South Fork American River

After not paddling for a couple months, I got the chance to get out on two consecutive weekends. We went back to the South Fork American River, and I noticed that I was a lot more comfortable than before. My goal is to be ready for class IV water on my local run, the Kaweah, by the time the spring thaw rolls around. Just a few pics, and a clip of some real wave surfing.

Rafts have priority over kayaks. We move out of the way when they pass through and then go back to playing. I know lots of people have fun rafting, but kayaking is so much better! You're more in the water than on it. You can stay and play at any feature on the river, whereas in a raft you're just along for the ride, and once you pass that big wave or hole, that's it.

This guy was going down the river with a Carlson board (basically a big beefy boogie board) and flippers. Pretty cool!

I like the contrast of colors. A few months into the sport, and after seeing a lot of other boats, I have absolutely no regrets on choosing a Jackson Fun kayak.

This is the line of paddlers waiting their turn in First Threat. It sucks to work your way up from the back of the line and then have a crummy ride (or fail to catch the wave at all, which I did three times in a row =).

playing at Maya wave.

This is a great example of what more experienced kayakers can do on a decent wave. The first paddler you see, in the baby blue helmet, is a girl- unfortunately she's not in our kayak club =)