I haven’t taken a ton of road trips lately, so I’m handing the mic off to one of my team members, Jeremy. He recently went on a trip down to Mariposa to raft the Merced River for a friend’s bachelor party. Take it away, Jeremy:
This winter, California got a record amount of snowfall. Hopefully all you skiers and snowboarders took advantage! A heavy winter like that has huge ramifications for the spring and summer, too. We learned that the fun way in Mariposa recently.
The town of Mariposa itself is a quirky, charming place with a small downtown and a nice public park with live music. It’s near a Yosemite entrance, so if you were lucky enough to get camping reservations there, you can tie both trips into one!
If you’re up for some wild, fast whitewater (the guides told us the river was flowing 3-4 times faster than usual because of all the snow!), you can jump on a trip with any outfitter that does the Merced or Tuolumne Rivers in that area. We went with All-Outdoors Whitewater Rafting, which is a company based in Walnut Creek!
You can’t beat a day of splashy waves and Class IV rapids (the highest is Class V), especially on a day like we had where the weather was perfect. If you’re in Mariposa and looking for something that’s not outdoorsy, good luck. But if you enjoy hiking, kayaking, rafting, or anything else of that nature, I’d highly recommend checking it out!
