The All-Outdoors Whitewater Rafting California River Blog

The bus rattles to a stop back at the All-Outdoors parking lot along the South Fork American River. Taking a deep yawn you stretch your limbs and climb out of the bus into the bright sunlight. You say a last goodbye to your guide. It’s sunny. The day seems like it’s only half over, like you could re-up your energy and have a whole other adventure on the day. And why should the trip be over? In my opinion a rafting trip starts when you wake up in the morning to drive to the river and ends when you fall asleep at home at the end of the day.

Here’s my route for extending a rafting day:

1. Take a shower at the All-Outdoors facilities. I actually don’t do this first step myself, as I like the feeling of being sun-kissed and a bit dirty. But for many, washing off the rafting grit feels absolutely refreshing. Our showers are nice too.

2. Drive left out of All-Outdoors and go until you hit a dead end. Turn left again and you’ll drive over the river. Hotshot Imaging is on your left, but we’ll get to that later. Drive straight on by and you’ll come to your first destination…drumroll…the Shell gas station (Tada!!!) This might seem to you like an unlikely first stop, but in through the door and to the left are a couple of big freezer boxes full of frozen, ice creamy treats.

3. Turn left out of the Shell station and backtrack down to Hotshot Imaging. They took your photos on the big rapids of the day. It’s a great place to check out your pics and finish your frozen treat. Don’t forget to gaze over Hotshot’s “Rafting Wall of Shame.”

4. Now turn left yet again to go back towards the Shell station. Pull into the parking lot just before the station and get yourself some dinner at Marco’s Pizza. The place has a great vibe, and on weekends there is often live music.

Now that you’ve made the most out of your full-day rafting extravaganza, you can brave the drive home and drift blissfully to sleep in the comfort of your own bed.

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Rafters headed to the American River take note–Apple Hill opens this weekend.  Soooo….if you’re rafting on the South or Middle Fork of the American River think about maybe adding a day to your trip and spending a day on the water and a day exploring the ranches, orchards and wineries of Apple Hill, which is only 20-25 minutes from our River Center in Lotus.

If you have the kids with you, a U-pick orchard or a place with lots of sticky caramel apples is calling your name.   Lovers of pork will want to check out Smokey Ridge Charcuterie at Smokey Ridge Ranch–they make some seriously tasty hand-crafted sausages, duck confit and specialty items like rillettes and apple ketchup.

If it’s a couple’s weekend you’re after–and you’re not a teetotaler of course–then check out one of Apple Hill’s wineries.  Boeger is one of the regions oldest vintners and have a blacksmith shop and artisan yarn shop in addition to a beautiful tasting room and picnic grounds.  If you have a sweet tooth put Jodar and diVittorio winery at the top of your list.  Jodar is well-known for port, and diVittorio has several styles of port as well as fruit wines like plum and nectarine.

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Hospital Bar is a fan favorite, class III rapid on the Lower “Gorge” Section of the South Fork American River. It caps off an awesome day of whitewater, and, as people are quick to notice, it lives up to its name (it doesn’t send you to the hospital, it’s just really fun).

So here’s how the rapid works. After a calm pond the pace of the current picks up steadily as the the river takes a sweeping left bend. Waiting at the bottom, sitting just off the right bank, is a big curling wave. By the time you hit the curler you’ve picked up a fair amount of speed, and then the raft takes a sudden dip and goes crashing through the wave. A wall of water blankets the raft. Then you pull a right turn as the river takes a sharp right bend, and you coast by the parking garage (or catchers mitt), a rock that’s looking to catch a hold of your raft.

Hotshot Imaging and Whitewater Photos Online take your picture as you go through the rapid. There are always a few shots of your raft disappearing beneath the crash of whitewater followed by a few shots of shocked, ecstatic, smiling faces. Both companies have shops in town where you can check out your photos (they don’t post South Fork photos online).

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Trips with family and friends are fun. There’s a boat (or maybe two) of you floating down the river, splashing around, laughing through rapids. But what happens when you get the whole clan together?

This past weekend a group of 30 lively folks (all friends and family) booked a charter trip with us down the lower “gorge” section of the South Fork American River to celebrate a 50th birthday. The result was a cacophony of wild fun. When there are 4 rafts full of people who know each other, the number of laughs (and splash fights) seems to grow exponentially. We splash-battled each other, teamed up against the rafts of other companies, and I caught one epic, well-placed jet of water from a pump squirt-gun to my right ear. And at lunch we had a legendary cookie challenge.

The lesson I learned: more people = more fun.

So grab your friends (even the ones you don’t like that much) and your family (even weird Uncle Archibald), and come splash-fight your way down the river with us. I’ll be happy to join you.

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You’ve done all the planning just right. You booked your rafting trip on the South Fork American River. You printed directions and packed up the car the night before. You even left yourself an extra 45 minutes of drive time just in case there is traffic…and there was no traffic. So now your 45 minutes of buffer time has made you exactly 45 minutes early. You sheepishly pull into the All-Outdoors parking lot and find a group of guides busy preparing the rafts for the trip.

“Hey,” they say, “It’s great to see you, but we were expecting you in like 45 minutes.”

I’ve found myself, as a guide, in this predicament as well. It’s better to be early than late, but 45 minutes is a long time to kill, especially in the morning when all your energy is focused on this whitewater rafting trip.

So here’s what you should do if you find yourself rolling into Lotus way before you’re supposed to get there. Drive straight past All-Outdoors on your left, and keep going until you hit a stop sign. You’ll be at a 3-way intersection. Make a left to drive over a bridge, and you’ll cross over the river (which you’ll be rafting on later). Make your first left into a parking, and right in front of you will be a great little, local bakery called Sierra Rizing. They make decent coffee, a really nice chai tea, and all of their pastries fresh that morning. They even serve breakfast most days. The seating is cozy, and if you sit there for a bit, it’s fun to watch all the rafting folks come through on their morning routine.

Planning too well doesn’t have to make the morning awkward if you’ve got the right backup plan.

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I think that adults remember their grandparents in snapshots. When I think of my dad’s father, I see him after his stroke; thin, frail, confined to a wheelchair. I see my dad’s mom, graying, stressed, a bit short tempered. I forget that I knew them before that, when they were healthier and more full of life. And so I start to think of all grandparents as, well…old.

I was surprised this weekend on the South Fork American River when, on my trips notes, I saw, “grandparents bringing grandkids,” and the people who showed up were a couple looking younger than my parents with two of their grandsons, each 12 years old.

“We have seven all together,” announced Sally (we’ll call her for this blog entry) as we floated through Turtle Pond.

“These two are cousins,” followed up Jim (or so we’ll call him)

The boys (we’ll call them John and Sam) started out quiet. I think they were feeling a bit timid at being surrounded by adults. But by the end they were laughing loudly and jumping into the water at every opportunity. John kept yelling, “WATERFALLS!!”

I asked Jim and Sally how they landed on rafting as an excursion to take the grandkids on.

Sally answered, “Well we just like to get out to do things together. Last year we went to Wild Things [a wild animal center/sanctuary in Salinas].”

It was clear throughout the trip that Jim and Sally wanted to show the boys something, to teach them. They reiterated aspects of the river that I was explaining. They glanced over at the boys after each rapid, trying to catch their reactions. They also showed care and concern for their grandsons. John’s “WATERFALLS!!” chants made Sally laugh, but with a slight grimace. Jim checked to make sure the boys were secure going into each rapid. It was fun to see and to be a part of.

Each trip I go on I get to see family dynamics at work in a great setting. Parents and children, brothers and sisters, cousins, and occasionally (like on this trip) some grand-relationships. Each group is packed together on a raft for a whole day. Sounds deadly for some families (including mine at times). But they’re also in an unusual environment, taking on a challenge together. The combination of close quarters for a full day or two, a shared experience and exercising team work is something that makes rafting fun and unique.

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Leave the 10 person tent, head-to-toe mosquito netting, and battery-operated blender at home people–packing for a multi-day river trip starts with thinking “less is more.”  For starters, we provide you with most of the infrastructure you need–all your on-river gear, kitchen supplies and food.   If you want some **adult bevvies** you’re welcome to bring them, although keg stands/beer bongs aren’t very neighborly.  Functionality the next day, people–keep it in mind.  

 What you really need to provide is your personal stuff.  Your shorts and swimming suit, your sunscreen and toothbrush, those things.  Also a sleeping bag and a camp mattress of some kind.  You really don’t need a tent–our guides never bring them and they’re out on the river all summer long so they know what they’re doing.  Of course if you reeeeeeeeeeeeeaaallly reeeeeeeeeaally love to wrestle with a tent, and are confident you won’t poke somebody’s eyes out with the poles or initate divorce proceedings as part of the set-up process, feel free to bring a small tent, but we don’t think you’ll actually miss it.  Or want to waste valuable leisure time in setting up and breaking it down . . .

For a full list of what to bring see the “maps and travel details” pages for the river you’re traveling to on our website: South Fork Two-Day List, Middle Fork Two-Day list, Tuolumne Two-Day list.

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Obviously our first order of biznass is rafting trips.  Fifty years doing it and all that.  But we love love too!  And our River Center Property!  If you’re “in the same boat,” so speak, and you’re looking for a place to make it all official, you should know that we host weddings here in the Coloma-Lotus Valley.  If you get married here you’re not going to get cookie-cutter anything and we don’t keep a stock of white doves on hand for rentals.   But you will get the beautiful back-drop of our 100 year old trees, the peace and quiet of the valley, and of course the river itself.  The property is available for your ceremony and reception and we’ll bust out our best BBQ if you need your wedding catered.  We’re not swanky–but the property is beautiful, our food is tasty, and we are sooooooo fun to work with. 

Email us for more info at weddings at aorafting.com and check out more photo galleries of the property to see some real live love fests hosted here . . .

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Ever wonder what happened to that tube of sunscreen that rocketed out of your zinc-coated hands and flew into the bushes just above Satan’s Cesspool, or where your camera that you swore you had securely tied to the boat  ended up at the end of the day as you took out Folsom Lake after a day rafting the South Fork of the American River? I have no idea.  But I’ll tell you who does: all the volunteers from the rafting community–commercial rafters and private boaters alike!–who are out on the South Fork of the American River today helping with the river clean-up effort.  This is an annual event that helps keep the South Fork the beautiful river it is despite it being one of the most heavily rafted rivers in America.  So thank you volunteers!!!!  You rock!!!

If you’re interested in helping at one of the next clean-ups (there is one August 16th and 29th), check out the  American River Conservancy, which partners with El Dorado County to organize these events, for more information.

Above: If it weren’t for the efforts of volunteers during events like the South Fork Clean-Up the banks of the river wouldn’t look like this–they’d probably resemble one of the giant garbage patches in the ocean………Not a pretty picture, that.

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It’s misdummer and although free-run rivers are down to a fish-flow trickle there are still plenty of options for California River enthusiasts.  Here’s the low-down on your current options  from mellowist to maximum gnarl:

Super chill:  The section of the South Fork of the American that runs through the Coloma-Lotus Valley is a gentle class II float.  We designed our “Tom Sawyer Float Trip” with young kids in mind because the placid waters and small riffles let us meander downstream and leave time for blackberry picking, games, and adventures in an inflatable kayak or innertube for those who are feeling intrepid.  This section has reliable flows of 1300-1700 CFS everyday of the week but Wednesday.

Class III: The South Fork of the American River is one of the most heavily dam-controlled rivers in the state.  Not great for wildlife, and not without controversy–but of course also a very reliable summer river as a result.   We have been seeing good flows of 1300-1700 CFS 6 days a week on the South Fork, which are great for a fun class III river trip.

Class IV: The Middle Fork of the American is one of the “sister forks” to the South Fork.  They’re very different places though–the Middle Fork is a solid class IV run with more challenging rapids, a steeper and more remote canyon, and more time on the water.  We are seeing flows everyday of the week that range from 850-1250 CFS.  Perfect conditions!

Class IV-V:  The Tuolumne River is also dam-controlled, which allows us to raft its protected Wild and Scenic waters all summer long.  Flows rise and fall each day with dam releases, typically peaking around 1200 CFS.  Plenty of water to get your blood a’ pumpin’ before Clavey Falls . . .

Class V:  Cherry Creek is the ultimate “summertime river trip” in that it can only be run in the summer months.  During the spring run-off period there is actually too much water to run this extreme run.  Extreme and challenging we like, ridiculous, we don’t.  So, we wait each for flows to come down to raft the Creek.  Trips will continue into very early September on Cherry Creek in 2012.

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