BRT Insights - WW Kayaking & Hiking

Incredible kayaking & photography on a great sunny & cloudy day!!

BruceH, Hubert, Thaddeus & I drove up to Coloma to put-in on SF American River Coloma to Greenwood Run (map & guide) at a really nice flow of 1650 cfs (El Dorado County, California, USA). Nice clear air and interesting clouds made it a triple-bonus day for photography!! And yes, we did a little kayaking too!! There were many kayakers and IKers on the river, but not too many rafters or innertubers.

Old Scarey Rapid. (Click on photo to see full panorama, use back button to return.)

It was a great day for old friends and new friends. Its always great to go kayaking with Hubert & driver. Our new kayaking friend got punked time after time throughout the day. Taking everything said "with a grain of salt" is not good enough; dude you need the whole salt shaker!! We picked up some misplaced gear from BobbieH on the way to put-in. We unexpectedly met my old friend RichS from planetmango on the river and had lunch together at Henningson Park. And its always great to meet a new friend on the river who had some good feedback from reading this blog. And after blogging recently about hydration it was incredible karma to be offered some lemonade by our new friends from Feather River canyon & from Chico who we met at Greenwood Creek take-out.

Surfing upstream from Henningson Park.

Best little surfing wave on SF American River! Do you know where it is?

I got to rescue one swimmer at Barking Dog Rapid. My leading line to the eddy on river-left was just a little too far towards the center, but following me even more towards the center put you into the "hammer zone!!" You get full credit for 3 really good eskimo roll attempts. Sorry I bumped you on that second roll which otherwise might have worked. Nevertheless, you owe me a beer (or a hydration sports drink) for a quick & secure rescue! And special thanks to the other boater who helped out by pushing your kayak while I towed you & your paddle to shore.


Thaddeus kayaking Swimmer's Rapid on SF American River. Video by BruceH.

Preventing dehydration for better athletic performance.

I had no caffeine "dehydration drinks" that morning. I drank 1 quart of hydration fluid while driving to the river, finished 2 more quarts on the river, one lemonade at take-out, another quart while driving home and a big glass of water at the restaurant. This provided a really great improvement in my hydration throughout the day. Even so, I wasn't fully hydrated, since I didn't need to pee at lunchtime. It was still an incredible improvement in hydration compared to my previous whitewater kayaking trip. Maintaining better hydration allowed me to kayak a little longer and harder without being quite so sore and tired at the end of the day (and the morning after).

We stopped at Mongolian Barbecue in Cameron Park for dinner. Its always great fun picking out veggies, meat & seasoning to make my own custom recipe. After eating there many times I've got the seasonings figured out, so I was able to make a super hot mixture that was just right for me. There was a blazing sun in our eyes for the whole drive home. Maybe we should have gone next door, had a leisurely ice cream for dessert and then driven home in the twilight!!

• photos by BRT using the Stylus 720sw waterproof camera: SF American River kayaking pictures.
• videos by BruceH using the Stylus Tough 8000 waterproof camera: BRT playboating, Thaddeus kayaking Swimmer's Rapid, BRT kayaking Swimmer's Rapid.

Boaters please click on the Comment link below & contribute your experiences & insights from the whitewater river trip. Tell as much or as little as you like about your day on the river.

More about:
• Trip Reports - Kayaking on California's Whitewater Rivers.
• Whitewater River Guides for California kayaking, rafting & paddle boating.

IceRocket Tags: kayaking, river tubing, float tube.
Tags: kayaking, river, whitewater, paddle boating, playboating, American River, California, rafting, paddlesports.

Labels: trip