It’s a good day when you get to paddle two different rivers with two different sets of friends. I started the day with a C to G run on the South Fork with a couple friends from my time with UCLA’s Outdoor Adventure program. In a way I had helped to start them paddling since they both got their first kayak experience on the guide training I conducted for the program. One is a local (lives in Coloma) who has become an awesome raft guide spending her summers on the Tuolumne and Middle Fork of the Salmon. She has also become a competent kayaker in the years since I knew her at UCLA. The other hadn’t been in a kayak in four years so we put her in an inflatable. But when we got to the takeout she decided she wanted to see if she remembered how to roll, so she jumped in the hardshell and after a 15 minute refresher she gave it a go and rolled up on her second attempt. It’s a great feeling to see someone get that skill and to know how much it opens up their possibilities for paddling.
So I got off the South Fork around 2pm and drove up to the North Fork to meet another UCLA friend. He is finishing Business School at Davis and had class during the day so he couldn’t join us in the morning. But he made it out for a late afternoon run down the North Fork’s Chamberlain Run. He and I did Chamberlain’s once several years ago on a trip through the area, but about all I could remember is that it had a good number of solid Class IV rapids, a reputation for being dangerous and a rather steep canyon. I was happy to see that my friend brought a few locals who knew the run well so we could speed down it easier. Good thing since we didn’t put on until about 6:30 pm.
The best thing about the run was that I got the chance to try out my brand new Rocker. I’ve had it in the pool, and I took an 06 version out in the surf, but this was my first river with my new creek boat. And boy was it fun. I knew when I started looking for a new creek boat that I wanted a displacement hull but it had been a while since I actually paddle one on the river. I was surprised by just how fast it is – I kept overshooting my targets because the boat just rocketed forward when I took a couple hard strokes. And with the smooth surface any diagonal wave or funky current just seemed to bounce off so the boat never got grabbed by anything. Being on the light end of the weight range (165 lbs.) and without much gear I seemed to ride up and over anything in front of me – wave, holes, rocks, other boats… We cruised down the run and made it off well before dark, but I think I could have done it twice as fast if I just kept the Rocker pointing downstream and let it do its thing. I can’t wait to get it out on some challenging whitewater to see how it handles the bigger drops. Hopefully the water will stay around long enough to accommodate me.
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