Class V Cherry Creek / Upper Tuolumne Rafting

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Class V rafting on the Cherry Creek section of the Upper Tuolumne river near Yosemite National Park / Groveland, California.
This is probably the hardest regularly run commercial rafting trip in North America. 9 miles, dozens of class IV and V rapids, two portages, extremely challenging.
1,200 CFS on this day and terrible air quality due to large wildfires across Northern California.
A custom SOTAR 14’6”, 22” tubes www.sotar.com
Gear from NRS and others: www.nrsweb.com
GoPro 8 (forward view), GoPro 7 (rear-facing view), some iPhone footage
Mile-by-mile guide: www.tuolumne-r...
#leadingsteep #SOTAR #NRS #rafting #whitewater #river #guides #guiding #Strapworks #Yeti

[@Drone.vision]

Wow amazing footage, enjoyed this! Great music and editing too! Liked and subbed from old farts post 👌👏👍

[@flexmtb]

Man. Your video's are incredible. Just getting into the sport. Hope to ride with you one day sir!

[@BarryKruse]

Thanks so much!! Really appreciate the comment, and hope we’ll boat together one day, too.

[@emilyfloore161]

Looks like a super fun stretch

[@BarryKruse]

It's a favorite. And this is five minutes of whitewater of about 90 minutes of whitewater footage. It's very busy.

[@stevefitzgerald14]

Great post, great run. Give the S.Fork of the Salmon River in Idaho a look. Comparable to Cherry Creek. Hardest technical run I've done.

[@BarryKruse]

Really looking forward to running it one day soon. I hear it is tremendous. Can't wait. Thanks for the kind comment.

[@oldboater]

That is one technical stretch of river!

[@BarryKruse]

It is! There are miles of moves like this. I think it's the hardest commercially-run whitewater in North America.

[@jimmyfaherty8588]

Nice! Old school.

[@BarryKruse]

Old guide, old school. :-) I'll take that as a compliment. Thanks!

[@weirdbeard1980]

Eerie with the sepia tone.

[@lukefranco68]

You made the spin at toad stool!! Nice job, that’s not an easy move to stomach or pull off for some. But it’s the best way through there.

[@BarryKruse]

Got stuffed into the Catcher's Mitt on my first run last year and had to carry over the rocks. (50:50 chance of a flip trying to get out.) But this run was better. I'd like to be off the rock a little further! Thanks!

[@mikerphone.]

Just getting familiar with this area, recently took an off road trip back through a lot of the ohv trails in the area between tuolumne on 108 and rainbow pool on 120. On the way out i drove over Lumsden bridge there at the end of your video and i was was wondering if there's a reason you guys didn't go through that point on the raft? I'm planning on taking a kayak trip from the holm powerhouse, or i think the locals refer to it as "cherry power house" all the way down to wards ferry bridge. Trying to get a better fill for what I'm up against if you have any info for me on that? Where did you guys launch for this trip? Also curious if you're familiar with the "La Casa Loma and Meral's pool" locations? I saw those on the toulemne river shuttles page and was curious where that was at. And if you happen to know how many miles of river it is from the powerhouse to lumsden and then from there to wards ferry? And how long you think it would take to cover those two stretches?

[@BarryKruse]

Very few people run Lumsden Falls because the entrance is so manky and congested. Some folks do. It's rare in a raft. Are you an experienced boater? The Cherry Creek section is serious class V, and the Lower Tuolumne - Meral's Pool down - is serious class IV. The five minutes of video here was trimmed from about an hour of whitewater footage from this stretch alone. There are many online resources describing these stretches. This is one: www.whitewaterguidebook.com/california/cherry-creek/ www.whitewaterguidebook.com/california/tuolumne-river/ Please be sure you paddle safely with an experienced group of folks - ideally who know the lines. Good luck!

[@mikerphone.]

@@BarryKruse Fairly experienced boater. I didn't have much above a class IV where i grew up, but even when i was able to find something that rough it didn't stop me from picking the hairiest lines available. I like the challenge. It's what makes me want to take this ride. So most of this was taken from below Meral's pool? That's all below lumsden bridge then? Im still unfamiliar with what part of the river that is, along with la casa loma. Thank you for the resources! I'll definitely dig through as much as i can before i launch.

[@BarryKruse]

@@mikerphone. 95% of this footage is above Lumsden Bridge. It is nearly-continuous class IV with a bunch of class V drops. Everything looks flatter on video. It's an extremely serious run. I'm not sure which runs you've done. You should not run this alone and should seek a great deal more beta before going. "La Casa Loma" refers to nothing on the river. It was the name of the store/meeting spot at the top of the hill. Good luck, stay safe.

[@jasondickensheets6478]

Nice job team. This was the most exhilarating stretch of river I have been on so far in my life. I didn’t realize it ran in September. 🤘🏼

[@BarryKruse]

Thanks, Jason! You’re amongst the limited number of people who get on this challenging stretch! It’s among the toughest stretches most people get on! It won’t always run in September. But it was such a weird water and fire year, that we got it when we could!