Whitewater Adventures – Water Confidence Required
Last year my husband and I won a two-day rafting trip along Cache Creek sponsored by Whitewater Adventures. It was too late in the season to sign up then, so this year we got to “cache in” on our prize.
I have been on a few guided white-water trips in the past. By that I mean the kind where there are six passengers in the boat and an experienced guide who is doing the steering. Everyone wears helmets and life jackets, and paddles like crazy when you come to a class-III or class-IV rapid. It is terrifying in a fun way, but you have five other new best friends in the boat screaming with you. I was excited about our upcoming trip until my husband pointed out one major difference at this place… there are no guides. That’s right, the rapids are smaller, but you are on your own.
Cache Creek is the outflow of Clearlake, Ca. and flows into the Sacramento River. It rarely dries when many other rivers in the area do, and drops about 20 feet per mile, making it a really fun run. Because most of the rapids are categorized class-II with one class-III, the two commercial companies of the area do not offer guides in the boats. They give you a 30-minute talk before you head out on how to get unstuck should your boat lodge on some rocks and what to do if you find yourself in the water. Then you 
are provided with a boat (either a raft that accommodates 3-5 people or a two-man inflatable kayak), a paddle, a life-jacket, lunch, and a smile. During the safety talk you are warned of where the hardest rapid is, and told that a staff person will be pointing to where your boat ought to be to approach that rapid (as pictured). Staff are also stationed at the bottom of the two trickiest runs to pull out swimmers who may need assistance. You are given about six hours to complete the run (which took us three hours including stops) before food is provided and later, some nightly activities.
We pulled up to the parking lot on Saturday morning to learn of another big difference. Unlike past rafting trips I have been on where you get to know the other 18-24 rafters pretty well, here there were about 500 “new best friends” joining us on this trip. It was a light weekend, according to the guy directing traffic. Often there are up to 800 people. I do give props to the staff, they were efficient at managing such a large crowd. After signing your living will – I mean your waiver – and loading your camping gear onto a truck, five or six buses shuttle folks to the drop off point where you receive some saftey instructions and your equipment.
The website says not to bring alcohol, as “booze and rapids don’t mix”. Common sense says neither does alcohol and the nearly hundred degree weather that we had. Regardless, this was closer to a rave in the woods than the trip of “solitude and serenity” as described on the website. I should have guessed with descriptions of night activities such as ”dancing at the camp disco with bubbles, foggers, lasers, spinner strobes and cages”. They also list volleyball and horseshoe as activities, but I never saw any of that. I don’t mind a party, but there were people who could barely stand up before dinner. I later learned that the ambulance siren I heard while on the river was called because someone from our group had passed out along the run.
I mention this for a few reasons. First, if you are bringing your family here (under 12 not permitted) you may want to know ahead of time what the scene is like.
Secondly are my concerns about safety. Having several bus loads of drunken rafters heading into the water at the same time was pretty sketchy at the first few rapids. My husband and I tried to put in early, but still had rafts piled on top of us as we tried to free ourselves on the first set of rocks we encountered. I think had the staff got involved in spacing out the boats as they launched, there wouldn’t have been so many problems right out of the gate. (The congestion seemed to work itself out further down the river, but with two businesses running about 500 rafters each, there were more than a few pileups.)
I rarely saw or got any directions from guides along the route. Knowing that a large percentage of their clientele are inebriated and/or inexperienced at maneuvering a boat, I would have felt better knowing that at least someone was nearby to assist when needed, aside from those points nearest the two toughest rapids. Twice I saw rafters, floating without their boats, who needed help getting situated again. No staff person was around. At the end of the run I got caught in a current that pulled me under the water for a much longer amount of time than I am comfortable with. This scared me so much that I opted to go home before the second day’s repeat of the same run. There were plenty of boats that dumped at that spot, but still no staff nearby.
I acknowledge that I am not someone who enjoys the thrill of being scared all that much. As I stood at the beach after returning our boat, I heard more than a few people talk about one part of the run or another that scared them; getting trapped under a boat, getting caught in a fast current, etc. Maybe this is what brings them back year after year. Not me.
This run is supposed to be easy and interesting enough to be approachable for novice rafters. This may make it an attractive idea for a fun weekend. For the price you get quite a deal; boating equipment, staff to shlep your stuff to a campsite, meals and entertainment. I can see how coming with a group of friends can make for a really good time. My advice is to be sure you have some good (sober) swimmers with you. Maybe even make some friends on the bus and go down the river together. At least with another boat nearby you will have a direction to swim.
Today is Spotlight Thursday at Trekaroo. Check out their site for more travel highlights.
I’m still trying to process my reactions to this trip. As Lora indicates, it was scary at times, and that last spill she took was especially so. (I ended up in the water at the same time, and while I didn’t get held under by the hydraulic the way she did, I felt pretty helpless because it was impossible to swim upstream to assist her.) In hindsight the whole incident probably lasted less than 30 seconds, but it felt like an eternity while it was happening.
Would I do it again? On the one hand, most of it was really, really fun, and a modest amount of fear makes for an adrenaline rush and a real sense of accomplishment when you navigate a tricky section successfully. On the other hand, the lack of support was disturbing, and given the huge number of novices and/or drunken partiers I’m surprised there aren’t more injuries.
I think Lora’s advice is spot on: bring some trusted friends and plan to stick together. With another kayak or two in your flotilla, you can take turns scouting and be ready give each other a hand if anyone goes for an involuntary swim. Under those circumstances, I’d definitely give it another go.
Great post, Lora! Of course, that might not mean much coming from someone who fell in once WITH a guide in the boat & was so freaked out I was done with it … but really, it’s important to be smart when it comes to river rafting. Your advice is well-taken. I don’t think I’d have been nearly as courageous as you!
I had a friend do that exact route and get hurt. I never went on that river because of the lack of guides. I have rafted the American and Merced and had an amazing time but something about the Cache always made me feel wary. I have also done the booze float down the American in my younger years and I remember being very drunk on a flat stretch of river not being the best idea. Throw in some rapids and its just plain crazy. I appreciate you explaining the lakc of family friendliness of this route and wish it were different because it does seem like alot of fun.
Wow. That was quite a read! I’ve never done this but have heard some similar stories from friends.