A BIG GREEN WATERY ROAD

I recently went with some of my family on a trip with Green River Adventures. My dad, brother, a cousin and I did the Upper Green River Rush and it was great. We all had a blast and I especially, enjoyed having them on the Green River. Yeah, I know you can take your family rafting a lot of places but before I get into the pictures and video of the trip, let me tell you what is different (in a good way to me) about a trip with GRA. First, solitude. There were about 10 of us on the trip on the Green and we saw only a handfull of other kayakers. Second, after we went around the first bend the only sign of civilization we saw until the end was the Hwy 26 bridge. And lastly, duckies! which are much more fun than sitting in a raft waiting to be told to paddle. These things embody what I think most of us seek in running rivers and are often lacking in commercial trips. So on this trip, my family had a truer experience of what it is that I am so passionate about.

http://www.greenriveradventures.com/

The first rapid we came to the guides called "Charleston Stuffer" where the river makes a sharp turn to the right. The move is to drive right at the bottom to avoid getting pushed up against a rock that a lot of the water is going into. My brother flipped here and I found it hilarious because he was not paying attention at the top trying to splash me and ended up not making it right.

The first big rapid is Bayless' Boof. One of the guides got out at the lip to line up the river right line, a slide the whole way down instead of the normal slide to vertical drop on the left. A couple people spun around on the way down but it was all smiles at the bottom.

Then after a bit of class II rapids we passed up the Hwy 26 bridge 200+ feet above us letting us know that Pinball was coming up. My dad had a little trouble in the shallow approach but ended up fine and in the right place. I thought that the two bigger rapids would deliver a little more action but it was actually the smaller rapids that caused more flips. The ones where there was a sharp turn to avoid a rock in particular i. e. while watching another guy swim both my brother and cousin flipped off the same rock which of course I found hysterical. Of course, from laughing at everyone else falling out all day, I was delivered a bit of karma. Trying to get back in my boat in a precarious spot below Pinball, I fell in.

Early on the river.

There were thrills.

And spills.

A couple of kayakers.

And one last big one before the take-out.

About to launch off of Gorilla. Photo Scott Sarrells.

WARNING: THERE ARE SOME BAD WORDS IN THE VIDEO. SO IF YOU ARE A WORK, TURN THE VOLUME UP ON YOUR COMPUTER BEFORE WATCHING IT!

Upper Green River Rush with Green River Adventures from Adam on Vimeo.

Pray for rain.

Adam

FANTASY FALLS OF THE NORTH FORK OF THE MOKELUMNE

Daniel recently put up a video of the "Fantasy Falls" of the North Fork of the Mokelumne on the Rapid Transit site from our trip to California last summer. I'll recount a little of the story that the video doesn't tell.

The link below is where you can see the video and some good pictures from the river, some of which will strengthen the story below:

http://www.rapidtransitvideo.com/blog/?p=266

I strained my back on the big portage on Dinkey Creek so as we made plans for where to go next, I knew my participation was dubious. We decided that after a night in a hotel, we'd head back out into the wilds, this time on the North Fork of the Mokelumne.

Three long days on the river including some big portages were daunting with a hurt back but I had hopes that with a good nights sleep, I'd feel better and could go on our next adventure. However, with only moderate improvement the next morning, I reluctantly opted out. I would drive shuttle with the possibility of either paddling across the lake to meet everyone else at the last big slide or trying to hike up to meet them at the second night's camp.

That night at the put-in, Chris, without thinking it all the way through I'm sure, said that he'd run the last big slide that has a very retentive hole, blind, if I meet them there. I was still undecided because my back wasn't much better but certainly more motivated after hearing this. I'm sure he didn't actually think I'd do it because the last slide, Cali Class 3/The Thang is an enormous rapid.

The next morning I watched everyone float under the bridge into the unknown and then I drove to the nearest town (about 45mins away in Nevada, oddly enough) to watch a movie. Afterwards, on the way to the take-out, I decided that as long as my back was a little better the next morning, I'd try to make it up to where everyone else would be camped that night.

The lake at the bottom is about 5 miles across and it was easy paddling towards the river because of a tailwind. But that's pretty much as far as I would make it. I started carrying my boat upriver but it was tough going in an unfamiliar area with no trail. I did make it to the last big slide but looking up into that rugged gorge, I knew I would never make it the four (maybe) miles up to camp. I stayed put and spent some quality alone time close to the middle of nowhere.
About mid-day the next day, they showed up and everyone but Chris was excited to see me there. I gave him the option to back out but he stayed true to his word and came down to the set-up eddy for me to give him direction. I lined it up for him, told him what to do and being the Jedi that he is, he stuck it, making it through the bottom hole.

Pray for rain.

Adam