical, normal water trip in the summer, you’re going to want to tell all your family and friends about every detail. Unless you want to take a shortcut and call the river by its nickname “the T,” make sure to learn that pronunciation before you get off the river so the guides don’t poke fun at you all day!

Kaweah River

[Pronounced “Kuh-we-uh” River] One of the more wild and crazy rivers we run is situated closest to the Los Angeles region, in an area near Sequoia National Park. With snowmelt-reliant flows normally peaking around Memorial Day, make sure you jump on this river early on in the season. All-Outdoors can take you on an unforgettable, technical river full of class IV and IV+ rapids that will provide a wet and rough day on the water.

The Kaweah has adopted plenty of confusion-induced nicknames over the years. Anything from “Kaw-way” to “Kay-uh-way-uh” to “Kuh-something” has been muttered by nervous callers over the years. Now you know, that the “Kuh-we-uh” River is well worth your time; both learning the pronunciation and shredding the whitewater.

Merced River

[Pronounced “Murr-said” River] If you like roller coasters, the Merced River is right for you. Flanked by local homes and in the spring, lush hillsides, this river gives you a couple sections of huge, rolling rapids that really do give the feeling of Space Mountain on water. Also located near Yosemite National Park, the Merced is similar to the Tuolumne in that it is designated as a Wild and Scenic River.

The main mistake when rafters refer to this river is calling it the “Murrst,” though I have heard “Murr-ked” on occasion too. Just remember when talking about it, that it’s two syllables, not one! And when you tell people you went on the roller coaster river, and they ask which one? You’ll know exactly what to say.

(above: Good times on the Mighty Mer!)

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A couple days ago I wrote about some of the ways we  as a commercial outfitter change things up during high water season. But let’s be frank–y’all are probably more interested in how YOUR experience will be!

First of all: FUN!  Super fun!  High water trips deliver more of everything you love about rafting–the thrills, the rush, the challenge, the suntan.  Ok, not the suntan because you’ll probably be wearing cold water rafting gear from head to toe so the only thing likely to need SPF is the tip of your nose….

High water rafting is fun because the rapids are bigger, the water is faster, and the thrill can’t be beat.  High water also reinvents rivers you may think you know.  For example, the class III South Fork of the American becomes class IV with rapids like Trouble Maker, Satan’s Cesspool, and Haystack Canyon booming like you’ve never seen them before.  Class IV rivers become class IV+ to V, and class V rivers like Cherry Creek become class VI, or outright unrunnable. 

The character of each river transforms as the water rises as well.  For instance  huge waves replace what would be tricky rock obstacles at lower flows.  This amps ups the “roller-coaster” feeling everyone loves so much about rafting and typically creates unrestrained fits of giggling in full grown men and women! Another thing that happens is constant motion–instead of calm sections that require forward paddling, you basically get to sit back and glide along as the current pushes downstream–until the next big rapid, that is, when it’s time to dig in once again.

For you, this means seeing rivers you’ve already experienced in a whole new way–basically making it a brand new trip.  It means being ready for a challenge.  Paddling hard, acting as a team, and having quick response time.  It also means being ready for cold and powerful water should you have an out-of-boat-experience.  So, being honest about your fitness level and the amount of excitement you really want to experience is an important part of getting ready for a high water rafting trip. 

The Merced River, with its long, roller-coaster like wave trains, is a great place to get your feet wet before you check out the technical and very demanding rapids of the Kaweah or the North Fork of the Stanislaus at higher flows.

(Top: see the tiny raft about to enter the monster wave train on the North Fork of the American river? Bottom: Happy rafters and a bright purple wetsuit!)

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We’ve been talking a LOT about high water of late–on the phone, over email, on this blog.  Every spring we’re excited when the Sierra snowpack starts to melt and fill our rivers to the brim.  This year, with the truly epic amount of snow, there’s plenty to talk about. 

Herewith, the top 5 reasons we at AO Rafting love high water:

1.) High water is rare and special. It’s more of everything we love about rafting: faster water, bigger drops, bigger wave trains, more hair-raising turns, and more powerful hydraulics.  In other words, it’s more FUN, pure and simple.

2.) Rivers change dramatically as flows get higher–some rapids basically “fill-in” in with water and basically disappear, while others spring up out of nowhere as water surges over newly submerged obstacles.  Other rapids get much more powerful and need to be approached differently.  For newer guides, high water  trips make familiar rivers seem like brand-new experiences, and for our veteran guides, it’s more like seeing an old friend because high flows come around so rarely.

3.) The process of getting to know rivers at higher flows is very hands on–we literally get out there and raft them!  We invest in more advanced training for our guides during high water years, and run a lot of in-house “fun trips” so our newer guides are can get familiar with flows they may not have had the chance to experience before, and senior staff can continue to perfect their skills.

4.) We put more boats on the water during high water periods.  This may mean an additional “guide boat” out in front (this is standard on all of our class V Cherry Creek trips), a kayker at the ahead of the pack, or a guide in a “cat,” which is one of those crazy pontoon-type boats you may have seen on occasion.  These options–combined with simply having fewer guests per raft–create a more intimate experience, and  give us more  pro “hands on deck” for running smooth high water rafting trips.

5.) We often switch from paddle-boats to oar-paddle combos during high water trips. Oars give our guides a greater measure of power and control when navigating the powerful hydraulics of high water season.  Plus, guides love to row, pure and simple, and when the water comes down they don’t get to anymore!  Even I, the self-professed least athletic person at AO rafting like to row, if that tells you anything! 

(Above: AO rafting guides Danny W and Tessa S are having a blast!  That’s an oar-paddle combo, if you’re curious.  The bottom picture shows a “cat,” one of the ways we can use to adjust to changing high-water conditions)

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Two weeks of twelve grand on the Tuolumne River.  How’s that for alliteration that would make your high school English teacher proud?  But more importantly, how’s that for some impressive whitewater adventure?

For those of you who don’t know, 12 ,000 CFS  is a monster flow.  Thrillingly amazingly awesomely challenging and fun.  And we’re going to be seeing those numbers for literally a couple weeks.  We’d usually be stoked by a couple DAYS of those flows.  Not 2011 though–this is a record-breaking year if ever there was one.  Space is quickly filling up on these trips, but never fear, you can also head to the North Stanislaus, Merced, or Kaweah (where flows are also pumping),  or check out the T in July when it will running in the 8,000 CFS range…………which ain’t too shabby at all.

We’ve got a major flotilla of river guides heading off to the T tomorrow to experience some high water action so hopefully we’ll have some great pics to share with you soon!

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It’s trailfest time!  And you know what that means.  Yours truly will be covered in ashes, cornhusks and butter as I help the fantastic John M of Cafe Mahjaic with his famous grilled corn!  But more importantly of course, the trailfest raises funds for the American River Conservancy, which has preserved thousands of acres of property in these here parts for sport, relaxation, and preservation.  One of their most notable projects is of course the American River Trail, which allows hikers, cyclists, and horse riders to enjoy the beauty of the South Fork of the American River corridor all the way from the Coloma-Lotus Valley to Folsom Lake.

Trailfest supports these efforts by raising money to acquire more land, build and maintain trails, and keep the office open!  The June 13, 2011 event begins at 5pm and goes until 10pm.  Your ticket gets you a tasty dinner (including that awesome corn!), a couple drinks from local wineries and brewries, and a raging dance party!  Silent auction items include jewelry, massage,  fly-fishing ties, local B&B and restaurant certificates, and even–are you ready for this?–a “giant push pin” and a “camel saddle.”  Don’t ask me, I can’t explain. I just saw it on the list.

For tickets and more information, visit the American River Conservancy Website

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Hello again everyone,

This week reflects another odd seven days when it comes to June weather in California. A warm storm system moved in and dumped a significant amount of rain on selected parts of the state. The gauge in my backyard indicated it rained 1.75 inches on Saturday alone! If that weren’t enough, another system moved in behind the first one and the rain continued. During the first 6 days of June, California received 170% of the normal amount of precipitation for the entire month!

This cooler, wet weather only delays the melt… but not for long! We’re now entering a warmer, dryer weather pattern, so the delayed melt is about to begin. This coming weekend will feel some of the impact, and next weekend will be even bigger as the freezing elevation level rises to 15000 feet for the first time this year on Tuesday and Wednesday.

The best scenario we can hope for is actually cooler weather to continue and help slow the melt to make it more gradual… but this is unlikely to occur.

Below is this week’s Water Content and Flow Predictions. Take note of the percentages at the top…

• 611% of normal water content in Northern California

• 387% in Central California (most of our rivers)

• 219% in Southern California (Kaweah River)

That is A LOT of water waiting to get into the rivers on the way to the Pacific. Also note other yellow highlighted changes that have occurred since June 1 when the last report was created. You can also visit our River Flows page to see the flows changing for each river in real-time.

The good news about all this cool weather, big snowpack, and delayed melt is that we are going to have a wild and fun spring season —  extending into the summer months, and lasting a long time! We need to plan carefully and prepare wisely, but after nearly 50 years of doing this, I am confident that we are ready. This is definitely an exciting and epic year for fun whitewater!

Gregg Armstrong
Owner, All-Outdoors

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?High water?  Finally? Maybe?  As Gregg A pointed out in his latest flow report, this has been one heck of an odd spring.  We all thought for sure by now we would have a TON of high water trips under our 2011 belts.  We did have a monster weekend on the Tuolumne, and flows have certainly been good everywhere, but the gigantor numbers we all want to see just haven’t happened yet because the weather has been so cool. 

But, with the blue skies we’re seeing today, and which we expect to keep seeing………….hold onto your hats because there is so much snow in the Sierra it’s crazy.  Check out these recent photos from Tioga pass!!!  Off the hook.  When all that stuff starts to melt, look out…….you are gonna make some serious memories. 

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The final week of May was a near perfect representation of California weather this spring… cool, wet, and changing every other day or two. It has been a very unusual April and May. My son even chased a tornado in Chico several days ago! (glad he did not catch it). Cold storms are occurring one right after another. More snow is accumulating in the Sierra on top of an already huge pack. Cloud cover is preventing serious snow melt and keeping the sun’s heat off the surface of the snow. Freezing temperatures night after night are stopping any melt able to get started during the day. All these factors greatly impact the rivers you and I raft on in California.

Normally, the peak snow melt in California starts during the first 15 days of May and ends during the final 15 days of June which means we would already be halfway through our high-water season in a normal water year. This year, the forecast is quite different with the peak melt starting in mid-June and ending in late-July. Summary: if it gets warm quick and stays warm, it’s going to mean high-flows well past spring and into summer!

I’d like to share something with you that I share with my staff each week. This is a flow prediction chart which tracks the water content (water in snow) for all of our rivers. From this chart, we can determine how rivers will flow and when, and how long their seasons will be.

***New for 2011: I will share this chart on our blog as new data comes in so you can stay informed when you make your rafting plans this season.

As you look at the flow predictions chart below, the yellow highlighted sections indicate changes that took place this week due to cold weather and more snow packing up in the Sierra:

Items to note:

-Central California (location for most of our rivers) is kicking butt when it comes to water content at this time: 309%!
-Southern California (Kaweah River) is going strong with 187% water content.
-The South Fork American will have higher flows than expected in early July.
-The Merced will now run through mid-August.
-The Tuolumne will have higher “spring flows” through most of July.
-The Kaweah looks like it will have good flows (above 1000 CFS) through July.
-The North Fork Stanislaus will most likely run through July and maybe through mid-August.
-The North Fork American will be runnable in July.

All in all, if you’re looking for a high-water trip, this is definitely the year to do it. You can expect longer seasons for most of our rivers and healthy flows in summer. Could you ask for more?

Hope to see you on the water!

Gregg Armstrong
Owner, All-Outdoors California Whitewater Rafting

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Hear ye Hear ye: the T is ramping up this week!   As you know, we generally start seeing high spring water when Mother Nature cranks up the heat and starts to melt all that snow you skiied on this winter.   As you also know, temps have been mild of late, so you might think flows would be standard on the Tuolumne River right now.  However, due to the magic of hydroelectricity and government agencies, we’re actually going to see increasing flows all week long.  Check out the photo below–all those rocks and all that riverbank?  You’re not going to see any of that in the next few days.  It’s all gonna be underwater, baby!

                                                                                                                                                                                                 We got confirmation from said Powers That Be that due to scheduled releases CFS will be growing SOON!  Soon as in RIGHT NOW!

Today, flows are climing to the 7 grand range.

On Thursday, they’ll  be  climbing to about 9500….

On Friday, WOW! 12,200!

Saturday 12,200!

Sunday down to around 10 grand…..

And people, can you believe it, these probably aren’t the highest numbers we’re going to see this year.  When the weather heats up it could get even higher.  Told you this is great year!

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There is so much going on!  No, not just revolutions one after the other, tsunamis, tornados, saying sayonara to Liz, Osama, and the Flip camera, and of course zee Royal Wedding.  Here in our smaller and more gentle world, we are quite happy to just be in the midst of a Truly Fabulous rafting season and directing guides, buses, and pounds of lunch meat.  Although that wedding was rather entertaining!  Those hats!  Some of them could have navigated class V white water on their own for heaven’s sake. 

Hats aside we’re busy! Why just this weekend we had trips on the Merced, Kaweah, North Stan, Tuolumne……did I miss anything?  If you want to raft it, we are there, it seems!  And we’ll be there this weekend, too.  Lots to choose from.

With the weather (maybe?) starting to heat up we are going to be seeing higher flows across the board so it’s definitely time to start doing those pull-ups, dusting off the P-90 X, and getting yourself pumped for HIGH WATER–when it hits it’s going to be huge this year.  And in the meantime, while we wait for the big melt, conditions have been great, no complain’ here.  We’ll keep you updated when we get a better picture of peak flows.

In general though, trips in May have been–and will continue to be–fast, furious, and heart-pounding.  Flows of 4-5K on the South Fork American make for a whole new experience if you’re used to regular summer conditions, the Kaweah is a non-stop blast, and the Tuolumne…………….it remains a company and guest favorite for a reason!  Even SNOW a couple of weeks back couldn’t dampen people’s enthusiasm–what does that say?  That’s an awesome run, is what.  The Merced and North Stanislaus rivers are also rockin’…………..so much to choose from and wonderful water everywhere.

Details on high water as we get it!  Stay tuned……

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