Just finished up an awesome weekend up in the Trinity Alps with the Munselles, a beautiful part of California up there west of Redding, no Tahoe crowds and majestic scenery. We camped at Trinity Adventure Park in Big Bar along the fast-flowing Trinity River, a middle-of-nowhere spot with great locals and a fun bar in the campground to enjoy on Friday and Saturday nights.
A friend of mine mentioned to me a few months ago how great the rafting is for kids up on the Trinity. We signed up with Trinity River Rafting, one of the three rafting companies running this section of the Trinity. They offer a class two run suitable for four years olds, which is pretty much was spurred the trip in the first place as there’s no way Max would hear of us embarking on an adventure like this without him! It was a hell of a lot of fun, all of us were hooting and hollering all day with some dips in the icy river to cool off from the scorching early afternoon sun. It took Lilia a while to start enjoying herself – she was very quiet in the back of the raft for the first hour or two – but she started to get into it after we’d stopped for lunch. Nick, our guide, did an amazing job of keeping the raft stable and putting up with the eight of us for the day. Max hasn’t stopped talking about it since we got off the river, I think the kid’s hooked!
After a few beers on Saturday night some of the river guides in the campsite next to us paddled into the rapid in front of our campsite and surfed the standing waves with their whitewater kayaks. Great entertainment from the campsite. One of them goaded me into attempting the rapid on a stand up paddle board, which, after a few beers myself, sounded like a lot of fun. With lifejacket and helmet borrowed from one of the guides, it took me eight or nine tries but I was eventually successful. Unfortunately the GoPro battery ran out for my final (successful) attempt, so you’ll just have to take my word that I made it!
That looks like so much fun guys!! Stunning colours in the photos and so much fun for the kids. What a spot!
Just cruisin down the river makes for lots of ear to ear smiles. Such great family fun!
What great experiences for you and the kids. Will you adopt me!!
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