Sacramento River
MVP
Aqua Xtreme X2—I kind of second guessed my purchase of this packraft as I’ve only used it on lakes, and it’s not much fun on them... Well, using it on a river (where it was designed to be used), made me appreciate how awesome this boat is. So glad it’s a part of my toolkit.
River Review:
I rafted from Posse Grounds Boat Ramp in Redding to Anderson River Park.
The river was broad, easy, and the water was clean enough.
It’s a class 2 run, though, on the easy end of that.
I must have passed by a dozen fishing boats ranging from large rowboats to powerboats with 4+ people on them.
There are plenty of wild life on the river—birds, deer, fish, etc. Unfortunately, also tons of bugs like mosquitos.
What I Learned:
I wasn’t sure if my two person packraft would do well with just me on it, but it worked great. I would describe it as luxurious. I had tons of room and the river was easy enough where I didn’t feel the extra size.
I hadn’t floated down a river in more than 15 years, so I had forgotten how slowly one floats down a river (and how fast the rapids feel).
My plan of packing everything up in a backpacking pack and getting a Lyft back to my car worked out perfectly. The only issue was that my phone was down to about 10% when I confirmed the Lyft ride and 4% when I got back to my car. Next time, I should really pack an extra battery.
I am loving my t-shirt hoodie from REI. I love how comfortable it is and how well it protects me from the sun.
I had always used the lumbar support inflatable pillow that came with my packraft, but found out that it was more comfortable without it! I might have to remove the buckle from the packraft so that it’s more comfortable!
Maybe this is because it’s a two person packraft, but the boat just wanted to keep facing upstream. It actually turned into a “feature”, as the upstream view was of the mountains.
Because a packraft doesn’t have a skeg, I really enjoyed the raft’s maneuverability in the rapids. I would just turn towards the direction I’d want to go, and start paddling. It almost felt like the Asteroids videogame.
There are a lot of fancy houses with direct access to the river. Like dozens of houses.
My permethrin impregnated clothes (shirt and hat) protected me from tons of bugs. I’m sure if it weren’t for my clothes, I’d been eaten alive.
Fears Faced
Will my planning for this solo trip work out?—It did. Like it always does, because I research things deeply. I was worried about plenty of things—the boat launch in Redding, the lack of a boat ramp in Anderson River Park, LTE signal for a Lyft, etc. Everything worked out better than I could have planned.
What Happened?
15.1 miles, 4 hrs 27 mins, 2-4 mph water flow
I launched my packraft from Posse Grounds Boat Ramp around 9:30am and started my journey after a cold morning in Lassen National Forest. It was a little jarring from using my seat warmers to putting on my swimming trunks with one hour, but I was kind of glad to feel how warm Redding was compared to Lassen.
The hours went by quickly on the boat and everything just seemed to flow by and to flow together. I do have specific memories though:
When I passed by the Sundial Bridge, there were multiple people who looked on, and we waved to each other.
There must have been a dozen or so rapids, and each one was different, but similar. I loved how after every rapid, there is a slow, lazy part of the river where I’d just let my boat spin and chill out.
There was a goose that followed me for at least a quarter mile (and possibly 1/2). I’m going to guess it was protecting its nest?
A fellow Project M camper stopped by in the parking lot to chat to me about his setup. I really liked his sliding bed and the built-in storage. I like mine bare bones for now, but maybe I’ll want to update it in the future.
After passing below highway 5, I knew the ride was almost over, and looked for Anderson River Park. I was able to get out on a rocky beach. After I packed up everything, I ordered a Lyft ride back to Posse Grounds.
