The melt has started

After what seemed like an cold and snowy spring that would never end we have finally headed into summer. With temps up close to 90 the snow has started melting and the rivers are all raging. Teaching over the weekend on the SF American was a whole new challenge. Can we find some flatwater to practice in? Are there eddy lines that won't whiplash the students? If someone swims can we get them to shore (with their gear) before we end up in the lake? I'm happy to report that everything worked out and combining my two guys with Laura's two gals made for a fun time.

Now the reason that the South Fork was so high is because Slab Creek Reservoir is spilling. That means the Slab Creek run is in. Last year Slab Creek only ran for two days and I was lucky enough to get on it both times. Well, I missed the first day this year but got it the second (though it now sounds like it will be going for another week). It is such a fun run and has so many good things going for it: just outside Placerville, outstanding granite scenery, consistent class IV+, no portages and no big hazards. In the future we should get releases on Slab under the new re-licensing of the dam, but there are some hurdles before that happens. In the mean time we will have to be content with short windows during peak runoff or the random rain storm spill.

Here is a little video from the run: