Springtime on the Merced River

I had the good fortune of tagging along*side* the river (no, not ON the river) (yes, I had whitewater envy) to watch aspiring whitewater raft guides learn the tricks of the trade.  The "whitewater boot camp" had about 12 hearty folks.  They began their journey on the South Fork American River, worked their way over to the Merced, back through Yosemite National Park to the Tuolumne and finally returned to the South Fork.  Everyone seemed to have a good time – and no doubt everyone had good clean lines through the rapids.  The water on the Merced was a little low on Wednesday due to a late season cold front – the snow stopped melting – so the flow was around 1100 CFS.  It’s all good though – slow snow melt = a long, stretched out season.

Here’s a successful run through the rapid just below Ned’s…

mvi_8034.flv

Written by Tracy

Writer, Photographer, former Waterblogged Editor