This would be a tag-along weekend for me. Heather was doing a whitewater rescue course on the South Fork American River so I was along for the drive. The last 30 minutes of the driving to the campsite in the dark ended up being particularly exciting with both of the low beams managing to burn out- turns out those are useful. I could not find any other takers for paddling and so decided to see what I could pull together on my own. I had previously run the 20.5mile Chili Bar - C to G - The Gorge in one go solo so at least knew I should be able to handle it again. She kindly dropped me off at Chili Bar before her course and I readied for the run under the bridge opposite a quiet Chili Bar. Supposedly there are some III and III+ rapids but as I remembered last time Troublemaker (III+, above) at the end of the run was the first thing that was engaging. It took me one hour to this point. I got out to stroll through our camp and see if I could figure out shuttle logistics for a Middle Fork trip the next day (no such luck yet).
I continued on through the Coloma to Greenwood run. Not too much to note but waved at Heather in her course at the Mother Lode River Center. I past lots of raft groups and one kayak group, making good time. The long pools I remembered in the first half of The Gorge run were still there. I had a clean line through Satan's Cesspool- the weird lateral tongue was more hollow this time and so I skimmed in to the right of it with very little drama. Hospital Bar Rapid at the end of the run was probably the one I was thinking about the most as this is where a meaty hole and strong laterals took out some IKs I was floating through with and almost got me. I also had a clean and unmemorable run through this rapid this time. The lake level was even lower than last time so I had flow all the way to the Skunk Hollow take-out. 4.5 hours on the water. As I got to the parking lot there was a truck with kayakers minutes away from taking off. I asked if they were headed to Greenwood and to my great luck they were and were super friendly about a ride. I quickly and haphazardly loaded my stuff in the back of the truck and we were off. Quickest hitch ever! I ended up having a nice chat with Mark and Lisa formerly of Anaheim Hills, and Logan, and they even dropped me off at Mother Lode River Center where the car was waiting! It wasn't the most exciting run, particularly being a repeat for me, but it was great to put in some miles and I might have been the only one running the whole river that day.
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