winter whitewater? help!

[cmaher]

Hi there, I'm from minnesota and moving out to northern ca this dec. i was wondering where and how the whitewater is from dec.-april.
i'm pretty much moving out there just for the water(it's hard to paddle when the mn. rivers are frozen). i was also wondering how the lifesytle is out there(younger/older crowd, progressive or conservative, jobs in the outdoor world, etc. etc.)
any help would be great!
thanks again.
-chris

[pcboudreau]

Winter whitewater in CA depends on rain. November generally sucks. Many of my fellow boaters ski in the winter.



However, I've been able to boat every month of the year. Since you're from MN, you'll be able to handle the cold.

Check out http://www.cacreeks.com for beta on the rivers.

You might also want to join a club to meet up with folks. I'm with Gold Country Paddlers. We've got 400 people on our listserv email. Lots of different skill levels.

We generally do a trip up to the Smith for New Year's, but this year, I'm heading down to sunny Mexico to boat in some WARM water for a change.

HTH,

Phil Boudreau

[Anonymous]

Once the first good storm hits, Northern california rocks until the snowmelt ends in summer. The North coast is great. Buy the Holbek book and have at it. Its not a piece of literature like Rada's book but it gets the job done. If I was comig here specifically to paddle on the cheap all winter i would end up with a dive room in arcata and run assorted runs on the smith and trinity all winter, while still having access to the benefits of a sort of city (with a college read-women) I personally guarantee will never be as cold as you would be portaging on the superior trail which you can't find due to the snow around some cataract on the Manitou or the temperance, although San Francisco would be a lot cooler if Lester creek ran off twin peaks. I also guarantee you will never need to rationalize that the frozen ice the water is running over will smooth out that cruddy slide you took a hard hit on when you ran it after the August thunderstorm. good luck.

[Anonymous]

cant comment to much on the winter boating as this is my first season out here in N california but the crowd is younger, very active, and almost as friendly as the midwest.

[SandM]

F u and F the midwest. Now get out of the way of my handicap scooter it's time for my pills and nap.

[Anonymous]

Ten Mile Creek into the SF Eel is a classic winter run. If you are a good class V boater, consider running it up to 10,000 cfs. If not, stop at 3,000 and go with someone who knows the lines.

There is a bar in Wilits where a local band sings of the Mendocino Gangi Man, there are laundry mats, breakfast spots, rogue camping, and even cheap hotels. Watch out for bull sharks, spawning salmon, bears, and aggressive bald eagles.

The SF Yuba, NF American, SF American, EF Feather, Trinity, Cal Salmon, Hayfork Creek, SF Trinity, countless creeks, and big wave surfing all happen in the winter. It usually takes three winter storms before our water table is saturated. The forth is when the boating starts, usually in December. The surfing starts up in October.

Don't waste your time and money skiing unless you like our Sierra Cement or get lucky enough to hit it on one of our 10 powder days.

[SandM]

Oh, o.k.
Yea the sierras' suck for skiing, you just keep telling yourself that guest. That way you don't have to explain why you don't ski so well.
"One of our TEN powder days...." Dude, da hell are you smoking. How do we get some of the deepest snow packs historically if our winters are so lame. Whats your agenda?
Truth is, yes our winters are wet, and we do get some heavy snowy. Yet we still manage to produce some of the most epic skiing and snowboarding on the planet so naahhhh!!!!!
by the way you notice how much water came down the mountains this boating season. those must have been ten huge storms.