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Archive for the 'Tuolumne River' Category


Experimenting with Inflatable Kayaks on the Tuolumne River

July 27th, 2007 by Robyn Suddeth

imgp0005.jpgFor a long time now, All Outdoors has been providing inflatable kayaks for our guests on Middle Fork American River 2 and 3-day trips. “Duckies,” as we sometimes affectionately call them, are a great way for people to try out their own water reading abilities and make the Class II section of the river seem much more exciting than it does from inside a raft. Inflatable kayaks bring you much closer to the water… it’s amazing how big those “small” waves can look when they’re right at eye level. As fun as they are, though, inflatable kayaks can be an added logistical challenge to a trip on our end… they are a little bit big and awkward to transport, especially if difficult rapids are interspersed through calmer stretches, making it so that the kayaks need to be temporarily stored time and again. And of course there’s the challenge of making sure no one gets left behind, perched on a rock somewhere in the middle of the river! Because the Middle Fork has a long section of Class II whitewater, the logistics are easy. But until this year, we never brought our duckies along for a Tuolumne trip.

imgp0006.jpgWe’ve decided, however, that the value and extra fun those little boats can add to one’s rafting experience far outweighs the logistical challenge of bringing them along. And so, for the first time, we’ve tried out our inflatable kayaks on the Tuolumne! Their virgin run occured sometime last month. I rowed an extra gear boat down so that we could carry them, and tried with the other guides to come up with a quick way to rig them on the boat and take them off again. The purpose of the trip was to see whether or not bringing our duckies on the Tuolumne would be an added benefit or just too much of a struggle.

Turns out that our little experiment was a huge success! (more…)

(Video) Tuolumne River Rafting Trip, May 26-27, 2007

June 1st, 2007 by Tessa Sibbet

Video from the Tuolumne 2-day on May 26-27, 2007.

You need to a flashplayer enabled browser to view this YouTube video

Guides: Adam Walker, Matt Nunes, Matt Duperrault, Matt Kimura, Robyn Suddeth.

Music: Complications by Kevin Misajon

Videographer: B. Zupo Photography

Cherry Creek and the Tuolumne River… Combined!

April 24th, 2007 by Robyn Suddeth

All-Outdoors just expanded our business on the Tuolumne River and Cherry Creek, which means we have twice as many available rafting trips up there and, even better, some new ones! With all those launch dates tocc17.JPG choose from, and with such a long Cherry Creek season on the way due to dam-regulated flows, we figured we could put our heads together and come up with a few good ways to add some fun trip alternatives. Thus was born one of AO’s best ideas yet… (drumroll please)… the never-before-offered, fabulously brilliant,

Cherry Creek - Tuolumne River Combination Trips!

Our reasoning on creating these special combo trips went something like this: “Hey! Cherry Creek just happens to run directly into the Tuolumne… which puts two amazing stretches of river quite literally on top of one another… sooo… why not offer a trip that runs down both?!” (We’re genious I tell you!) The merger provides the best of both worlds: heart-pounding Class V accompanied by overnight camping in a beautiful canyon, hikes up tumbling creeks, exhilerating Class IV, and calmer stretches of river perfect for relaxation. (For any of you out there having a hard time choosing between a day of Class V adrenaline on Cherry Creek and a few days of wilderness camping and Class IV on the Tuolumne, we’ve just made your decision a whole lot easier.)

The order of events is totally up to you. (more…)

Thursday Photo Showcase Is Back!

June 1st, 2006 by Robyn Suddeth

Lumsden 1.jpgOK 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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When Two Raft Guides Have A Bone To Pick With Each Other…

May 31st, 2006 by Robyn Suddeth

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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This Week’s Photo Showcase: Advanced Guide School On the Tuolumne

May 12th, 2006 by Robyn Suddeth

Advanced Guide school plus some basic guide school pics 169.jpgOn 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 Week’s Thursday Photo Showcase: High Water Tuolumne

March 30th, 2006 by Robyn Suddeth

tu05mr011-ed.jpgHigh water Tuolumne trips… one of the most powerful, exhilarating, and rewarding of all of California’s spring runs. Especially after a night of rain when the water is churning a milk-chocolate brown, and every little side stream is doing its very best to matter. The whole day is in constant motion. The river is dynamic, breathing, and very alive.

The first in this set of pictures are Mark Reiner’s from his day out there last Spring, and then the last three are Scott A’s from our trainig day out there after a huge storm the night before, the water churning a milk-chocolate brown…

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A Free-Flowing Tuolumne River??

January 19th, 2006 by Robyn Suddeth

I recently wrote a post referring to a short story from the LA Times about what the process would be like if Congress ever decided to restore Hetch Hetchy Valley. (See Restoring Hetch Hetchy and the Tuolumne River) This would mean removing the dam and a free-flowing Tuolumne River.

After writing the post I started wondering about the effect this would have, if any, on the state of things a little further downstream; on Cherry Creek and the lower section of the Tuolumne that so many people raft on every year.

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Lessons In River Karma

January 14th, 2006 by Robyn Suddeth

Cherry Creek, Upper Tuolumne RiverI’m not usually a superstitious person, but I am a firm believer in what some people call “River Karma.” Although different missteps can result in a run-gone-wrong, River Karma usually manifests itself for the following reason: Failure to Respect The River- you get a teensy bit too sure of yourself, and the river gives you a few slaps on the wrist (or turns in a hydraulic) to put you back in your place.You are probably thinking that I’m crazy… that the river is obviously not a cognizant entity and therefore not capable of reacting in any way to our words or thoughts. My response- there are those who believe and those who one day will. So to save you undecideds out there from learning the hard way, I’ve recounted one of my own experiences…

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Restoring Hetch Hetchy and the Tuolumne River

January 14th, 2006 by Robyn Suddeth

I just found this really interesting short story titled After The Fall from the Los Angeles Times– musings about what it would be like should Congress decide to restore Hetch Hetchy valley in Yosemite.

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