Hello to all our river rafting commerades out there from Whitewater Voyages Mid Sierra operation on the banks of the South fork of the American River! It’s already June 25th, my how the time flies when your having fun!

This May the winter was kind to us up here in Northern California. The rivers were swollen with snow melt and our rafters were ready for the challenge! Smiles, laughter, and wide eyes were common sights on our unparralleled springtime classics like the class III-IV Goodyear’s Bar section of the Yuba River (check out the video of a high water trip of ours on the Goodyear’s Bar section running Maytag rapid here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sBdz75dGchQ ), as well as on the magical class IV- IV+ Chamberlain Falls section of the North Fork of the American River! Some lucky rafters this season were blessed with the opportunity to challenge the technical rapids found on our Class V Union Flat section on the Yuba River. They took the waves and drops head on and had an experience they won’t soon forget!!  Make sure you check out these gems of California whitewater next spring season, don’t let these rivers pass you by, The Yuba and the North Fork American, ask for them by name

All of our adventures this spring havn’t been away from our home though, many groups of young and old voyagers have been running throughout our adventure campground, having a blast with our newly installed pool tables, air hockey table, and hand crafted chess tables.

Summer is setting in and we are enjoying the summer California heat by making our way to the river everyday for rafting, swimming, and laughter.  Until next time, this is the Mid Sierra operation signing off, we are off to enjoy the beautiful day, as should you!

The water is just starting to flow on the Upper Kern so a whole slew of Voyages local talent decided to get out there and check out the water.

Seasoned guides Will Lacy, Jon Bevington, Maartin Harris, Brian Mauer, and photographer / river-guide wizard Roger Thorsvold ran the beautiful stretch from Cables rapid down to Frandy Park which includes such rapids as The Wall, pictured to the right and below. The flow was about 1000 cfs, making for exciting times in both inflatable and hardshell kayaks.

The river canyon was lush with spring greenery and new bird-life.

Roger describes it best, “One thing I noticed that day, I saw more Blue Heron’s and groups of ducks than I have seen in that section in my 7 years with WWV. The Blue’s all looked very large and healthy, completely aware of our presence and giving us wide berth. The ducks were quite colorfull. The males with very vibrant white underbellies and the females looking very large. “

All in all an excellent day of spring boating as Voyages gets ready for our season to commence.

I am stoked. I know river guides are pretty easy people to excite. Sometimes all it takes is hot running water or an electric shaver to have me shivering in ecstasy. In this case the reason is a little less mundane. It’s also something we can all get a little excited about.

The snowpack is perfect; really. It’s literally perfect, sitting at a statewide %100 of average for this date and with a little snow coming in on storms mid-late next week we’re looking at a just perfect pack to start our season.

More than that; the snowmelt projections look good. The composition and elevation of the snow is just as important as the amount. We’ve got a greater percentage of high altitude snow than normal for this snowpack. Also, that snow is denser because the unseasonal heat over the winter months compacted it.

What does all that mean? It means we won’t have all our snow rushing down at the first signs of spring sunshine. It means we’re going to have nice long seasons for most of our natural runoff rivers and most of the dammed rivers will have moderate to high flows for a longer period of the summer than they would have had if the water had come down all at once.

The rivers are waiting. The Kings river is already up over a thousand cubic feet per second (cfs). That’s 300 cfs higher than it’s rafting lower limit. The Kern is above it’s lower limit of 600 cfs and it’s still only March! The Merced, Kaweah, Yuba, and Forks of the American are all ramping up as well. This season we’re gonna start May 1st and the water is going to be awesome from day 1.

This is why I and the other guides are stoked. We’re out here already, hitting up the spring runs while the water is fresh. Casey Roberts and Brett Powell are warming up on the Salt river in Arizona. Others like Rob Perkins and Aaron Root are making plans to hone their skills on the early season class V runs so that when big water erupts on the Forks of the Kern, the Kaweah, and the North Fork Yuba they can run folks down the best big water class V’s in the state. Some of us (like myself and Mark Bayless) are heading off to an advanced guideschool so that when the Kings gets big we can take folks out and play in the safest, splashiest class III in existence.

This is when guides love to raft; in the spring when the flowers bloom and the musty spring air comes alive with sunshine. There’s something viscerally enlivening when you’re immersed in the regeneration of spring. The power of growth and joy touches everything – plant and animal alike. It’s a force fed by rivers, physically and spiritually, as the snowmelt carries nutrients to the soil, water to the animals, and vitality to those of us who are there to witness. It’s a part of why many of us came to be river guides; to see the amazing, transformative power of water – to feel it, and to share it.

Now is a great time to come rafting.

Now is a great time to become a river guide. There are no experience requirements, no limitations based on height, weight, color, creed, financial status, eye color, political preferences, or favorite ice cream flavor. We’re looking for adults with sound minds who can absorb the necessary safety training and who work well with others.

We’ve got three guide schools this year; two are weekend schools, the first is on the weekend of May 10th-11th and the second is on May 17th-18th. We’ve also got a five day comprehensive school from June 22nd-27th. For more information, contact our office at 800-400-7238.