From trickle to torrent in minutes -- a paddler's tale

Testing the new spillway at Folsom Dam (Youtube photo from late 2017)

It began like another uneventful winter day on tranquil Lake Natoma…. 

Karen paddling into "big pipe" on a typically calm day (2009)

….as we pushed off from Nimbus Flats on Friday (1/12) and paddled into “the big pipe” just across the lake. Of course, we had no idea that the new spillway at Folsom Dam, about seven miles upstream, had opened minutes earlier.  The outflow shot from around  2,000 cubic feet per second to more than 14,500 cfs - and was coming straight toward us.  

To put it another way, that was about 6.5 million gallons a minute -- enough to fill about ten Olympic-sized swimming pools. A significant amount of water, even in a bathtub

All you need to know about kayaking (part 2)

Second in a one-part series that pretends to be….

…the last word on paddling tips. And it would be if you drown, God forbid. So start by wearing a PFD whenever and wherever you go kayaking. Recently, I encountered a nice  

Paddling on July 4th or any summer weekend: Hit the water early, get off early 

fellow at the Russian River estuary at Jenner, in Sonoma County. He was about to launch a large, fairly stable sit-on-top kayak. It was a mild, warm day, especially by North Coast standards, with barely a breeze. He asked, “Do I really need to wear this life jacket?” I paused and silently thanked the Water Gods for endorsing NorCal Yak’s Third Law, which states: 

Everything you need to know about kayaking -- not

Hundreds of kayaking blogs and Web sites...

A textbook example of  NorCal Yak's First Law

…offer useful instructions and insights to help paddlers hone their skills. This particular post is not among them. Instead, as we launch another prime paddling season, a few random thoughts, serious and otherwise.  Here goes: 

1.  NorCal Yak's First Law states that you know your limit just as soon as you've paddled past it. This applies on and off the water, from sandbars to dive bars and everything in between. What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, they say. Bull hockey - it just makes you lucky for once. That's why you should never exceed your personal speed limit in the thought process, even if that keeps you in the slow lane most of the time. 

2.  If you are about to land your kayak at a spot crowded with other paddlers, or if people are just sitting around on a beach, rest for a moment some distance out. You may feel ready to die from a long, hard, painful paddle, but never show it. Catch your breath, wipe

Don’t allow a rattle to disrupt your next paddle

Snakes have gotten a bad rap since that incident in Eden...

At the aptly-named Rattlesnake Bar near Folsom Lake (2015)

….and there are already a number of rattlesnake bite stories around Northern California this year. Kayakers need to stay alert whenever they launch or land in areas with brush, rocks or near downed timber, since that’s prime snake habitat.

But the rap on rattlers is unfair. An increase in snake sightings and incidents this spring may be traced to unusually wet conditions that have prompted an explosion in the rodent population. Rattlers and other snakes are great rodent predators. Since rodents are a prime carrier for ticks (Lyme disease) the Hantavirus and other risks to human health, snakes are beneficial.

Spring fever? Paddling offers blooms, butterflies

Scotch broom and waterfall across the channel from Rattlesnake Bar

“It's spring fever. That is what the name of it is….” 

…wrote Mark Twain.  “And when you've got it, you want - oh, you don't quite know what it is you do want, but it just fairly makes your heart ache, you want it so!”

Lupine on the shoreline

Well, Mr. Clemens, a kayak tour of spring wildflowers will ease that fever quite nicely, as a group from the Sacramento Sea Kayakers club discovered while paddling toward the North Fork of the American River last weekend.

For me, the high point came at lunch  - my fave time of any paddle day - about midway into an eight-mile round trip. 

Landing below a sandy bank, our group suddenly faced a quiet riot of pipevine butterflies erupting from clumps of vetch on the hillside. Black wings fluttered wildly amid deep purple blooms - a “wow” spring visual, for sure.

Pipevine mob scene in the purple vetch 

We launched from Folsom Lake’s Rattlesnake Bar. Spring runoff has raised the water level, prompting park rangers to open the launch gates and allow vehicle access down a steep ramp to a floating dock.

Heading upstream, we passed small waterfalls framed by granite and greenery. Yellow splashes of scotch broom decorated some hillsides, with carpets of lupine elsewhere. And ubiquitous California poppies shared the slopes with stone wall jigsaw patterns that have defied gravity for more than 100 years.

Kayaking danger rises with storm-fed rivers

Floodwater rescue drill from Glenn Brank on Vimeo.

When it rains it pours, and when it pours, kayakers should think....

...long and hard before launching into storm-fed water. A few days before Christmas, a couple of Folsom paddlers launched their 10-foot recreational kayaks on Lake Natoma, just above the bridges and in the narrows that channel water releases from Folsom Lake.

The current was running close to 20,000 cubic feet per second - approximately the speed and power of your average freight train.

One of the paddlers wore his smartphone in a waterproof case around his neck. Its video

High times coming soon for coastal kayakers

The ultimate high-water experience on Tomales Bay (click on photo to enlarge) 

It’s the perfect season to go paddling and get high…..

…referring to tides along Northern California’s coast, of course. SFGate reports that Marin County is bracing for flooding Dec. 10-16 and Jan. 8-14 during the extreme high tides known as “King Tides,” when the gravitational pull of moon and sun coincide to raise the ante, waterline-wise. This generally occurs during early winter months.

It’s also a time when big storms frequently wash over the coast. Such conditions can make for an interesting kayaking trip, providing paddlers are well-prepared for water from all directions. Last January, I convinced several fools - I mean friends - to join me on Tomales Bay during a King Tide. The forecast called for "scattered showers" that turned into full-blown squalls. Following is a brief video....

Last-minute holiday gift ideas for the kayaker

Holidays are a great time to kick back with a good book

Someone on your holiday gift list is a fanatical paddler…

 …and you haven't been able to figure out what to get for them. One of those $400 carbon fiber paddles would be nice, but they’re so hard to wrap, plus you had no idea they come in different lengths and blade styles. So consider something that's easy to order at the last minute and very practical, not to mention a lot less expensive - a kayak book.

In my opinion, there are two books that any Northern California kayaker should have on hand, for entirely different reasons - one a "where-to-how-to" and the other a "how-not-to". There’s a third text with few words and no narrative but it could help your fave paddler on big water. Here goes:   

Wonderfully reliable source of info 

The second edition of “Paddling Northern California” by Charlie Pike (Falcon Guides) is a 325-page guide that includes maps, photos and precise distances and directions to some of the best paddling water from sea to Sierra. It's a wonderfully reliable source of info. Several years ago, I paddled a stretch of the Delta with Charlie as he was researching this latest edition, and his maps and calculations were spot on. If your kayaker doesn’t have this guide, buy it. It’s easy to gift wrap, too.

My second choice is an entirely different type of book, recommended for its not-so-subtle message: Please avoid doing something stupid on the water, because it might kill you.

Learning to go with the flow on San Francisco Bay

A gorgeous day on the bay proved to be just a  bonus for our paddling group  

A kayaking class on tides, currents and rough water….

…recently reminded me that I took up writing as a vocation because higher mathematics was a deep, dull subject to me. And by “higher mathematics,” I mean stuff that your average fifth grader can knock out between video games. Not me -- words be my thang.

Jennifer Yearley translates chart

But the class shed a whole new light on practical applications of math, such as avoiding being sucked from San Francisco Bay under the Golden Gate Bridge in a very small boat and out into a very large ocean.

Our daylong paddle provided clear examples of how to judge current speed and time low and high tides to good effect, as well as interim periods of slack (water). I am a huge fan of slack, in the slang-ish sense that I would like more of it in general, not to mention minimizing physical exertion in the form of paddling. On this day, we spent a bit over 5 hours on the water with a mid-trip break of more than an hour, just my speed.

We launched from Horseshoe Cove at Fort Baker, on the Marin side of the bay, tucked into a natural hip pocket behind the Gate. Instructor Jennifer Yearley’s plan: Start off around slack tide (I was happy already), work our way up the coastline toward Sausalito,

Kayak surfing fulfills a paddler's longtime dream

Update: Slideshow from "Bodega Bash" 

Blogger puts lessons into practice at "Bodega Bash" kayak surfing meet on Sept. 17 (photo courtesy Mark Boyd)  

The kayak instructor’s question was an easy one for me…

Earlier surf session in "Maytag zone" (photo courtesy Kelly Marie Henry) 

Why did you want to take an introductory kayak surfing class? My instant reply: “In the early ‘60s, when I was a kid living 800 miles from the ocean and I heard The Beach Boys on the radio….”  Everyone laughed, but true. “Surfin’ USA” in 1963: ”If everybody had an ocean…” Ha! A kid in in the Appalachian Mountains could only listen to the radio and dream.

But 50-some years later, my dream finally came true with a recent “Introduction to Kayak Surfing” class at Dillon Beach, near the mouth of Tomales Bay.  My first run, from 

Paddle over to see a Tomales Bay icon while you can

Despite appearances, the "S.S. Point Reyes" was no shipwreck -- it was going to be a fixer-upper 

“Picturesque derelict” sounds like a contradiction...

But any kayaker who’s ever paddled on Tomales Bay knows what I’m talking about. It’s a nautical hulk known as the “S.S. Point Reyes” or the “Tomales Bay shipwreck.” In fact, it’s no shipwreck at all, but an icon for the West Marin County community that became its final resting port. Just step or paddle back a bit and observe the scene, on or off the water.

A suspicious fire last February nearly destroyed the old girl

Tomales Bay rises and falls dramatically with the tides, from shimmering salty expanse to stinking mud flat. Many structures near the waterline are a bit rough and ragged but as full of character as some of their inhabitants.

Everything is precariously situated - the “Reyes” rests on a sandbar, which in turns sits atop a major fault line that at some future date could make flotsam and jetsam out of Inverness, Point Reyes Station, Marshall and all the hamlets in between.

But hey, no hurry on Tomales time.  Whether you’re on the geologic clock, checking tide tables for a kayak trip, or driving on Francis Drake Boulevard, slow down on the approach to Inverness and that strange relic just behind the general store.  Like its surroundings, the “Reyes” has for decades conveyed a sense of dignified, gradual decline - at least until recently.

Reservoirs and kayaker fortunes finally rise again

BEFORE: Rolling down the hill to launch at Rattlesnake Bar last October.

AFTER: Fishing boat at about the same spot, March 18

Our long-term drought may not be over yet.... 

But these days, the view from a kayak looks pretty good around Northern California. Consider this before-and-after comparison at Folsom Lake Recreation Area's Rattlesnake Bar. 

It was just last October 30 that NorCal Yak pal Dale and I drove to the launch

Use tie-downs on every kayak trip -- or risk disaster

At the scene -- and time definitely did not stand still 

You know you’re in for a hair-raising kayak story when it begins...

"Miraculously, no one was killed or injured." 

This is one of those stories. Not to sound melodramatic, but it’s a paddler’s tale with lessons that could save lives. And off the water, at that.    

It happened last Nov. 27, Black Friday. While most folks were already stampeding into the shopping malls or sleeping off their turkey dinners, I headed toward Tomales Bay with paddling pal Trudy on I-80.   

Early splashdown kicks off kayak waterfall tours

Finding waterfalls at Englebright? As easy as one, two, three 

Snow melt turns on the faucets for area lakes and rivers....

Dry times aren’t over, not by a long shot. But there are trickles of hope for paddlers in Northern California’s lakes and rivers, thanks to early runoff from the Sierra. And that sets the scene for waterfall tours by kayak, even before the spring equinox arrives.

Our paddler pod enjoyed just such an outing last Saturday at Englebright Lake in the Yuba River gorge near Marysville. A ten-mile round-trip jaunt revealed several

Get out of the kayak cockpit to find a better view

My best sea otter video ever was taken from the shore...

It seems kind of strange to write this on a paddling blog, but sometimes, you can find the best view and take your best photos by getting out of your kayak.

This came to mind recently after two British tourists kayaking on Monterey Bay had a close encounter of the worst kind with a humpback whale. The whale - probably in the 40-to-50 ton range - breached and then dropped squarely on the Brits’ tandem kayak just off Moss Landing.

It's almost impossible to approach wildlife on the water without disturbing them, especially females with young 

Miraculously, the pair not only survived - they escaped without injury. Tom Mustill and
Charlotte Kinloch later recounted the incident in numerous press interviews, as a tour

The season's future is now for California kayakers

Blue heron watches kayakers Wednesday at the San Juan Rapids, American River

It sure didn't seem like a major drought on the lower American River this week. Flows that had been running around knee-level (500 cubic feet per second, or cfs) suddenly jumped to more than 1,500 cfs. That made for some fun kayaking at the San Juan Rapids.

The question is, how long will the good times roll on our rivers and lakes? Answers seem murkier than the water in the Delta. NorCal Yak couldn't find any single water agency that could provide statewide projections. But in general, these links may help flat water kayakers plan ahead. Just don't wait too long.

The California Data Exchange probably keeps the most extensive river and reservoir storage and release info. For example, there's a neat graphic page link with current and historical reservoir averages.  The feds also have some info. Check the Bureau of Reclamation site and then focus on the Central Valley sub-pages, though the info is a bit dense. If you're a whitewater enthusiast, water releases on selected river runs are actually scheduled for the rest of the season -- see NorCal Yak pal Paul McHugh's article in The Sacramento Bee.

My fave source for current (no pun) river flow data is the Dreamflows California page. But the bottom line for any California kayaker this year? The future is now, so go for it. 

Get ready kayakers, bouquets are on the way

4/12 update: With few spring showers, wildflower season appears to be wilting quickly at lower elevations in Northern California. A paddle today from Rattlesnake Bar on the North Fork of the American today barely caught the end of the lupine bloom. If you've missed this spot, check out the photo album from today's trip -- which also reminded us to watch our step in the wild. This local resident slithered across the boat launch ramp as we returned to the parking lot. 

          

A pre-bloom day on the North Fork of the American 

How to improve a kayaking trip on a gorgeous spring day? Throw in a football-field-sized bouquet of wildflowers. Northern California paddlers can find some of the best floral displays anywhere in the nation, from poppies to paintbrush and irises to Crimson Columbine.

The essential guide for paddling Northern California

Charlie Pike explored Suisun Marsh for the second edtion of "Paddling California"

 If you are serious about exploring Northern California by kayak, there are four essential items: a kayak, a paddle, a PFD - and Charlie Pike’s guidebook. His new, revised edition of “Paddling Northern California” is now available, and it comes highly recommended.

 

Charlie, a Newcastle resident well-known in area paddling circles, published his first edition of the guide in 2001. The new edition updates and expands that work, has a nice layout and

How to find good summer paddling in a drought

Either there's an iceberg ahead, or some Lake Valley campers got carried away with s'mores



California kayakers looking for the best inland lakes this summer may feel like they’re marching across the proverbial desert - there’s a watering hole 50 miles away, but how dry will it be when they get there? Fortunately, the Web can help paddlers determine if the water is worth the drive.

Case in point : Lake Valley Reservoir, a small but picturesque Sierra lake near Yuba Gap,

More water this summer for American River kayaking

San Juan rapids will continue to provide good paddling through June 

6/25 update: Lower American flows still holding at about 2,000cfs this week.  

In the midst of an epic drought, here’s some good news for kayakers. The lower American River, one of the most popular waterways in Northern California, is now running at about 2,000 cubic feet per second - and should continue to do so through June. That translates to decent water for paddlers.