Cruising down the Truckee

Saturday we had to make a choice. We had planned on taking a little river trip but the options were not looking up for us.

Last weekend, while at the Make-A-Wish Golf Tournament the rest of the family went and messed around in the river. They stayed away from the downtown area and instead went to a more secluded spot along Idlewild Drive. While there, they spotted some people in kayaks with a phone number on the side. It looked like something we all might want to do, so they remembered the number.

During the week, we called the place— Tahoe Whitewater Tours. They laid it out for us. It was $19 per hour for a kayak with floaters on the side, but you had to be nine years old to get one by yourself. Otherwise, it was a longer trip consisting of a guide and you would do the “Verdi Run”:

THE VERDI RUN – Just 20 minutes west of Reno, the Verdi run offers of Class II white water excitement with such rapids as “Gorilla Falls” and “Powerhouse.” You pass by the site of the Great Train Robbery on this river run. Its closeness to Reno makes it an easy outing for those vacationing there. *Spring only.

$68.00
$58.00 for kids 7 – 12 years old

That price was way too steep for what we wanted. We were simply looking to screw around and float down. The other problem was that The Girl is only 7. We could have lied, but she also couldn’t have handled a kayak on her own. So that was out.

Then we called Sierra Adventures. Honestly, I have no idea what that deal would have gone for because the guy on the phone argued with us about what their site said and what they offer. Oh well.

That led us to do some hunting. After a few trips, we found a killer raft at Sports Authority. We paid $60 for the raft, tied it to the car, parked the other car downtown, and followed the path below.

At almost 2.5 miles, the trip took us 2 hours and cost us just the $60 for the raft. Plus, we’ve got the raft to do it again, which we will before the end of warm weather. We may even take a chance and cruise it up to Tahoe City.