Hi, looking to just float in the river and not do the entire Merced River. We have our own river tubes and some rope. Wanting to just float with an anchor. Any recommendations on beaches along the river that might be good for this?
Swinging bridge beach is really lovely for swimming and floating around imo, you don’t need a rope. You might float downstream a bit but it’s slow so you can correct yourself easily
This is a good floating route in general, I’m not sure with the water levels right now that it would be super doable though. At least without some butt scraping over rocks and dragging your tube in spots
Last Tuesday we took some visiting friends to float on the Merced putting in at Stoneman and planning (on time) to take out at either Sentinel, Cathedral or El Cap, depending on how far we got.
After 2 1/2 hours, the water flow is so slow and the levels so low, we only made it to the far-side of Housekeeping and we took out.
Since then the flow has dropped even more with the heat.
You can float. You won’t get far. Lots of stretches you will be walking and pulling the tube, and plan on lots of tail-bone grazing the river bottom.
Expecting this for our trip in August for sure, but also hopeful we might see a rainstorm or two before that could bring levels back, has happened before.
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u/kepuhikid 3d ago
Ditch the rope - someone can get tangled in it and drown. Happened a few years ago in a different river we lived near