Sweet Sierra Weekend Part 1: Summit of the South Yuba

By Steven Wright

The Summit run of the South Yuba is the perfect leave-work-a-little-early afternoon run for anyone living in Reno or Truckee–it’s less than 60 miles away with easy shuttle and it’s FUN. The upper 8 miles are beautiful, quality class 4 with one portage that can be run down the left if you’ve got the skills and want to get your heart racing–though a bad line on the portage could become a REALLY bad line. Below this run is another great run with several incredible class 5 rapids including "3 Blind Mice" and the infamous "East Meets West" falls.

On Saturday Justin, Manny, Jessica, and I headed-up for an afternoon run on the upper section. Justin demoed my Superhero, Manny was in my Hero, Jessica was in her brand new Hero, and I was in my Punk. Everyone had great lines all day, and we managed to meet-up with more friends from Truckee mid-run. Enjoy the photos, which show most of the major rapids of this section. There are so many fun rapids that it’s hard to remember them all, and the scenery is beautiful on top of the mountain. I was excited to run the left channel at the portage (Rainbow Lodge), which I had scouted the last time we ran this section. It’s a narrow, manky channel, which ends in a fun 7 or 8 foot drop (as shown in the photo).

Live from Reno,
Stephen Wright