Whitewater Voyages River Journal

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.