We had great weather for today's paddle on the South Mokelumne River. Low tide was predicted for 12:59 at New Hope Bridge and wind was supposed to be 5-7 knots. We launched from Wimpy's Marina at 1:00 and cruised with the downstream current. Wimpy's charges $5 to launch or $10 if you have a trailer.
The Mokelumne is such a beautiful river to paddle and this stretch of the river doesn't disappoint. There was less than a 3 foot swing in tides but this part of the river is fairly narrow and the current can really get moving. We didn't work very hard as we made our way a little over 3 miles to Beaver Slough. There were many different species of hawks who accompanied us along with a number of coots. We spotted a mink and several turtles on our journey.
After a little over an hour of floating, we reached Beaver Slough and found a small island with a sliver of beach to get out and stretch. The tide was changing so we took advantage of the incoming tide to help us home. We ended up paddling against a stiff headwind with a bit of chop in a few places. This area is definitely worth exploring and I look forward to returning soon!
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