BRT Insights - WW Kayaking & Hiking

Whitewater river trips provide something new every day - observe carefully and participate with gusto!!

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I had a rare opportunity to go kayaking with Hubert today and BruceH came along to drive ... and to boat. There was a festival going on in Coloma, so the roads and parking were really crowded, but the river was less crowded than usual. We left our shuttle bike at Greenwood and then helped shuttle another boater as we drove up to put-in.

Read my guide for the SF American River C to G Run (El Dorado County, California, USA). The river was flowing at 1600cfs with the clearest nice cool water I've ever seen on this run.

Surfing on the little wave just above Camp Lotus was really great. It didn't look like much but it took really good edge control skills to get on it and stay on it. Next time we should get some video there.

Today I was giving my first test to a new sunscreen - Neutrogena UltraSheer SPF 70 with helioplex. It dried quickly after application without leaving any greasy, oily feeling. Shortly after put-in I splashed some water in my face, rubbed both eyes and did not have any stinging. At the end of the day I had no sunburn. Pretty great!

Catalpa trees were blooming abundantly along the river with big clusters of white flowers. I have fond memories of catalpa trees blooming in the city park where I grew up in the midwest. Funny that after all these years of kayaking in California this was the first time that I noticed the catalpa trees growing along the river. From a distance I thought they were buckeye trees, which are also blooming now in the canyon. The catalpa trees were growing right next to the river, while buckeyes grow higher up in the canyon. And the catalpa flower clusters are whiter than the buckeye flower clusters.

The spring goslings are now about 2/3 the size of their parents. We also saw a family of merganzers including about a dozen very tiny newly hatched ducklings.

Photos & captions from this trip were taken by BruceT and BruceH with an Olympus 720SW waterproof camera.

On the way home from kayaking we stopped for a fine cuisine dinner at Hemalayas Indian Restaurant in Cameron Park, CA. The Lamb Curry, Alu Gobi and Nan were really tasty. Mild seasoning was complex and interesting with enough heat for me. The service was fast and friendly. I'll definitely stop there again.

More about: Trip Reports - California Whitewater River Kayaking.

Tags: whitewater, rivers, kayaking.

Labels: trip