BRT Insights - WW Kayaking & Hiking

Another fine day of whitewater on SF American River !!

GabrielleM, Kevin & I drove up to Coloma and met up with MasaO and KenyaO. We put-in at ~11:30AM on C to G Run SF American River (map & river guide). (El Dorado County, California, USA).

We did a lot of eddying and ferrying and some freestyle surfing to get our trainees up-to-speed. There was a lot of eskimo roll practicing being done, but happily every roll down was answered by a roll UP!! (except for one quick swim just before lunch) Kenya made it look easy playboating at Gremlin wave-hole. We had lunch on river-right just upstream of Henningson Park. Then one sore shoulder ended the day for two members of our group, so they took out at Henningson Park. The rest of us continued on down the run.

BruceT trapped on a "keeper" playboating wave (photo by MasaO).

We did some playboating on my favorite wave upstream from Camp Lotus. There was a long line of boaters waiting to playboat at Barking Dog wave-hole. Masa took a few turns there and we headed on downstream.

MasaO freestyle playboating at Barking Dog Rapid!!

• More photos, SF American River whitewater kayaking, C to G Run.

Kenya got some playboating practice and some roll practice on some of the smaller waves.

KenyaO freestyle playboating on a glassy wave.

I almost got dumped while playboating at Current Divider Rapid, but saved myself with a flurry of sculling braces. Then we ran Highway Rapid and Swimmers Rapid without incident and took-out at Greenwood Creek Access.

On the way home we made a quick stop at The River Store in Lotus, CA and a not-so-quick stop at an Asian grocery store in Sacramento.

More about:
• MasaO trip report - My Son's Debut in HARDSHELL Kayaking!!!
• Trip Reports - Kayaking Whitewater Rivers in California.
• California Whitewater River Guides - trip planning info for kayakers and other paddle-boaters.

Tags: river, playboating, California, kayaking, whitewater, paddle boating, American River.

Labels: trip