Looking for the perfect paddling path? Just follow the annual migratory
path of the California Kayaker.
I've been kayaking in places other than California. Mexico was cool,
British Columbia, too. Some of the other Western states -- there's one known as
Montucky, for example -- have some goods to offer. And as someone who cut his
whitewater teeth on the creeks and streams back East, I won't say the
Appalachian Mountains don't hold plenty of steep drainages to explore.
But I will say the real rush that comes from living in California is
the white, and not the gold, that can be found in her hills. Because whenever
I've gone anywhere else to go paddling, I inevitably have a good time, and then
think to myself 'Well, this is cool, but I could be running something just as
good, or better, back in Cali.'
It's a sentiment that's been echoed by many, including those who have traveled
much farther a field to places such as South America, New Zealand and Asia.
it's not just California's whitewater that catches people's attention; it's the
fact that so much of it is so accessible, whether through the state's myriad
system of old logging and mining roads or well-worn backcountry trails.
It's for this reason that in the national eddy of the kayaking scene,
almost every boater eventually finds his or her way to California. In the
spring, when the heavy snow coming down our mountains, the state's highways
fill up with poorly maintained vehicles, topped with the latest and greatest
boat designs, while couches from Redding to Bakersfield become laden with
poorly maintained individuals, otherwise known as kayakers.
The route they follow up and down the state -- that is, the annual, migratory
path of the California kayaker -- is a pilgrimage no paddler should forego.
Here, I'll recount one such path -- my journey through the Sierra over the last
few months -- to give those less fortunate paddlers who have not yet come to
the Golden State one possible itinerary to refer to when planning that
California trip of their own.
"The route they follow up and down the state...is a pilgrimage no paddler should forego."
For the last few years, for me, the starting point has been the Route
49 bridge over the South Yuba in Nevada County, California. Now, not only is
the 49 to Bridgeport run arguably one of the all-time classic runs in the
state, its proximity to Nevada City and Grass Valley gives the California
newbie an opportunity to see, in fact, where all the hippies went the day the
music died. (They're alive and well and living off the grid in a yurt in Nevada
County while their portfolios do very well, thank you very much, invested in
socially responsible mutual funds). The area is a little more than an hour
northeast of Sacramento, which makes it a good first day destination when
getting off the plane from somewhere else.
The Yuba drains Lake Spalding and for this reason is one of the few
rivers we have that runs from rainfall. (Otherwise, it runs from releases at
Lake Spalding, which have been rare and erratic in recent years.) For the last
two seasons, I've run this section on New Year's Day for a great Class V kick
off to the paddling season. When you arrive in Cali, pick up a copy of Holbeck
and Stanley's Best Whitewater in California for a more detailed description,
and enjoy drops like Mr. Squiggly, Eat the Meat, Corner Pocket and Tiger's
Tail. End this relatively (by California standards) laid-back day with waves
from the nude sunbathers in the last mile or so, and then enjoy the setting sun
at take out at the state park. Watch your conduct here, though. Tickets for
drinking and/or urinating in public aren't unheard of.
My annual spring paddling trek came the first week in April, when,
after an unusually warm March, some cronies and I made our way down to the
South Merced, a river that is perhaps the definitive Classic California run.
When people come into the Sierra Outdoor Center, the paddling shop in Auburn
where I work, and ask where to go for big slides, I send them here. If they
want steep, blind drops, I send them here. And, of course, if they want to
sample a relatively simple (logistically) Sierra overnighter, I send them here.
Rick Smith, a school teacher in the Fresno area who's extremely knowledgeable
and willing when it comes to California whitewater, had invited me to hang out
with him on his Spring Break tour, which I readily accepted. After consulting
flows and weather patterns, we decided our week of Cali paddling would start
here.
When we got to the confluence of the main fork and the South Merced on
Rt. 140 that night, the water looked pretty low. There was a full-fledged beach
under the river right side of the bridge, extending for a good ten to twelve
feet before reaching the water. For this run to be good, you want the water to
be lapping about an inch or two up on the river right bridge abutment. This was
not a good sign.
