The River

I began heading south and never really left California... so far. I knew by day 3 that my pace was already slowing down and I was not going to turn down any amazing opportunities like fish frys, river rafting trips or spontaneous dinner invitations.

At the last minute I was invited for a day of tubing with a group of friends from San Francisco. The venue would be down Cache Canyon Creek which runs along HWY 16 northwest of Sacramento.


I rolled into the area the day before with the intention of camping but everything was completely full since peak season was in full swing. I stumbled across a campground privately leased to Cache Canyon River Trips.

I spoke with the owners, John & Julie Karlones for a while who were simply wonderful people. They run the business with their three sons. I explained I was to meet 18 fellow tubers tomorrow and run the river. Even though it was clear that my friends and I were not using their company for our little adventure the next day, they still invited me to stay at their campground, this included dinner and breakfast!!
What an incredible act of kindness I thought.


John and Julie - two wonderful spirits with alot of love in their hearts!!

If you're thinking about a rafting trip, please consider doing it with this amazing family:

http://cachecanyon.com/Home/Welcome.html







Kitchen operation at Cache Canyon River Trips. It's quite a task to feed 200 people for every meal, and the food was excellent!!











I went in search of suitable camping accommodations in John & Julie's campground, hopefully away from the beer-slinging, party-animal tents that were scattered about.

I came across Michael and Angela Lynch who were rafting for the weekend with their three children Aden, Avery and Maya.

The Lynch Family lives in Santa Rosa, not too far from my fellow Mt. Shasta camp-mates.

It was a pleasure camping next to them and I hope to see them again when my travels take me through their neighborhood.



By 9pm it finally cooled off to a comfortable sleeping temperature. Spending hour after hour on the bike in the heat does take it out of me and I was ready to crawl into my sleeping bag. I stood outside my tent gazing at the Milky Way which is quite profound this far from city lights, and night was incredibly clear. But alas, sleep was here and I was out by 10:00.

Namaste ~ :-)