American, South Fork

A few of us packrafters (Robin Levick, Ellis Vonasek) had been eyeing this for a bit as we were stepping up into III/IV waters. The short drive time from Oakland made it a perfect choice as we waited for some other valley creeks to come down after the big winter 2023 rains. We quickly saw why boaters usually wait til the spring for this one; snow on the banks and freezing cold SFA water, as per usual, made for a chilly day.

We had a few swims from the get go due to some standard curling waves that surprised us. My energy was sapped early. But I was redeemed with a lot of fun Class III action before The Big One. One of us lost a boat above this before we had a chance to scout; luckily our MVP of the day, Ellis, chased it and ran the entire thing blind, dry-haired it, and retrieved the boat. Superstar.  To us, The Long One wasn't more than a Class III at these levels, though we might've gotten this confused with the Big One.