Hi, folks,

I just got back from a 3+ day paddle on the Sacramento. This was done
with a group of boy scouts (including my nephews) and several adults. We
had 11 canoes, 1 kayak (me), 23 people.

We launched on Thursday afternoon. The scouts were slow to get started
out of Sac. and didn't arrive until 1 or so. The lengthy process of
tying everything down and training the newbies took a long time as well.
We were very concerned about making our first campsite before dark for
this reason.

The water, however, was very high and fast. We went under the new Sun
Dial, single-tower suspension bridge (pedestrian, with a transluscent
green walkway). This is one pretty structure and we had a fine time
trading greetings with the pedestrians and tourists. The sand bar which
toppled several boats in the past was a small series of easily traversed
riffles.

That was the the case most of the way downriver. There were few rapids
due to the high water level. Lots of eddies (which became a running Ed,
Edd, and Eddie joke amongst the scouts, for those of you who watch awful
cartoons) which posed little problems, though they became more
pronounced as we went further downriver.

We could, often, see the bottom and it was clear that we were going
pretty quickly. We had planned to pull out after 10 miles, but we made
16 in about 3 hours, mostly floating and paddling only when we wanted a
bathroom break or had some other need to address. Lots of long ferries
were needed to bring the 12 boats to the landing sites, which provided
sufficient work against the current.

The first campsite was fairly pleasant, but the island (land remaining
from an ox bow) was surrounded by fast moving water. As many of our
previous camping sites were either underwater or not recognizable due to
the water level, we settled for a site that was less than ideal. We
had fast moving water, a steep beach, a no swimming restriction (not
popular with the scouts, but necessary), and poor water access for fishing.

Friday, we adjusted our plans. We went several miles further than
intended on Thursday, which meant either a very light second day, or a
longer paddle after visiting Cow Creek (rope swing, warm water, good
bass fishing). We went down the two miles to Cow Creek (river left with
a strong eddy at the upper end). The entry was quite fun, but one canoe
lost a paddle and missed the entry to the creek. As we were mustering up
a rescue, we observed the boat working its way back upstream to us. It
took a lot of work, but once we delivered a replacement paddle, they
were successful.

Once in the creek, we went to the rope swing. Everyone swam, swung, ate
lunch, and a few of us went fishing. I noticed some likely spots and
tried some casts with no success. I could see fish, however, as I
paddled over them. I went over a point with an overhanging tree and saw
several large fish in the depths. The next cast produced a 20 inch
smallmouth bass which gave me a pretty good fight. At first, I thought I
was snagged, but after trying a few test tugs, I felt the fish move. For
the next few minutes, the fish pretty much had its way with me, however,
taking as much line as he wanted.

We left the creek and continued downstream. Stops for potty and to
refill the water jugs were needed, so we went about 10 miles downstream.
I, and a few others, sought out the occasional riffles to get some
practice in, but there was little else but nice scenery, cold water, and
paddling. Ospreys were abundant. We even saw one pursuing an American
Eagle, which was probably too close to its nest.

We also checked out Battle Creek on this segment. This was a very pretty
creek with clear, cold, water and a muddy bottom. Lots of fish were
visible both at the confluence at the mouth of the creek and further
inside. "Squaw Fish" (official name, unknown at this time) were easily
recognized and swam in huge schools, but trout and bass were also
visible. None of the fishing produced any of the latter, however. The
sides of the creek were covered with trees and blackberry vines. The
berries were awesomely good, but we didn't find any camping sites in the
area.

We stayed just below the mouth of "Stillwater Creek" (I think that was
the name). Mosquitos were a problem here, but there were thousands of
swallows, dragonfiles, and, later, bats to deal with them. The campfire
smoke also helped keep them away. Fishing at the end of the day was
quite productive, but only one rainbow trout was caught, the rest were
squawfish.

Saturday was the day of 20 miles of fast water and "5 sets of rapids."
The high water turned all of them into large areas of powerful eddys,
often within a few feet of each other. In a 17' sea kayak, I found
myself bracing on one eddy only to be ripped to the side when the front
of the boat reached the next eddy going in the opposite direction. I
found (after a bit of a drenching) that I didn't need to be quite as
aggressive bracing for the first eddy or I would be overbalanced when I
hit the other. We did the 20 miles in 4 hours and hauled out after the
last, and biggest, set of "rapids" on the river. Again, there was little
whitewater and mostly chops and eddys. Fun, but not exciting.

Camping last night was pleasant and relaxed. Nobody was, as on previous
outings, exhausted. The fast water limited how much time we spent in the
hot sun and wind (which was really a problem when setting up camp on
Saturday). This site, which is where the river cut through lava flows
from Lassen at some point in the past, is called "Pebble Beach" by the
locals. It pretty much describes it. Large basalt outcroppings and a
rocky beach, with a bit of sand above the outcroppings. Lots of
interesting rocks, wind, and a great view of the river as it cuts a
graceful curve against the lava flows on the other side of the river.

Today, we paddled the last 5 miles on flat water to the pullout. This
was a tough slog on the previous trip, but this time was facilitated by
the high, fast, water. We covered the distance in under an hour, so
aside from the game of canoe tag initiated by the scouts, and numerous
water battles, it was a relaxing end to an enjoyable trip.

Rick