Full Immersion on the American River...

On the 2nd day, we did the 11-mile Chili Bar run, the upper run on the South Fork of the American River, which is the most popular white water run west of the Rockies. We did 7 Class II and 4 Class III rapids (Meatgrinder, Maya, Triple Threat and Troublemaker). Here you can really see that when we hit a Class III, we’re completely immersed in the water. What a rush! It still amazes me that we never fell off. We also managed to do a little surfing in our raft (which is usually something kayaks do, not rafts) when Colin found the perfect standing wave for us to balance on. We stopped for a picnic lunch at Sutter’s Mill, where gold was discovered in 1848, then went back there in the afternoon to try our hand at panning for gold. Afterwards, we made a stop at Holly and Carl’s. They’ve lived in Sacramento for over 22 years and this was the first time we’d been to visit. We sure managed to cram in a lot of fun in these three days!