Response to EBMUD Proposal to Raise the Level of Pardee Reservoir

As you may know, Angels Camp is working hard to brand itself as the Base Camp for Mountain Sports in the Sierra.  A lot of our rural tourism economy is based upon recreation.  Calaveras County boasts wonderful skiing, trails for hiking and mountain biking, caving, horseback riding, fishing, sea kayaking and other water sports.   Currently, the county shares a wonderful whitewater kayaking resource with Amador County on the Mokelumne River.

Missing from the logical mix of recreational activities available to residents and visitors, however, is a good section of whitewater that is readily available to the general public.  Currently, the only viable whitewater section in the county is on the North Fork of the Stanislaus River near Calaveras Big Trees.  This section of river, however, is too difficult for most people since it is a challenging Class IV run that can only be rafted during the spring in a year with normal snowfall.  Even with this year’s exceptionally heavy precipitation, this only extended the Upper Stanislaus’ availability through July.

Written by George Wendt

George Wendt, founder and president of O.A.R.S. is a true pioneer in the adventure travel industry. His passion for running rivers was born in the 60s, when he became one of the first 1100 people to descend the seldom-traveled Colorado River through the Grand Canyon. In the decades since, O.A.R.S. has set the industry standard for first-class rafting as well as environmentally and culturally responsible travel on over 35 rivers and coastlines worldwide. To date they’ve positively affected the lives of over 500,000 travelers and in 2008 and 2009 the company was recognized by National Geographic Adventure as “The Best River & Sea Outfitter on Earth” based on education, sustainability, quality of service, spirit of adventure and references.

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