Cheers Stephen. While we take a lot of pride in how we maintain are gear, it is a lot easier when the quality is as high as those old Avons!

Cheers!

Thanks! Michael's a class guide, and the crew all worked together!

Thanks!

Nailed it, good eye! We take it that you've spent some quality time there?

@ The summers of 84 and 85 I guided for ABLE rafting and spent many nights out on the MF. Loved rowing the gear boat.

Gear boats are no joke on the Middle Fork! Well done.

Thanks!

Love to hear it, and we hope to see you back out here soon!

Appreciate it!

Haha, you know it!

We'll be there!!

Fingers crossed!

@AOrafting is there a way to hike into the Cal Salmon to shoot pics

@@StephenEdwards-b5r There's a couple rapids and spots that you can, as it's pretty accessible from the road. A few of the shots in this video were actually shot from the road/hike in points!

@@AOrafting im interested in shooting both the Kaweah and Cal Salmon

@@StephenEdwards-b5r Sweet! Can you send over your portfolio/work examples? Our email is [email protected].

Right?! They look so similar, especially when it's cloudy out. Much shorter drive to the North Fork through!

Thank you!! Hope to see you out there next season!

The hero you needed, not the hero you deserved. Happy to be of service!

Indeed!

Yep, it runs from the dam all the way to Merel's Pool!

Can't wait to have you out there!! See you next Summer?

Michael is like that with all his guests, he really has a knack for guiding. We'll make sure to pass your comment on to him, thanks!

One more time, for the people in the back 😂

Yep! That calm at the end makes it a really good place to fall out of the raft, all things considered. You can also still see old mining equipment along the riverbank!

That's awesome!! Welcome to the river family, we're so stoked you're getting into it. Best of luck with kayaking, it's much different than rafting, but so much fun. We'll see you on the Middle Fork!!

Honestly there's no sort of consistency to it, as the rapid's class mostly deals with the river's features (rocks, holes, waves, etc.) rather than the speed of the water. There is some loose correlation though, as faster water typically correlates to a more difficult rapid.

That's a great point, and this is actually a consideration when grading the difficulty of the rapids which we didn't cover much here. Flat Rock is a perfect example of this concept!

Goodwin Canyon, which is a stretch of the Stanislaus river!

That's awesome! Glad you all had fun.

That's a crazy story! We agree with you though, Gray's at high flows is such a blast. Clavey is definitely a bit low-key for the rating, but it is a pretty high consequence rapid if things go wrong, which is why it's considered a Class 5. Ask your wife if you don't believe us!

First of all, congrats! That's a huge step, so props to your courage. The biggest thing we'd recommend is to listen to and trust your guide. They're out there each day running this river, and are looking out for you. Sometimes they might you to do things that don't make sense to you, but it's a good idea to listen to them anyways. The best way to successfully get through rapids is to work together as a team with your guide, so make sure you do your part. Have a blast out there, let us know what you think!

Great point, (usually)! For this particular rapid, however, ourselves and every other outfitter call a "get-down," as paddling won't actually do much after the initial setup. The rapid is so fast and narrow, that the whole rapid is made, or broken, in the setup at the top. It's called Tunnel Chute rapid if you want to look it up more!

Such an iconic (and underrated) rapid. Floating into that entry never gets old!

Yep! No paddles were harmed in the making of this video lol.

Hey Josh! Ourselves, and lots of other outfitters across the country do, in fact, run Class V rapids. Feel free to take a look at all 10 of our California rivers, including this one, the Cal-Salmon. On each page, you can see the class of the river, from 1 to 5. Hope to see you out there sometime!

Haha, we call it a "Tube-suck," where the river pulls one side of the raft down suddenly. It takes a lot of people off guard!

Great point, usually! For this particular rapid, ourselves and every other outfitter call a "get-down," as paddling won't do much after the initial setup. It's called Tunnel Chute rapid if you want to look it up more!

Lol, no

This is actually a Class V! It's called Clavey Falls, on the Tuolumne River. It's an awesome rapid, and the crew made it look easy.

It's a rite of passage on the Middle Fork!

@@AOrafting it was awesome 💪

Appreciate it Stephen! Hope to see you out on the water again soon.

Mushroom is no joke, and is definitely more challenging. Typically, our guests have more fun on Lewis' Leap though, which is why we ranked it higher. I mean, who doesn't love plunging off a 10 foot drop?!

Godspeed, hang on tight and stay in the boat! Hope you guys have fun!

🤙🏽🤙🏽

Yeah, that's pretty typical, we just choose to portage it entirely. It's fun to watch people R1 it though!