Team River Runner Palo Alto

07/04/2026

Support a Veteran--Win a Shredder!

2026 TRR Shredder Raffle. See below for details.

Online entries close July 9.

05/29/2024

https://teamriverrunner.betterworld.org/giveaways/20th-anniversary-giveaway-PADDLEBOARD

Help us Celebrate 20 years of Adaptive Adventure paddlesports with our Veterans in 2024. Enter for a chance to win the HALA Rado Paddleboard.

05/29/2024

https://teamriverrunner.betterworld.org/giveaways/20th-anniversary-giveaway-FOLDINGKAYAK

Help us Celebrate 20 years of Adaptive Adventure paddlesports with our Veterans in 2024. Enter for a chance to win the ORU Beach LT Folding Kayak. Team River Runner started in kayaks 20 years ago, since then we have seen a lot of changes in the kayak industry....but a kayak that fits in a backpack,....

05/29/2024

https://teamriverrunner.betterworld.org/giveaways/20th-anniversary-giveaway-PHATCAT

Help us Celebrate 20 years of Adaptive Adventure paddlesports with our Veterans in 2024. Enter for a chance to win the RMR PHAT CAT Today! Fast, Nimble, Stable and a ton of fun, the RMR Phat cat is great watercraft for entry level paddlers learning to read water, the weekend river warriors and even....

01/30/2024

Coloma to Greenwood--Are You Sure It’s January?
January 28, 2024
Coloma California

Participants:
American River: Phil Sayre
Palo Alto: Sasha Becker, Michael Halsor, Louis Pantoja, Maggie Hetherington, Carlisle Landel

“My sprayskirt just tore. I need to head over to The River Store to get a new one.”
--Yep, it was a river trip. There is always some hitch in the plans.

When the National Weather service announced a forecast high of 71 and sunny for Coloma California for Sunday, January 28, it was time to take advantage of global warming and throw together a quick spur-of-the-moment river trip. There was the usual fumbling about (I can go—no I can’t—no wait—nope.) but by late Saturday afternoon, 6 folks forwent football playoffs, domestic demands, the ski slopes, a day at the beach, etc., to meet at Marshall Gold Discovery State Park in Coloma California for a run on the class II+/III- C to G (Coloma to Greenwood Creek) section of the South fork of the American on a nice 1600 cfs release.

Sasha, Michael and Louis have all been through our pool training (Sasha and Michael have solid pool rolls already), and normally we would put them into hard shell boats on this section for their first introduction to moving water, but although the air temperature was pleasant the water temps were cold, so we elected instead to outfit them with an IK-1 (Sasha) and one of our Shredders (Michael and Lou).

There was a certain amount of disorganization at the put-in, as befits trips with first-timers, and of course there were the usual various other little complications (see above), but finally, after the requisite risk management briefing, we headed on down the river. We had some initial moving water instruction in boat control, ferries, and in catching and leaving eddies, and then we spend our day river basking in the sunshine and practicing our skills. There were some early bounces off of rocks and one high-side with an ejection of a Shredder pilot, but this provided a great low-risk opportunity to practice a raft-based rescue with lots of kayak support. The newbies dialed in their maneuvering as we went, and by the end of the run, they were hitting all their lines perfectly. Great job!

It was a glorious day! Exquisite weather, a fantastic crew, an uncrowded river—heaven! And the cherry on top: we were able to liberate Phil’s car from the Marshall parking lot (locked at dusk--who knew?) with the $80 parking ticket (yikes!) voided (yay!).

Afterwards we repaired to the Coloma Club for a nice dinner.

Kudos to Sasha, Michael and Lou for their Personal First Descents on C-to-G. Next time: hard shell boats!

And now we return you to our regularly scheduled weather. The next Atmospheric River arrives Wednesday.

Epilogue: It was only this morning that I discovered that my DVR spontaneously decided to stop recording the Niners-Lions game with seven minutes to go in the 4th quarter. Sigh….

Team River Runner USAThe River Store

01/30/2024

MLK Weekend Monterey Harbor Paddle
January 13, 2024
Monterey, CA

Participants:
Monterey Chapter: Jeff Sloan, David Collins Laura Davidson, Dan Downs, Alyssa Falge (with sons Bryson and Braxton), Paula Travis, Dani Naldoza
Bill Shelander, Mike O’Meara, Michael Halsor

One week after the Icebreaker trip kicked off the year for TRR in Northern California, it was time to put to sea, so 10 folks from Palo Alto and Monterey drove through the early morning rain to the Coast Guard Pier in Monterey for a paddle using 5 sit-on-top tandems. A huge rainbow over Monterey Bay hinted at the good times to come.

After gearing up in cool weather, the sun came out for a glorious paddle through the harbor and along the waterfront. The weather held for the day, and the team drove home as the rain began anew.

Special thanks to Adventures by the Sea for supporting Team River Runner

Trip impressions/comments/highlights:

Otters, otters, otters everywhere! The word is “rafts” of otters. Barking sea lions on the jetty. Harbor seals resting vertically in the water with their noses just above the water. Boats in the marina with strange or comical names. 42 degrees when we arrived. Warm and sunny by the end. Wonderful day in nature. -Bill

Lots (35+) of otters and babies in two rafts. Sea lions, harbor seals. Had an incredible paddle heading into the bay - the weather ended up being divine! -Anon

Loved the abundance of otters was so cool to see them all out in droves today. As we approached some rocks, we saw dozens of sea lions. As we passed, they jumped into the water out of curiosity and joined the fun! It was so neat to see them up close. Best thing I saw was there was this sea lion just peacefully bobbing among the kelp about 3 ft from the nose of our kayak. -Anon

Great day. No rain or wind or waves – flat water. Good group. Mike O

There was a goofy sounding bird, too fat to fly, shaped bowling ball – would make squeaky sounds while running on the water to attempt to fly – wings slapping on the water – sometimes successful in taking flight. -Dave (visually impaired paddler)

A picture-perfect day to be on the Bay! Contagious comradery and superior support is food for the soul. Thanks, Team River Runner! -Paula

Team River Runner USA Adventures by the Sea

01/30/2024

Icebreaker Trip
Chili Bar Run
S. F. American River
January 6, 2024

Participants:
American River Chapter: Bill McDonald, Rebecca Camacho, Chris Farris, Darcy Kauer, Kevin Park, Harry Smith, Gabe Thompson, Nick Aghazarian
Palo Alto Chapter: Will Broset, Raja Minhas, Annais Rosales, Maggie Hetherington, Carlisle Landel
Reno Chapter: Steve Hedrick

Despite the questionable marketing of this first trip of 2024 as “Icebreaker”, fourteen people showed up at 8:30 AM to Henningsen Lotus Park (HLP) in Coloma California for run of the Chili Bar section (Class III+) of the South Fork American River.

Temperatures were in the low 40s, the skies were overcast, and rain had an appointment for an early afternoon appearance. We rigged boats, consolidated vehicles, and headed up to the put in for the launch of the fleet of 4 kayaks, one packraft, two oar/paddle rigs, and one paddle raft. Everyone was clad in neoprene and/or dry suits.

It was a nice relaxing day on a 1500 cfs release. Those of us who hadn’t run this section since last year’s epic high flows marveled at the changes in the river corridor. There were a few spills and swims, but no consequences as the team swung seamlessly into rescue and recovery mode. People stayed warm for the most part. One person elected to portage “Troublemaker”, the final and most complex rapid. From there, the group pretty much sprinted through the class II- final three miles to the takeout at HLP as the rain began to fall. After de-rigging, many of the participants headed over to Kevin’s for refreshments.

It was a great way to start 2024!

Team River Runner USA

11/28/2023

06/15/2023

Support Veterans on the River and Win a Shredder!

THE 2023 SHREDDER GIVEAWAY ends June 25th; winner will be announced on FB live.

You could win one of these awesome boats, this special edition SHREDDER is decorated with the Team River Runner Logo! This is the best 2 person raft on the market.

Here is the link to enter:
https://teamriverrunner.betterworld.org/giveaways/2023-shredder-giveaway
SHREDDERS retail for nearly $4,000.
tickets are $10 each
or buy our 15 ticket super shredder pack for just $100
Free shipping to the winner, anywhere in the US