One Last Day in First Threat on the American River

	Ryan Cartwheeling in First Threat.	Ryan Looping in First Threat.

Ryan didn't play too much in First Threat when I first met him last month, but while I was in Asia he has made amazing progress. He is cartwheeling and even throwing loops with his long (not so good for aerials) boat in First Threat.

I think the First Threat hole is not the best place to achieve elegant, completely out of the water loops, but if you look closely at the above right video clip, you can see that Ryan is indeed flipping his boat, even though partially submerged.

Maya Wave from river left, early in the Chili Bar Run.

The First Threat area clears out in a hurry when the water is turned off as everyone tries to get downstream and out of the river while there is still enough water to paddle out comfortably.

By the time we got to Troublemaker and Double Trouble, the flow was much lower than the 2 previous days I paddled here.

I was eager to paddle Troublemaker again, so I could see what it is like right side up (unlike my last time). Ryan chose to paddle Double Trouble again. I eddied out above the rapids and walked down to shoot him going through Double Trouble, and then I walked back up and Ryan shot me going through Troublemaker.

Troublemaker Rapid was very mild and a bit of a letdown. It is very easy to run at this lower level. If you compare this video to Paddle Day 40's Troublemaker video, you will see a dramatic difference.

Double Trouble also was mild in the chute and it looks almost like a trickle compared to the photos from Paddle Day 41 when Ryan and I both ran it.
However, at lower water, we discovered that Double Trouble's lower rock face eddy will trap and retain you against your will. In the video below, you can see Ryan putting up a fight to get out of the eddy.

Even at low water, Troublemaker rapid can still cause some problems for boaters. I caught a clip of one boater swimming by before me as I was setting up to shoot Ryan's Double Trouble descent across the river. This swimmer was not in too much trouble though. He just had 2 more drops to go through before landing in a big pool with a lot of bystanders and other boaters around to help if needed. But swimming through the drops head first, as you can see this boater do in the video clip, is definitely not the best way to do it. Feet are generally much preferable to faces for rock impacts. I would hate for him to take the same boulder to his face that I took to my shoulder on my last paddle through Troublemaker rapid.

	Swimmer merrily cruises through Troublemaker.	Ryan trapped at the base of Double Trouble Chute.

Flipping while stuck in the Double Trouble eddy in the above right video could have been very bad. If Ryan had been pinned against the wall upside down and unable to roll, a forced swim may have occurred. And in the vicinity of Double Trouble's undercut rock wall, a swim could be very bad indeed.

Mellow run through Troublemaker at low water.

I'm glad I made it back for a third day in the South Fork of the American River. It is a forgiving Class 3 run with great play features and a Class 4ish conclusion to add drama (especially if you take the chute).

There is still more to do here in this area between Lake Tahoe and Sacramento. There is a lower section of the South Fork, and several other river runs as well.