Kayaking South Fork of the American River Golden Gate section in CA

The level was around 700 cfs. Not having the best shuttle vehicles seems like it would have been easier to put on several miles upstream where the bridge crosses the river rather than driving down the crappy putin road.

[@BarryKruse]

I enjoyed watching this. The combination of first and third-person shots was useful. And it still doesn’t look as hard as it really is! It’s been decades since I was there, and I’d forgotten about all the quality whitewater between the big, keep-you-awake-at night, named drops.
I ran this twice in SOTAR rafts in the mid-80’s, including the second raft descent. Believe it or not, we tried to run the main drop in Taco Bell. Believable: We got spanked and nearly swam Brain Fade.
The only things we didn’t run were F-111 and The Rose. (We carried Taco Bell and ran The Rose the second time we were there.)
The Rose changed dramatically in 25 years, though. When we rafted it, it was class VI for this reason: The right -hand slot at the main drop simply saw the river disappear into boulders. Sure death if you were unable to get to the left slot in a raft.
I enjoyed your video. Great paddling.

[@JohnMoorekayak]

Thanks for the compliment and the history lesson on the river. It is amazing how much some of these rivers change.

[@richardgooding498]

Where is the gateway area of the south fork. Is it east of Kelsey canyon

[@JohnMoorekayak]

I am not familiar with Kelsey Canyon. The putin is near Riverton and the takeout for golden gate is near Pollock Pines. Hope this helps. I a from West Virginia so I am not super familiar with the area.

[@richardgooding498]

@@JohnMoorekayak thanks John