Saturday, July 05, 2008
Rumsey Run, Cache Creek, kayaking class II+, 05july2008.
Greatest whitewater river in Yolo County California!
TaylorC & I loaded up the Prius - the ultimate small economical shuttle vehicle! With a good roof rack and a shuttle bicycle in the back seat we were good to go.Messing around in kayaks - no better way to spend a hot summer day.
We drove up to the Rumsey Run on Cache Creek (map & guide) (Yolo County, California, USA). Cache Creek was running at 800 cfs which is a really great flow for a July day in a drought year summer.
More whitewater photos from our Cache Creek kayaking trip. (Some videos will be posted later.)
We put-in just below the upper County Park river access. The $6 parking was all full, so we went 100 yards downstream and parked for free along the side of the road. A well-worn trail led us down to a perfect launching beach. Unfortunately this put-in was a little way downstream from a great ledge hydraulic playspot, so next time maybe we will look for a put-in just upstream from the upper site. After some roll practice and some missed-roll practice we headed downstream. Despite a leisurely 10:30 departure from Davis and a side-trip to Woodland for gas there were still throngs of inflatable boaters going by when we got to put-in. After surfing, ferrying and eddying down the river and a leisurely lunch upstream of the low water bridge most of the inflatable boaters had passed us. We had a less crowded river for the remainder of the day.
We spent a lot of time playboating on a little ledge hydraulic that I remembered very fondly from a previous trip. Sweet spot!! Great playspot and an excellent stable spot for the photographer.
We got a quick glance at Mother Rapid from the bridge while driving to put-in. And the rafting company worker standing on river-right was sending the inflatables down the rapid. So we dispensed with scouting and just ran it down the right side. At 800 cfs there weren't many rock obstructions, but the hydraulics were quite powerful. It was a bouncy, fun ride.
We couldn't decide whether or not to get tacos from the famous taco truck in Winters, CA. When we got there the truck was not parked in its usual spot. Oh well, maybe next time.
More about:
Kayaking Trips - California Whitewater Rivers.
California Whitewater River Guides.
Tags: kayaking, California, river, whitewater, paddle boating, playboating.
Labels: trip
