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Floating the Upper Sacramento River
Paddle rafters
find safe thrills while rafting down the Upper Sacramento River south of
Dunsmuir
Published May 30, 2004
Story and Photos by Lee Juillerat, Herald and News, Klamath Falls
Don't
wait too long to see for yourself the beauty of the Upper Sacramento River.
How many times have I driven along Interstate 5 between Dunsmuir and Shasta
Lake, caught glimpses of the Sacramento River and wondered what it looked
like from river level.
Those
wondering days are over. After a exhilarating day-long paddle raft trip
along a 12-mile stretch of the Upper Sacramento, wondering has given way
to a sense of wonder. The Sacramento truly is a river of wonders. California's
largest river, its headwaters are in the Trinity Mountains west of Mount
Shasta. The river flows south through Dunsmuir, Shasta Lake and along the
Interstate 5 corridor past Redding, Red Bluff, Chico and Sacramento until
draining 327 miles later in the Suisin Bay northeast of the San Francisco
Bay area.
The river
takes in a massive area, a region that spans 27,000 square miles. The Sacramento
is a major source of irrigation water for a diverse agricultural economy,
is an important fishery and offers a variety of recreational opportunities.
One of
those recreational opportunities is traveling the 12 miles by paddle raft.
Unlike the wildly ferocious Upper Klamath River, the Upper Sacramento is
relatively easy river trip, with a long series of Class 3 rapids that keep
the travel interesting but not dangerous.
Surprisingly,
it's an easy drive via Highway 97 and I-5 to the Sacramento's put-in, less
than a two-hour drive. In contrast with the Klamath, or even the Rogue,
shuttles are simple.
A recent trip included two first-time
paddlers. Both had previously been intimidated by more rollicking rivers.
Despite some initial hesitations, both had great times. Well into the trip,
one newbie found her way to the front of the raft and quickly savored the
occasional full-body baths in larger rapids. "The excitement," she said
of the allure. "Crashing through the whitewater. Being able to stay in the
raft. The scenery."
Ah, the scenery. The Upper Sacramento
is a passage through hidden beauty, especially sections where the watery
trail narrows through tight canyons and pauses in grottoes decorated with
seeping springs and canopies of trees, cascading flowers and vines.
We passed underneath
a bald eagle nest, where a white-headed guardian stood sentinel. We were
intoxicated by fragrant scents of blooming azaleas, saw western pond turtles
sunbathing on rock and tree limbs, and marveled at the profusion of Elephant's
ear and Indian rhubarb. Solitary mergansers jetted up and downstream, but
more often we viewed pairs of males and females quietly glided in the current,
or mothers herding groups of fuzzy-haired babies.
River guide John McDermott
provided a commentary on waterfowl, fishing prospects, legends, geology,
flowers and raptors while confidently and gleefully directing our paddle
raft into the heart of blubbery rapids.
Paddling the Upper Sacramento means that driving along I-5
between Dunsmuir and Shasta Lake will never be the same. Now the only thing
I'll wonder is why I waited so long to see it from river level.
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