WOW, 2017 was an epic year for Whitewater rafting!
Our California rafting season began with high water on most rivers due to large snowpack in the mountains. Thank you El Nino! We started operations on April 7, 2017 and closed down after 168 days on numerous rivers, on September 22, 2017. Here’s a recap of our crazy rafting season…
The South Fork American River started with huge whitewater in the spring. The tamer Class 3 rapids transformed into Class 4 challenges which were constantly changing! We had to raise our minimum age on this and many other rivers. Flows mellowed back down to the typical 1800 cfs in late June.
Many of our Spring River trips do not have reservoirs feeding them and flow naturally from the snowpack in the mountains. These rivers all had extended rafting seasons! Our guides were just as excited as our clients to spend more time on these gems. The North Fork American and Cal Salmon lasted well into the end of June. Our favorite rafting trips on the North Yuba and East Fork Carson lasted thru the beginning of July!
Families with kids were still in for a treat when they were not able to get on the South Fork American in the Spring. We offer trips on the Lower North and Lower Middle Forks of the American River which were ideal for anyone under 13. These wilderness trips are often forgotten by other outfitters who had to turn away families with younger rafters.
Trips on the popular Middle Fork American River were not available until the end of June. Even though it is a dam controlled river, flows were far too high for anyone to raft. We usually get on this river in May, but luckily we had other great Class 4 options.
The mighty Truckee River had a spring season starting in May as usual. Flows were higher than normal until June so we ran trips on the Verdi section until the Boca run became raftable just in time for the 4th of July holiday.
We want to thank everyone who came out rafting with us this year. Special thank you to all who tagged, mentioned and posted about your river experience with Tributary. We had so many wonderful clients this year, including families, bachelor & bachelorette parties, corporate groups, birthday celebrations, and vacationers from all over the world!
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