Kayaking . Los Angeles River . I get laid , these two things do n’t seem to go together , especially when every Angeleno ’s depression of our namesake river is a garbage - strewn inundation channel full of dead bodies .
But I ’m going to fill up you in on a secret : It ’s clean . It ’s fresh . And defy I say it … You might even draw a blank you ’re paddling the Los Angeles River once you ’re on it .
The 51 - mile Los Angeles River was closed to the populace in the thirties , when major implosion therapy prompted city official to pave its banks with concrete to improve storm drainage . Since then , the river has been a designated flood command channel under management by the Army Corps of Engineers . It was not until 2010 that the Environmental Protection Agency declared the river a “ traditional navigable water , ” which allow for Clean Water Act protection .
As a result , the LA Conservation Corps top a pilot program in the summer of 2011 that open up a 1.5 - mile segment of river to the public . That section , the Sepulveda Basin Recreation Area in San Fernando Valley , tender guided kayak trips down the sycamore and willow tree - draw banks of the river . But with limited public access code , the trip often sell out within hours of opening reservations ( even this summertime ! ) , so many people never get the chance to waddle that elusive section of river .
There are a fewoutfitterswith rental that will draw you down this section , but anyone with a steerable , non - motorized vessel ( kayak , canoe , or paddleboard — though it ’s much too shallow and rocky for a canoe or paddleboard in my opinion ) can use the river without any permits or fees . The program internet site offers a downloadabletrail mapdetailing every speedy and peril on the run . It ’s a undecomposed idea to bring it with you because even with our keen river knowledge , we handle to make a faulty bend and had to portage our kayak through heavy brushing ( very interesting experience , to say the least ! ) .
So , things I learned after being on the river : add a single-valued function ( or use a guide ) , fatigue uncompromising river shoe , and wear out a helmet if you ’re dodder a hard shell river kayak . The sway underneath can riff you if you ’re not paying tending , so it would be pretty easy to hit your school principal if you ’re in a closed kayak .
We put in at the river entree point near Rattlesnake Park in Glendale . It ’s a little sneak to witness — just a dead - end side street with an opening in the fence that leads you onto the Elysian Valley cycle path .
The put - in is just south of the Fletcher Avenue bridge , and you have to drag your gravy boat down the steep concrete embankment to get to the river . finally , I hope they ’ll progress a better launching pad to be more welcoming to tyro … perhaps a sandy beach or a serviceman - made twist ?
Right off the bat , we splash around through the Class I Rattlesnake Rapids ! But then we float down a fairly unagitated section of river where goosefish seat patiently on the concrete side await for their grab , and profuse botany ( with the occasional public utility tower ) cross the other side .
The river was probably deepest at this level — knee joint - high ? — and glassy as a lake . If it were n’t for the cementum bank , you ’d never realise you were in an urban environment . All you could discover were the sound of shuttle and the rustling of leave … it was surprisingly peaceful and beautiful .
And do you recognise this Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree ?
A angry Libyan Islamic Fighting Group ! With baby fig set out to sprout !
We see oodles of wild Al-Jama’a al-Islamiyyah al-Muqatilah bi-Libya on this stretchability , along with snowy egret ( what seem to be the prescribed boo of the LA River ) , American coot , depressed heron , and black - necked stilts .
Ah , the black - neck Australian stilt . I loved its flamingo - like leg .
Many parts of the river imply some tricksy maneuvering through boulder garden where the urine was only 6 inches deep . The shallow chute made for some playfulness little drops in our kayaks !
And then there was this awesome Class II chute at Marker 6 ( Benedict Rapid ) … Not too gnarled , but there ’s only one path to go down and you do have to line up yourself perfectly , as rocks on either side are just threatening to thrash about you !
Between Markers 5 and 4 , we passedRio de Los Angeles State Park . The hubs and I have been volunteer on that projection for the past year , which opened in 2007 as part of the river return process . Eventually , the renovation will extend into the empty lot between the river and the park — a no man ’s land call Taylor Yard that used to be a Union Pacific runway yard — and connect park visitors to the actualRio de Los Angeles(Los Angeles River , that is ) .
That means one day , instead of see a sterile cement bank , we could actually see beautiful terraced park along the river . It ’s an challenging plan that may not come to fruition for many more years , but it has to jump somewhere . ( If you ’d wish to be a part of the process , read more about ithere , then consider donating your time or money to theCalifornia State Parks Foundation , Friends of the Los Angeles River , or theLA River Revitalization Corporation . )
At one full stop the river specialise significantly — maybe 6 understructure across — but the water was so fleet that my boat was just skimming the control surface of the cement , inches above it , before I dispatch a major strainer .
Pretty sure we were on the amiss side of the groove … I intend , who puts a Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree in the middle of the river ? ! ( If this programme takes off , I would happily volunteer to do some scupper for the sanity of future kayakers ! And in rejoinder , I would ask for just a teensy spot more body of water in the channel to navigate more swimmingly … Army Corps of Engineers , are you reading this ? )
Then there was thatotherwrong turn … or maybe it was the right turn , but we did n’t realize it involved a portage . This is what it looks like when you have to hale a kayak through head - high vegetation to the other side of the duct .
I ’m not complaining though , when most of the river looked like this …
And this …
Over the entire 2.5 - international nautical mile reach , we saw not a exclusive other paddler on the water . On a Saturday . On a hot , gay , beautiful Saturday . Who knows how long the solitude will last , but we ’ll bask it while we can !
At the oddment of our run just north of the superhighway flyover , we reached the take - out point at Egret Park , a plush little oasis that was built during the revivification phase angle .
I never thought I ’d see the 24-hour interval when we could in reality kayak the LA River , and just a week after it officially opened . We kind of felt like groundbreaker ! And I was so stoked when a jogger on the course contain and asked about my experience on the river , as he ’d been intrigued about paddling it himself . For anyone else that may be scheme , I say : Go for it !
We want more masses on the river to show the city that we need this ! More the great unwashed means more publicity , and more publicity entail more provision and funding to revitalize whatshouldbe a beautiful emblem of LA ( and not just a location for another action - flick car pursual ) . Though we still have a prospicient room before the rest of the river opens for diversion , this is such a huge and overconfident stair in the right direction .
When I told my friends I ’d kayaked the LA River , all the usual questions popped up : Did I step on any crack phonograph needle ? Run into homeless people ? Swallow any water ?
No , no , and no . The Glendale Narrows section is a gem . Half of it felt like a natural river with rapids and wetland wildlife , and the other half felt like an urban waterway with bicyclist and pedestrian on the bike path above the river . Several times , funny passersby would stop on the way to view us boat paddle downstream .
It seemed like the conservation radical did a great amount of clear - up on the river , and away from a few plastic bags trapped in trees ( just another understanding to push for a bag forbiddance in LA County ) , there was hardly any trash in the urine or along the bank building .
We did n’t see any drifter or shopping cart , and there were no encampments like what you might determine in the more industrialized contribution of the river further in the south .
The water was very sportsmanlike , and probably cleaner than most of the beaches in LA . It ’s also enjoyably quick , which is in stark contrast to other rivers like the Kern that are course by snowmelt .
Get the detailshere . Go there this weekend . Have a flack and marvel that this is right in our backyard … in the middle of a metropolis !
