Wimpy's Run

Departing Consumnes River Preserve

Wimpy's run is about a 5.5 mile one way paddle down the Mokelumne River from the Consumnes River Preserve to Wimpy's Marina in Walnut Grove.  After dropping our boats off at the put in we drove to Wimpy's which is only 7 minutes by car, to drop my truck off at the take out.  For more info about the preserve see my previous post.





It took us about one hour and forty-five minutes paddling at a leisurely but steady pace down the Moke.  The weather was perfect at 83 degrees when we left the preserve.  Any warmer and I think it would have been too hot.  The gentle breeze that was blowing also helped to keep us cool.  I got the idea to do this paddle from Dan Arbuckle from Headwaters when he posted it as a meet-up for the Lodi Paddle Club back in March.  I was bummed that I couldn't make it that day so I put it on my bucket list as a must do.  I am glad I did!  My four girlfriends and I, (which we now call ourselves the Lumbum crew for reasons I won't go into detail about-let's just say it has to do with an unplanned scenic route), thoroughly enjoyed our day on the water.

We left the preserve at 11:45 a.m. and headed south until we reached the Consumnes River at which time we headed west and entered the Mokelumne near the Thornton Road bridge. From there we paddled until we reached Wimpy's which was a welcome sight as I was starving.  We arrived at our destination at 1:30 and were quickly greeted by three noisy ducks who appeared to want a ride somewhere as they looked as though they wanted to jump in the backseat of my truck.

Jenny decides to take a nap

The only other wildlife we saw today was a Great Blue Heron which led us down the river to Wimpy's.  There weren't many people on the river today either.  We saw one bass boat and another small boat with a family fishing who said they caught a couple of stripers.  If you decide to do this paddle, make sure and bring plenty of water and a protein bar or snack of some sort.  It can get extremely hot in the summer and though the water is cool, it's not very inviting.  The scenery is beautiful and there is abundant shade available to take a rest near the bank but there isn't anywhere to land to stretch your legs until you get to New Hope Landing which is next to Wimpy's.

Lunch at Wimpy's was delicious and reasonably priced.  They have a beautiful view of the river so you can watch boaters coming and going.  I would highly recommend this trip and I can't wait to do it again!