Today was a half day at work for me, so Mike and I made plans to SUP the Upper Truckee river in the afternoon. We loaded the boards up before I left for work, and we met at the marina around lunch time. This way, we had 2 cars. We left my car at the marina and took his truck to the starting point, about 5 miles up the road.
Other people have done this river on paddleboards and everyone offered different advice. Some said to take the fins off the boards so you won't catch on rocks and
The river is flowing pretty well right now from the melting snow in the mountains but, overall it's pretty shallow. The current will catch the fin and push your board sideways, so maneuvering was a little tricky but we got the hang of it. Mike stood on his board the ENTIRE time (like a pro). I alternated between standing up in the calm areas, and paddling on my knees in the "rapids."
I'd be lying if I said we didn't fall in. Mike took a few tumbles, falling FULL body into the cold water. He was leading the way so he hit most of the obstacles and I got to avoid them. He lost his HAT down the river... but caught up to that... he lost a SHOE in the river but a kayaker ahead of us grabbed it... and he lost his PADDLE down the river but was able to paddle with his hands to catch up to it. He was so sweet to go first! I lost my balance when my fin got caught and jumped into waist deep water. Thankfully for both of us, the Truckee is actually much warmer than Lake Tahoe. It was cold, but tolerable.
Overall, it's a very mellow paddle. A little bit of current... lots of turns... pretty shallow... and clear water so you can see obstacles ahead. There is a bit of a catch though: there are a LOT of fallen trees across one part of the river. We had to keep stopping, taking the boards out of the water, carry them around on the shore, and then put the boards back in the water.
There was also one stretch of "rapids" - none of which were truly whitewater - where the current picked up around a bend in the river, and there was a HUGE fallen tree across the river with just BARELY enough room for a kayaker to go under. We got out and walked the boards around but several people behind us just "went for it." Two guys in a canoe T boned a huge rock in the current, which spun the boat around, and they went under the tree backwards (laying down in the canoe because there wasn't enough clearance for them otherwise). Crazy.
It was a LONG float/paddle (3.5 hrs) but SO much fun. We're really glad we did it. And afterward, we loaded the boards on the car and headed straight for a brewery. Next time: river floats + a cooler float + friends!
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