The Goodyear Run begins at the Goodyear Bridge, and Goodyear Creek enters the river here adding a hundred or so more cfs.  The run starts very slow with some Class III in a beautiful canyon.  The Yubas are known for beautiful scenery, and this run does not disappoint.

The first rapid of note was a riverwide ledge that was easily boofed.  This could be pretty sticky at higher flows so keep an eye out.

Riverwide ledge... tempting to play in.

There were more fun Class III rapids before the river splits around an island.  We went right and this was fun, but left looked good to go too.  The right channel was smaller, but has some good sized rocks and holes.  Left looked a but wider with spread out gradient.

There was a nice rapid with a really big hole in the bottom of the chute in.  This might be a good surf spot at certain flows.  I ran right into the middle and it dumped me on my head.  Good fun.  There is a concrete gauging station on the right a little down from here, with a sweet little rapid.  Run right of center. 

Paul runs below the gauging station.

            The crux rapids in this strech are in the lower half.  The first comes when you see a large concrete retaining well on the right.  This signals Two Pair, Class IV that has pinned and drown 2 boaters.  The line is on the right.  There is a nasty pin spot on the left in the jumble of rocks and holes. 

The concrete wall signaling the enterance to Two Pair.

Paul running Two Pair.  The pin spot is coming off the rocks on the far right side of the picture.

            About a mile down from Two Pair is Maytag Falls, Class IV+-V-.  This drop is sweet, but intimidating - a 10 foot drop into pure white.  There is a tongue right down the middle, but there is a small hole guarding the entrance, making it easy to get off line.  If you drop this right, it’s a fast ride and you won’t even get your hair wet.  Be careful of the right side rock wall, as it is undercut. 

The author dropping into Maytag Falls.

Maytag Falls from below.

Right below Maytag is Son of Maytag.  It is a powerful 8 foot drop on the right side.  There is a flake on the middle right that holds a good boof.  This is a really fun drop, one of the best on the run. 

HERE IS THE SECRET TO THIS RUN:  Take out at the Indian Valley Campground, not the Hwy 49 Bridge as suggested by the book.  This takes out about 2 miles of pretty flat, uninteresting river.  It would be worth running if you’re just looking for miles, but if you’re looking for excitement, the run ends at Indian Valley, where the bridge crosses the river.

The drive back over the pass was interesting with the spare tire.  Les Schwab was really helpful in Grass Valley, and got us back on our way for the price of a used tire.  The puncture was pretty huge from a sharp piece of rock I drove over.  We ended up putting the new tire on in the parking lot at K-Mart in the rain.  It was a good day. 

New tire in the rain...  good stuff...

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