Paddling trips are - happily! - much more than time on the river. We've been sussing out local boaters at the put in of the biggest runs we've done for years, settling in for long beer-ful evenings in the bar playing pool, and making the thousands of tiny team decisions that shape each day.
In our first week Matty has been a bit crook and his initial strategy - drink beer and get out on the water - finally backfired and he took a few days off to work on his tan. Mike and I paddled with Norwood and his crew on some classic Californian sections of the Yuba River.
There's still a lot of snow up there and with warm rain and rising temperatures the rivers went off their chops. While I scrambled along the bank, Kenny and Scot ran most of the Sierra City to Downieville section.
We've just met up with Leland, Andria and Hudson, oggled their new guidebook (check out brushymountain.com) and it seems that with the levels like this the best thing to do is to hop in the car and drive north. Otter Bar! Here we come.
Thanks for the birthday wishes!
Polly
There's something peculiarly Californian about the sound of a beer opening prior to putting on. Popping a Pabst Blue Ribbon Matty cheerfully praised the cheapest beer in safeway (at $7 a dozen he's not far off) as we hung out in the shade at the top of another section of boatscoutable class IV.
We've just come south again after a visit to the far north - we walked through red woods for Mike's scenic experience, and visited Otter Bar to pick up Matty's new boat. Due to the late melt and close to 200% snow pack up there we got to run some spring sections, including the North Fork of the Salmon and the New River Gorge. Friends from home Jo and Keith looked like the Otter Bar lifestyle was something they were just managing to cope with.
The snowmelt bubble further south has passed and this week it looks like the big runs are going to drop. With new friends arriving in the state and lots of time on class IV under the collective team belt it looks like it's time to take on a little more. Middle Fork of the Feather here we come...
