My apologies for being so silent this spring.. life has been very busy.  It’s been a great spring rafting & kayaking season in California despite all the talk about drought. Late storms helped prolong the season a bit and provided some unexpected high water trips.

Now that Father’s Day weekend is upon us.. so is the end of the spring rafting season.  From here on out California will have some great rafting & kayaking ahead with typical summer flows on the South & Middle Forks of the American, The Tuolumne & Cherry Creek and Lower Kern.

Well, I’m starting to get notices in my inbox for the ski closures. With the ski season coming to an end, that only means 1 thing… spring is here and it’s time for whitewater rafting and mountain biking.

The big question everyone is asking is… how’s the water going to be. The good news is, after a slow start California is near 100% of normal. So we’re looking at an average California rafting season.  That means fun days on the Merced, Kaweah, the Forks & Upper Kern and a whole lot more.

AS for the California Mountain biking scene, I would assume most trails are open upto 3000 – 4000 feet. No word on trail conditions at this time.

By this time of year most of California Rivers are about finished when it comes to whitewater, with the exception of the American Rivers (South Fork & Middle Fork). Fall rafting on these two rivers is a real treat… there are very few other folks out there rafting and kayaking… no more summer crowds. Fall colors begin to set in a bit and there is a quiet peace throughout.

The Middle Fork American River will run until September 27, 2008.. so this is your last chance to catch some great Class III-IV whitewater. The South Fork American (Class III) will run through October.

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The Tuolumne River and Cherry Creek rafting runs have about a week left to their season. The final day for whitewater rafting flows on these two incredible runs is Monday, September 1 (Labor Day).

If you feel yourself getting a little green with envy as you think of everyone else hiking up Clavey Falls and swimming away the afternoon, rafting the Tuolumne’s class IV rapids, or jumping in for swim practice before an epic day on Cherry Creek, there is an antidote to your pain.

The Tuolumne River is by far my favorite river in California. The sheer beauty of the land scape and magnitude of the rapids.. just stunning. There’s no question why the Tuolumne is a California classic.

Happy Rafting

Sad but true, the 2008 Merced River rafting season is pretty much done. Rafters & kayakers may be able to sqeek another couple of days out of the Quarter Mile section but flows probably won’t hold out through the July 4th weekend.

Today is June 20th.. the day of the Summer Soltice in the North Hemisphere. It is officially summer and temperatures are beginning to heat up. With that said many spring rivers will be petering out in the coming weeks.

According to the All-Outdoors Blog.. this will be the last weekend for rafting and kayaking on the Kaweah River near Three Rivers, CA. We also got word that the Merced River is still holding on and is expected to flow until July 4th. It also appears the Upper Kern and the Kings River will be around for another couple of weeks.

Once our beloved California Spring rafting rivers run out it will be time to move onto the reliable dam controlled rivers like the South Fork and Middle Fork American Rivers as well as the Tuolumne, Cherry Creek and Lower Kern.

And remember even though Schwarzenegger declared a state wide drought.. California Rivers have plenty of water for rafting in 2008.

I just got word this morning that Cherry Creek (The Upper Tuolumne River) will begin to have flows low enough for rafting and kayaking in June.

Cherry Creek usually doesn’t begin to run until mid-July because the flows are too high from spring run-off. Runnable flows range from 1000 cfs to 2000 cfs.

Cherry Creek is Class V. It’s considered the most difficult commercial whitewater rafting run in California. This river is best experienced with a commercial rafting company.

A message from Hetch Hetchy Water and Power regarding flows on the Tuolumne and Cherry Creek from May 23 – May 29.

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The good news is we are in for a good rafting and kayaking season in California this year. The April snowpack measurements came in right at average.. about 96% of normal to be exact.

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44th Annual Kern River Festival is Happening April 19 & 20 (Sat – Sun).

The Line Up:

• Saturday, 4/19 – Raft Races, Slalom practice, Poker Run, Brush Creek Race (pending FS permit approval).
• Sunday, 4/20 – Wildwater race, T.J. Citizen Slalom race (Junior Olympic qualifier).

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