MF rapids part III: Chunder!
August 24th, 2011 by Jeremy
After the long stretch of calm whitewater on the Middle Fork of the American River, and a delicious, freshly-prepared lunch, you will finally get to some more big rapids. And the first one you get to won’t let you off easy. It’s called Chunder, and it will drop you about five feet straight down through a rocky gap. After getting completely soaked and bounced around at Chunder, you will hear the approaching behemoth of Ruck-a-Chucky Falls.
Chunder is enough to rattle any rafter’s brain, but the sight of Ruck-a-Chucky a little further downstream just makes it that much more awesome. Ruck-a-Chucky is an un-runnable class VI, and we require all rafters to portage around it. Fear not though. That doesn’t mean you have to lug the huge raft on slippery, wet rocks. Instead, you will watch our AO guides do a tricky maneuver across a few big boulders as they pull the raft down through the rocks before jumping down back into the raft at the bottom of the rapid.
The perfect way to start the second half of your day is splashing through the big drop on 
Chunder with Ruck-a-Chucky looming on the horizon. You’re going to have to shake off the post-lunch coma and make sure you are in good form to handle Chunder and avoid flipping at the bottom! The last thing you want to do is swim in the section of river before a waterfall. So, make sure to prepare yourself for a wild bottom section of the river, starting with one of the best drops on any river, Chunder!
