Otago Canoe and Kayak Club

Steffan and I arrived in LA a week earlier than Kate and Polly to buy a car. After four days of searching the Recylcer on the web, making endless phone calls to answer phones, and seeing too many cars leaking oil or transmission, we bought a  Doge Caravan.  OOOPS.  It failed the smog check. Six mechanics and US$400 later we had a car which was legal, prone to overheating and running badly. But with the car legal and the ownership changed we escaped LA and headed for the Keri River to start our holiday.

Camping by the river, sunny sky, heat and lots of white water - definitely the life. It`s a very free feeling paddling down new rivers that don`t have the whole history of epic adventures attached to them. We paddled several grade 3 - 4 sections, all with different  volumes of water and different challenges, and all with good roadside access.

Unfortunately our bad luck with cars continued. Leaving the Kern Valley we blew a piston. Stuck on the side of the freeway we attracted lots of attention, the CHIPS man who called the AAA tow truck and a dodgy American named Zeno who suggested a mechanic. Several hours later we were sitting at the mechanic`s staring at ground up metal in our oil sump and despairing at our misfortune. Zeno turned up and offered accommodation so we embarked on a car hunting mission using the Tradio, newspaper and his local knowledge.

Three days later I was the proud owner of a Ford Aerostar having sold the Dodge for $100. We continued on to the camp in Sequoia NP. Stunning views and BIG TREES - General Sherman is the biggest living thing on earth at 30 meters round  and 80 meters tall. With the temprature hovering around 40 degrees Celsius the local play wave looked appealing. It was slow, awesome and all four of us could get on it at the same time. After some paddling on the Merced and some time playing tourists on a bear hunt at Yosemite we ended up at the American for Memorial Weekend to meet up with Tim from Montana ( who we`d met in New Zealand ). Through Tim we met Aaron who invited us to stay. Hot tubs, beds with sheets, BBQ, beer and an incredibly welcomming family. We were in heaven!  After a few days of showers, yummy food and paddling the American and Yuba it was time to move on.

We headed on to the Cal Salmon where Peter Kettering instructs in the Northern Hemishere. Otter Bar Kayak School is a very impressive place, private chalets, two cooks, masseuse, and an impressive collection of gear.

We camped down the road and got his tips on what to paddle. Some of the best whitewater on the trip was on the Salmon. The Butler Run is a classic grade 3 - 4  run which ends at the best play wave we saw. Recirculating eddy, big pile and the ability to pull off moves without even realising we were doing them. Our last blast of paddling was in Idaho on the South Fork of the Payette and the Lochsa on some bigger water; Grade 4 which showed just how much my paddling had developed. My lasting memories of paddling in California are of blue sky, sun, friendly people, and fantastic whitewater. For anyone wanting to find a wide range of grade 4 and more it is definitley the place to go.

Fiona MacKay