The Upper Sacramento River Between Simms Campground and Dog Creek Road is a dream run: challenging, not too hard, having lots of rapids--nearly 50, on this one-day stretch.  Some rapids are long and continuous, some pool-drop, and none harder than soft Class IV. Water seems to come from everywhere as numerous sidestreams tumble into this lush canyon. 

Accessability is sweet, located right off of Interstate-5, above Shasta Lake between Redding and Mount Shasta.  Takeout is by the majestic arches of the old Dog Creek Bridge, near the historic town of Vollmers, named after the pioneer family and ancestors of one of our guides, Eric.

The Cal Salmon River, like the Trinity River, drains the Trinity Alps Mountains and flows into the Klamath River. It is the next major watershed north of the Trinity River. It's clear waters cascade through time in a Marble and Granite canyon that streams through layers of rock, progressively older to younger, until it reaches the Klamath River which runs parallel to its youngest layer (a mere 150 million years old).

In this "time travel" you plunge through world-class whitewater! Known as the Slammin' Salmon, you negotiate your journey through steep, rocky drops, cascades and waterfalls. Bloomers Falls starts out the Class V Nordheimer run and Freight Train finishes it with adreniline-soaked drops like Airplane Turn, Achilles, Cascade, and Whirling Dervish in between.  You will gaze into the Gaping Maw, and zig and zag through other tightly-spaced rapids on the popular Class IV Butler Creek run. Further upstream, the Methodist Creek run, Class III or Matthews Creek run, Class IV take a more relaxed pace. 

Our most remote river, the South Fork Trinity, begins at the end of a seldom-travelled road, sharing this access with a home that can be reached only by crossing the river in a hand-powered tram.  The difficulty of the terrain kept even the hardy 49ers from settling its lush canyons.  Folded rocks are dazzling as one enjoys quiet between rapids. Hardly a trip passes where a bald eagle isn't spotted soaring overhead.  The long, Class IV rapids called the Three Bears followed by a spunky surprise, Goldylocks round out a great day.  The South Fork flows northward in a north/south canyon creating optimal sun exposure for springtime warmth without glare.  In most years, the South Fork has raftable flows into early May.

Springtime on the Mainstem Trinity brings big water delight. On the Pigeon Point Run we begin one mile up the North Fork to enjoy it's clear green water and the contrast of it's smaller size. Once entering the mainstem one meets long trains of towering waves very different from the river's summertime appearance.

Good Morning America appropriately has the first bottoms-out drop. The Slot is an impressive nearly river-wide hole with one reasonable choice of where to go. Huge angling waves take the raft straight through Zig Zag, and the larger waves of Hells Gate arise unexpectedly. Hell Hole, still impressive, is unrecognizable as the summertime waterfall. Sailor Bar's angled waves bank the raft around the corner. It takes a lot of water to cover the biggest rocks of Pinball, requiring technical backpaddling, and Fishtail is long with the biggest hole of the day.

Just downsteam from Big Flat, the rapids join to make a single rapid over a quarter mile long. Lickety Splat has a fun swirling, boiling eddy. Big French Creek Rapid boasts the biggest waves on the river, and some very impressive, though luckily avoidable, Moby Dick-sized holes.

May is the most reliable time for big water because large dam releases are scheduled to scour the river and send hatchery salmon and steelhead to the ocean.