April 27-28, 2002

By Wini

Two tandem canoes, one solo canoe and 2 kayaks paddled the Yuba from Parks Bar Bridge to the Hallwood Ave. take-out or about 11 miles. The river flow was about 2180 cfs. The sky was partly cloudy and we had lots and lots of wind in all directions. The portage around the dam was slow but we combined it with a lunch and rest stop. The take-out at Hallwood is long and rocky but we managed okay. I think these two long carries are the reason why more people don’t do this run more often.

But except for the wind everybody had a good time. We passed a few steelhead fishermen. Jeeves Pearson kept everyone throwing sticks for his enjoyment. As a golden retriever he wasn’t much interested in retrieving but he dearly loved the chase and especially the swimming part. Mostly he liked chewing up the sticks. Doggy fiber for the GI tract!

Nate Peason is a charming 4½ year old that was very interested in rocks, shells, fishbones, sticks and all other river debris. Loving parents kept him happy enough but for sheer joy he had fellow spirit Keith to play with. We saw swallows, mallards, herons and egrets.

It took us about 4 hours on the river plus the hour lunch and portage. After we took out we camped at the Sycamore Ranch campground on Dry Creek where we used to take-out in the olden days before the Yuba shifted its bed farther south. Our campsite was a little away from the creek to avoid the wind. We had 2 adjacent sites on freshly mowed lawn and plenty of room for our various tents. Carole and Wini set out crackers and cheese, juices and soft drinks. Dinner was stir-fried beef and broccoli with persimmon bars for dessert. The Pearsons brought wine for dinner and wood for a campfire. Hunter did the dishes and Keith did everything else including entertaining Nate. Jeeves slept! We were all in bed by 9:30. I understand that we had some noisy neighbors during the night but I didn’t hear a thing.

On Sunday morning we had egg McMuffins and Wini found she had left the chicken salad she’d fixed for lunches at home. Instead we had cheese sandwiches.

It took us a while to find the right put-in for the Feather River. There are long stretches of it paddleable but we were looking for the section just below the Thermolito Afterbay on the west side of the river. We finally found it (on Vance off Larkin) and put-in about 11 am

The flow was about 1200 cfs and moves pretty slowly but we made it to our take-out at Live Oak Park (Pennington Rd.) by 4:30. It was a warm pleasant day without the wind. We passed several salmon fishermen …some in boats and some on the shore. This section was only 12 miles but broader with lots of snags so it seems longer. Everybody said they had a good time.

Present were Wini, Keith, John, Lu, Nate, Jeeves, Hunter, Carole, and Charles (Sat. only). One of the nice things about POST trips is how everybody pitches in and helps! Thanks!