Nathan Stayrook Hobbs

California, United States

Nathan Stayrook Hobbs

FLOTTE AVEC NOTRE

FAVORITE RIVER GEAR

PLUS DE 15 SAISONS D'EXPÉRIENCE

BOAT TYPE: RAFTS / CATARAFTS

BOATING STYLE: R2, TEAMS

I grew up paddling canoes and knew that I loved being on the water.

When I went off to college I was exposed to desert river running and really enjoyed the independence that rowing a gear boat offered.

At night around the campfire the stories told of the '85 highwater year and the writings of Vaughn Short captured my imagination, inspiring a spirit of adventure that would drive me for years.

RIVIÈRES / RAPIDES PRÉFÉRÉS

oh the list is long...

As an overall favorite, I would have to say the South Yuba. It has a wide variety of runs for all skill levels and as long as the flows are above 500cfs one of the sections can be paddled.

Favorite section would be 49 to Bridgeport at 2000cfs

As a singular unique run I would have to say Dinky Creek. Its very raftable but BIG and access is relatively easy.

To choose one rapid I would say the Big Drops in Cataract canyon at 72,000cfs. You might point out there are 3 Big Brops, I can assure you that at 72,000cfs its just one. (insert evil laugh here)

JUSQU'À LA SAISON 2026

LES BAIGNADES LES PLUS ÉPIQUES

Well, there's more than I want to count...

A bad one on the NF feather, virgilia at 17k. Swam into an under cut on Cherry Creek. Recirculated 6 times in a waterfall on Upper Cherry Creek.

A very bad time hanging on to the outside of a boat while it surfed a hole on Robe Canyon at HIGH water.

And the one that probably shook me the most was a no name class 2 eddy on Lobin, NF Feather, I was swirled in an eddy fence without coming up for air and came too on a beach being dragged by a friend.

All of the these swims were ones where death was a real probability and without an element of luck, I probably wouldn't have made it. This is notable because until that class 2 swim, I would have said that the skills of you and your partners were the only relevant things in surviving a swim.

JUSQU'À LA SAISON 2026

RÉALISATIONS

The thing that defines my career in rafting is having the same R2 partner for 15+ years.

I often describe what we do as an Olympic level athletic event where the consequence of a mistake could be the death of your partner. There are few high caliber athletic partnerships that have lasted that long. Together we have R2ed runs like Dinky Creek, Upper Cherry Creek, South Merced, the Rubicon, Upper Middle Consumnes, many laps on the MF Feather, Bridge Creek, Golden Gate, SF Feather, Foredyce, often times solo boating.

OBJECTIFS

I think i would like to do some remote international rivers, not sure where they are but probably not jungles, Kyrgyzstan strikes my fancy, places like that.fantasy fallsstikine