White Water Rafting - American River

A truly jam-packed day includes picking up guests at John Wayne Airport, flying to Northern California, white-water rafting and flying home the same day. This was actually easier than it looked - in fact the only problem was keeping everyone inside the raft!

Our destination was the town of Coloma, which as any California 4th grader knows, is where gold was discovered in 1848. Sutter's Mill is literally just down the street from the jumping-off point (or rafting-off point) for Adventure Connection and their half-day rafting trip. Note that the town is Coloma, not Colma.

We flew into Placerville Airport, a very pleasant non-towered field, which is about 15 minutes by car from the rafting company. Even though there are no car rental agencies on the field, Hertz had a car waiting for us at the FBO which they brought up from town. The airport is at an elevation of 2,585' so its 4,200' runway is a little short for us on a hot day with a full load.

Our guide, Jeremiah, was waiting for us at the edge of the river. He spent about 10 minutes explaining the hazards of the river ("...even if it's shallow where you fall out - DO NOT stand up." Evidently your foot can get trapped under a rock and held there by the current). He explained helpfully that if you fall out during one of the Class III rapids, you'll "probably pop up somewhere near the boat." If on the other hand you get stuck under the boat, you should use your hands to 'walk' yourself to an edge and then come up to the surface. Simple, right?

So, being good listeners, later that day, one of our troup actually did fall out, came up underneath the 7 person raft and had the presence of mind to push himself clear of the boat. When he came up about 20 minutes later (it just felt like that... it was probably 8 seconds), he had the most surprised look on his face. He was happy, however to get hauled back in the boat, and none the worse for the wear.

The rafting trip ends up in the Folsom Lake, which, after several years of below-normal rainfall, is not so much a lake as it is a rather deep gorge. The people who adjust the dams to control the level of the water flowing in the river (PG&E among others) guarantee a certain amount of flow, but on the day we were there, we literally had to wait a while for them to "turn the river on." While we watched, the water level came up substantially, until Jeremiah declared, "ok- we can go now."

After rafting, we had a very pleasant dinner at the Sierra Nevada House. The sign said it was established in 1850, although the original structure, as well as one or two replacements, had long ago burned down. Sunset dining on the patio was just the thing after our exciting day. After dinner, we headed back to Placerville airport. No one was there so we left the keys in the sun visor and self-fueled the plane. It was quite a bit after the sun set that we launched off the runway. I do mean launched because there is a "severe drop off" at both ends. This is a euphemism for a take-off more akin to rocketing off an aircraft carrier - especially into the pitch black.

All in all, rafting near Placerville in the Sierra foothills is a good one-day trip, albeit a pretty full day. The rafting is basically shut-down now for the winter, but I think we'll probably do it again when the weather warms up in late spring.