Merced River
River Review
We rafted from the Stoneman Bridge and got off soon after Sentinel Bridge. We could have gone all the way to Sentinel Beach, but ran out of time given how cold the water was. We didn’t know this at the time, but we got out at just the right time, as 15 minutes after we started driving, we got hit with rain.
The river was broad and easy, given the flow we faced (~300 cubic ft/s). Probably a class 1.
We passed by many people having a good time on the river banks. There were a few fishermen, and lots of families.
We saw lots of insects... and some ducks. We also saw deer while floating down.
What I Learned:
I only brought one kayak paddle, which I then split in half and shared with Louie so that we could paddle in a canoe style. I had never done this before, and it worked really well. I’m not sure I prefer this to the full kayak style, but I definitely did not miss the full paddle.
I thought that our start time (5:30 PM) might be a bit late, but I rather enjoyed the late afternoon start and how quiet it was on the river. I now wonder if I’d enjoy a night time raft down on a really warm night.
Right before Sentinel Bridge, we spotted a rope swing and Louie had a go of it. They gracefully swung through the air and let go of the swing right at the apex of the swing. It looked like they had a great time and now sitting here am 10% regretting not swinging myself!
Friends
Louie and Sarah joined me for this rafting/floating trip. Louie responded first, so they got my other seat in my packraft. Sarah brought a donut float for herself. I remember rafting the Sacramento River by myself last year, and while that was fun, this float, with Louie and Sarah was infinitely more fun. It really is all about the people.
What Happened?
I’ve been wanting to raft this river since I learned about it a year ago but learned that to raft this river, one had to time it perfectly. Too early in the season and the water level would be too high, and the flow too fast to raft this as a class 2 river (the maximum spice my packraft can handle). Too late in the season and the river would be too dry, with minimal rafting and maximum walking while carrying the boat. Given the huge amount of snow we got in the winter, the Merced River became raftable in late July—under 7 ft at Happy Isles Bridge and when we went in the middle of August it was right above the minimum level, which meant that this river would be nice and calm.
We arrived at Stoneman Bridge around 5:30 PM, as we had a late finish to our rock climb earlier in the day. We found a nice beach and we inflated our packraft and floatie with my mini air pump.
Louie and I jumped into our fully inflated pack raft with confidence and Sarah jumped into her fully inflated floatie with lots of trepidation (would the water be too cold? how will the floatie handle the faster sections of the river?). It all turned out well, as even if Sarah’s behind was touching the water, it didn’t bother her enough to abort the ride down the river; the floatie also proved itself as more than capable for this slow flowing river—proving to be a stout vessel on all parts of the river.
We had a great time floating down the river and sharing lots of laughs—especially at how Sarah had to navigate the floatie by paddling with her hands. After Stoneman Bridge, we wondered if we should exit a bit earlier than expected, as we then could cut the hike short by 30 minutes or so. We all agreed it’d be worth it to abort early, so we got out, packed up our stuff as best as we could, and walked the surprisingly short distance back to my car.