Hey All,
I am purchasing a SOAR CAT cat raft shortly and I am looking tag along with an individual or group which runs class 3 water.
http://www.soar1.com/soar_cat.htm


I have rafted several 4+ rivers worldwide commercially, but iI have not rafted on my own.
I am in my early 40s with a family to tend and a business to run, so quck response trips or trips of a more aggressive nature may not suite me (yet?). Planning coordinated day trips for fun is what I am after, as well as people who may have guide or river safety experience as well as river access knowledge.

Thanks!

jstange@jsav.net

i can point you towards some friends who do a lot of rafting in the redding area if your near there. they go on the trinity and kalamath alot.
jon

Thanks Jon, Feel free to send or pass on information freely. I have always wanted to run rivers in that area. We love Shasta and we haouseboat there every year for the past 30+ years. The key is that I would probably drive up the night before, camp or whatever, and look towards possibly multible days. I recieve my raft tomarrow, and all of my gear in the next week. I am enrolled in a SR-1 river rescue class on May 20-21st. This will be invaluable in learning saftey and river skills outside of my own commercial passenger experience. I am running the CAche Creek on th 27th, then looking to hook up with people beyound then. Again any contact is good contact and I appriciate the response. Regards, Jeff Stange

Check out the flows for Cache creek before you go. It has been really high and is not such a forgiving run over 4500CFS or so. Things get pushy and there are very few eddies. Great big water run just be careful. The wilderness run is a must do at around 2500CFS. Happy to drop you a line when we go out to run the S.F. American or other local runs. Send an e-mail to bryan_cone@yahoo.com

hey brian, as soon as we start getting some warm days probably may or june the way it looks, I am gonna try and plan a trip for the upper sac if you want to come. also, There is a fun training run that kidder creek is doing in happy camp for there up coming season. they are very friendly folks and raft that section all summer. i think it is the last week of may when they do it. I am hoping to join them. they may do a trip a week before that on the salmon class IV section as well. E-mail me and when i get the dates i will send them to you and locations so you can plan ahead. revengley@hotmail.com
jon

Hey guys, thanks for the heads up on the Cache. I am actually going to run this this week end as a paddler with the RCWC Group to check out the River. It will be high like you said Brian. I am still looking towards getting out on My new CAT, so let me know if you guys do a practice run. Give me a shout.

Just a few words of advice from a frequent swimmer... As a newbie, don't make any runs that you aren't following some-one who knows the runs well and has briefed you on what to expect on each of the rapids. Class 2 and Class 3 rapids can kill you if you don't know the lines. Watch the water levels carefully, the rivers are completely different beasts at different water levels. Pick a commercially run river like the South Fork of the American, pay for a commercial trip, get to know your guide, let him/her know that you bought your own boat, sit back by the guide and ask questions about the setups for the run, some of the guides will probably let you run a few of the easier rapids under their guidance. This also may help later if you make a run down the river and follow that companies commercial trip. (Make sure this is ok first, commecial guides get tired of picking up the carnage for private boaters and can take very tricky lines when they know they're getting followed by a private boater just to watch them get trashed...) Have fun and be safe...

- Vince

Just to mention about the SF. Flows are already high, will peak in may/june near 9k, so a newbie should not be on the SF until july or august. Its class IV at these flows and swims will be long with good chances of losing gear or worse. Many companies will let you tag along if others in your group are rafting with the company and guides will freely give beta to anyone with an interest in running the river.