Kayaked on the L.A. River this Weekend

Rallyroo

Expedition Leader
Sat, Jul 21st was the first day of the season that will allow a total of 2,000 participants to legally kayak on the L.A. River (Los Angeles River) for 2012. When the pilot program started in 2011, it was limited to just 290 participants. With strong interest from people, I hope the program can get a permit from the Army Corp of Engineers to allow for more participants in 2013.

Most people think of concrete and trash when it comes to the L.A. River. We basically kayaked to the dam where beyond that the poor L.A. River is channelized.

Yes, this hidden gem is found within Los Angeles City limits.
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Portage time
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LA Times article about the kayaking program
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-adv-lariver-cleanup-20120715,0,365733.story
 
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Rallyroo

Expedition Leader
Adding addtional pics, so pics are in not in chronological order anymore. Sorry.

Briefing
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Standard issue shopping carts found every so often
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One of many egrets along the river
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Plastic bags remain stuck in tree branches show how high the water level reaches during flood conditions.
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Ranger Roger
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FishPOET

Adventurer
Louis Sahagun said:
...as the flotilla skimmed over lazy currents of water the color of chocolate milk and smelling like old socks in the hardest working wetlands in Los Angeles.

Nice visual
 

teotwaki

Excelsior!
Nice report! I have read about kayking that river but now I know someone who has legally paddled on it!
 
Great story and cool pics.

I've never kayaked the LA river, but I've ridden, walked, and fished along various parts of it. The thought of eating what I caught never crossed my mind :), but you can entertain yourself all day fishing if that's your interest.

That looks fun! Anybody ever fish there?
 

Ed Bravo

Adventurer
The pictures posted make it look cool - what about shall we say, the less scenic parts? How many miles did this adventure cover - what part(s) of the river?

ed
 

Rallyroo

Expedition Leader
The less scenic parts are where the river is channelized; widened, dredged, and lined with concrete so water escapes as quickly as possible without replenishing the water table. Think Terminator scene where Arnold was riding his motorcycle along the concrete channel. Or think of the news when people need to get rescued from the LA River during heavy rain storm events and the river is flooding.

The part we got to kayak on is the Sepulveda Basin area before the Sepulveda Dam. We didn't cover much distance, just 1.5 miles. I wish we could of started farther upstream to get more distance.
 

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