Thursday, September 25, 2008
Ann Dwyer's Easy Waters of California North, 2000 (book review).
Guidebook for canoeing and kayaking in northern California, with a few runs in Oregon and Nevada.
| The book describes boating destinations on rivers, lakes and ocean. It includes chapters on Equipment, San Francisco Bay, North Coast California, Eureka to Oregon, Sacramento Valley, The California Delta, San Joaquin Area, East Slope & Western Nevada, South Coast California, Conservation, Lists. The book describes 61 class I runs and 73 class II runs (with a few class III runs). There is some overlap with other California river guidebooks, especially "Paddling Northern California." Nevertheless, many of the class II whitewater runs described in the book are not included in the other California river guidebooks. The book provides very brief comments on each of the runs, together with crude, low resolution maps showing river access points. All of this could have been better, but the book does achieve its main of purpose of describing places where I can paddle my boat and the minimum amount of information needed to get there. The book includes a good list of phone numbers and website resources for the paddlesports community. It has a horrid dual system of page numbering that makes finding anything a chore. The few murky black & white photos are not very interesting. |
Disclaimer.
Ann Dwyer wrote on page 1: "About this book ... Now that you have this book you should know that it is out of date and the information incorrect BECAUSE a tree fell down! It fell across a river written about in this book! There is no way that this book can be absolutely correct, although I and others tried to be as accurate as possible. But I'm writing about moving waterways that have constant pressures on them caused by natural forces like running water, wind, beaver and us."Rating.
This book is a very useful resource for boaters interested in paddling on class I & II waters. The book describes many paddling opportunities that are not covered in any of the other books about boating on rivers of California. I rate this book good (*** 3 stars out of 5), partly because of the criticisms above and because I'm not personally interested in the class I waters that occupy so much of the book.More about:
• Reviews - Books, Videos & Websites for kayaking & canoeing on whitewater rivers.
Tags: California, kayaking, river, whitewater, canoeing, paddle boating.
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