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 Topic:  River level cable, lower Middle Cosumnes section 

Forums -> Hazards -> River level cable, lower Middle Cosumnes section Page 1 of 1
Posted to flow site: Mi. Cosumnes - At Mt Aukum RdLatest PostNext TopicPrev Topic
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daniel-todd
Member
Posted: Mar 30, 2011Post Subject: River level cable, lower Middle Cosumnes section
Ran the Lower section of the Middle Cosumnes two days ago. The flow claimed to be 725. I am sorry to say I can not give a good guess as to where this was but there was a cable at river level near the end of one of the many fun class II/III waves trains. It was slapping the water and jumping up. We noticed it last second and there was not really anyway to avoid by then. I was able to grad it and toss it over my head but it snagged my R2 partners jacket and also ripped him out of the raft. Again the flow was 725 on this very wet year. The best I can say was it was after the low head dam but before the South Fork comes in.

On a side note. We put in at Mt. Aukum road. When we got to the gorge it was very full. 6 years ago I rafted this section and we portaged just one drop. Two days ago we portaged the full .3 miles. It ended up a long process of lining for over 3 hours. By the time we reached HW 49 there was no question about doing it all over again. The problem is only a few people would really be into portaging the gorge with me. So I am wondering what is the current word on access below the gorge? Google mas shows Summerset road going all the way down to the river on the left side. Passing by this point on the river there was a beach and a couple of No Trespassing signs. The other point could be also on river left at the low head dam. Again Google maps show a road here. At some point I plan to drive around and check this out myself unless someone already has and is willing to post it. Thank you.

Also rafted the middle section of the Middle Fork. And the lower section of the North Fork. we put in about 2 miles down from Bucks Bar road on a friends privet land. Might even be the first raft descent mostly due to access problems.
daniel-todd
Member
Posted: Apr 21, 2011Post Subject: No cable
Ran the Middle Fork section again yesterday. The flow was higher this time, 860. We found a road that lead all the day to the Plymouth diversion dam and put-in there. I could not recall where the cable was the first time but we never came upon it yesterday. This could mean three things. 1)The cable is gone. 2)The cable is now underwater (it nearly was under at 725.) 3)My memory is bad and the cable was in the 2 miles able the Plymouth diversion dam. My best guess now is the cable was somewhere between miles 5 and 7.

A few side notes. Getting down to the Plymouth diversion dam worked out really well and is a great put-in. From here to Latrobe is an awesome 17 miles making for a full day. The first part starts out with more trees then the rest of the run. The river never really stops and the banks are almost always treed in so getting to an eddy could be a problem. I would call it class III+ at the biggest with super fun waves trains. With a good flow on the Middle Fork this brings the Main Cosumnes above 2 grand. This is more of a warning for those who found the Middle Fork was pushing their skills; From 49 to Old and Gray becomes a solid class IV section with larger holes to avoid. I have been around this river bed with very little water. Swimming could be deadly due to caves in the rock.

Be safe and get out there while the water is at a great level.
Forums -> Hazards -> River level cable, lower Middle Cosumnes section Page 1 of 1