Summer of Lars on the South Yuba

May 25, 2009
The 49 to Bridgeport run on the S. Yuba is a classic. We caught it with around 900 cfs, a dreamy level if you don't mind a few big holes. The river is characterized by big powerful drops usually in committing canyons.




Ryan at an early scout.

Ryan and I did this one after running the Edwards to Purdon's section with Sarah and Heidi. The "E2P" is a fantastic run in itself, right up there with Chamberlain Falls on the N. American. Anyways, we opted to do it over the more difficult Purdon's to 49 section due to high water, lack of a guide, limited daylight, and the fact there was only two of us. In the end, we were happy with our decision.




you get quite a few of these on the S. Yuba






There's also plenty of cool ledges




The S. Yuba is such a pretty river! All sections considered, (and I haven't done them all), it's one of my favorite rivers in California. And now there's the Yuba Gap run that's as hairy as they come. Yeah, there's something for everyone. I look forward to hitting that one next year.





Ryan coming into Cornerpocket



Towards the end of the run you come to a couple of serious rapids. The first isn't pictured, but it's a slide with a giant hole. The slide is not straightforward and it prevents you from gathering any speed whatsoever. I was happy to discover that the hole flushes quite nicely despite looking horrendous. Just watch out for dead opossums floating in the recirculating eddy at the bottom.



The second is called Cornerpocket. It consists of a deceivingly pushy entry into a horseshoe ledge that feeds into a nasty undercut cliff on river left.



The ledge that wants to feed you into the undercut wall that I'm standing on. There's about a 15 or 20 foot boil line that adds to the intimidation factor.




The "cornerpocket" is to Ryan's left in this picture



Where you don't wanna be


One more sweet ledge


We blitzed the run in a little over two hours, arriving in Bridgeport around 6:30 to meet the ladies who were happy to see us with so much daylight to spare.
You just gotta hit the S. Yuba.
Peace