Whitewater Forum: Cali Ambitions

Cali Ambitions

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Category: General
Forum Name: Whitewater Forum
Forum Discription: Open Discussion Forum. Whitewater related subjects only
URL: http://www.professorpaddle.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=11739
Printed Date: 03 Oct 2025 at 4:54am

Topic: Cali Ambitions

Posted By: Fish
Subject: Cali Ambitions
Date Posted: 05 Mar 2012 at 3:08pm

For those thinking of heading south to California this spring. The window for the high sierra runs are gonna be narrow this year.

http://cdec.water.ca.gov/cgi-progs/snow/COURSES.03 - http://cdec.water.ca.gov/cgi-progs/snow/COURSES.03

Replies:

Posted By: Ellingferd
Date Posted: 05 Mar 2012 at 5:23pm

Yo! Are you still planning on heading down? I am looking to get out there whenever the good stuff will be in.

Posted By: huckin harms
Date Posted: 05 Mar 2012 at 5:48pm

yeah, those numbers really show how bleak it can look. Thank goodness that's not us! Maybe next year though, I'm sure we will get a bad year again someday. But this is truly bumming for Cali boaters. Not to mention the bad fire year this brings on. Hopefully those resoviors are full for power, irrigation, and drinking needs...

As far as boating opportunities go, good luck on timing the runs out cause whats there won't last long under that California Sunshine! Dam release rivers will be the best bet for this year, is my guess.

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Posted By: Fish
Date Posted: 06 Mar 2012 at 1:24pm

Hey Jonathon! Yes, I'm still going down this season, just sooner than i thought most likely. Lets coordinate and meet up and make the most out of the short season!

I'm hoping that the remaining month of winter brings a late winter blast, fingers crossed!

At least we have a solid home snowpack here at home, with gas going to $5 a gallon soon, traveling is getting expensive.

Posted By: fiddleyak
Date Posted: 06 Mar 2012 at 2:07pm

Yeah, those numbers are somewhat bleak. However, For WA boaters looking to make a trip down, I don't think it's a reason to panic. Just plan on having to go earlier.
We had a terrible snow year in 2007. That was by far my best season for High Sierra runs. Everything just ran earlier but everything had a good flow window. Usually the classics run too high for a while, so you have to time when you get on them. With a small snowpack, sometimes the runnable window is longer than normal since you don't get as big a spike. This was true of Upper Cherry in 2007.
Of course, if the weather gets hot enough what little snow there is won't last long. I think weather is the most important factor in determining how long the best runs will have flow windows.

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