{"id":9522,"date":"2021-07-02T12:00:59","date_gmt":"2021-07-02T19:00:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aorafting.com\/blog\/?p=9522"},"modified":"2026-01-09T16:24:27","modified_gmt":"2026-01-10T00:24:27","slug":"first-to-raft-the-tuolumne-river","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.aorafting.com\/blog\/first-to-raft-the-tuolumne-river\/","title":{"rendered":"First to Raft the Tuolumne River"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"bsf_rt_marker\"><\/div><p>\r\n<i class=\"fa-regular fa-clock\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i> <span class=\"bsf-rt-reading-time\"><span class=\"bsf-rt-display-label\" prefix=\"Reading Time\">\n\t\t<\/span> <span class=\"bsf-rt-display-time\" reading_time=\"2\"><\/span> \n\t\t<span class=\"bsf-rt-display-postfix\" postfix=\"mins\"><\/span><\/span>\r\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Tuolumne River is a very special place and has become <a href=\"https:\/\/www.aorafting.com\/blog\/the-best-california-multi-day-rafting-trip\/\">the best wilderness multi-day whitewater rafting trip in California<\/a>. How did this all come about? The answer is an interesting story of ambitions to get rich, foolish grit, and the need we all have to replenish our souls in nature.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-a-nearly-inaccessible-river-and-canyon-lt-1920\">A nearly inaccessible river and canyon (&lt;1920)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The raftable section of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.aorafting.com\/river\/tuolumne\/welcome.htm\">Main Tuolumne River<\/a> is 18 miles long and lies in a deep 2000\u2019 wilderness canyon. In the early 1900\u2019s it was practically impossible to access this part of the river until the local Bond brothers constructed a trail along the first 6 miles of this section of the river in the 1920\u2019s.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"su-spacer\" style=\"height:20px\"><\/div>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1000\" height=\"556\" src=\"https:\/\/www.aorafting.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/remote-tuolumne-canyon.jpg\" alt=\"Remote Tuolumne Canyon\" class=\"wp-image-9528\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.aorafting.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/remote-tuolumne-canyon.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/www.aorafting.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/remote-tuolumne-canyon-300x167.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.aorafting.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/remote-tuolumne-canyon-768x427.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n<div class=\"su-spacer\" style=\"height:20px\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-ambitions-to-get-rich-without-using-the-normal-path-1927\">Ambitions to get rich without using the normal path (1927)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In 1927, two friends from the area wanted to make a mining claim at the end of the trail, but they decided to float rather than walk. Harry Cobden from Groveland and <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Melvin_Belli\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Melvin Belli<\/a> from Sonora strapped some logs together and jumped onboard (the definition of foolish grit). Yes, this is the same Melvin Belli who became a well known San Francisco attorney! They made their destination, but the 6 miles of challenging Class IV rapids beat up their wooden raft and the two men. They hiked out and never filed a claim other than the fact they were the first known human beings to \u201craft\u201d the Tuolumne River (even if it was done in Tom Sawyer style and attitude).<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"su-spacer\" style=\"height:20px\"><\/div>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1000\" height=\"556\" src=\"https:\/\/www.aorafting.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/harry-cobden-melvin-belli.png\" alt=\"Harry Cobden and Melvin Belli - First Decent of the Tuolumne River\" class=\"wp-image-9565\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.aorafting.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/harry-cobden-melvin-belli.png 1000w, https:\/\/www.aorafting.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/harry-cobden-melvin-belli-300x167.png 300w, https:\/\/www.aorafting.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/harry-cobden-melvin-belli-768x427.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n<div class=\"su-spacer\" style=\"height:20px\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-the-first-full-successful-run-on-the-tuolumne-1962\">The first full successful run on the Tuolumne (1962)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The next bonafide attempt to tame the Tuolumne River by raft was not until 1962. This was during the genesis of modern day rafting. Three Sierra Club members and two rubber rafts left over from the war made this next attempt successful. All 18 miles were navigated except for a portage around Clavey Falls. The Tuolumne River was now raftable!<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"su-spacer\" style=\"height:20px\"><\/div>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1000\" height=\"555\" src=\"https:\/\/www.aorafting.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/old-bw.jpg\" alt=\"The first full successful run on the Tuolumne (1962)\" class=\"wp-image-9529\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.aorafting.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/old-bw.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/www.aorafting.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/old-bw-300x167.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.aorafting.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/old-bw-768x426.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n<div class=\"su-spacer\" style=\"height:20px\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-the-first-commercial-rafting-trips-begin-1969\">The first commercial rafting trips begin (1969)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The original outfitter in California, Bryce Whitmore, ran the Tuolumne for his first time in 1968. The following year he began offering commercial rafting trips on this beautiful river. This is the same gentleman who helped George Armstrong get a \u201creal\u201d raft after <a href=\"https:\/\/www.aorafting.com\/blog\/george-armstrongs-first-rafting-trip-1962\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">his first rafting trip in 1962<\/a>. With Bryce\u2019s help normal people (not just crazies) could enjoy this wonderful river and canyon without taking unnecessary risks to do so.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"su-spacer\" style=\"height:20px\"><\/div>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1000\" height=\"556\" src=\"https:\/\/www.aorafting.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/mid-1970-AO-trip-Geo.jpg\" alt=\"The first commercial rafting trips begin (1969)\" class=\"wp-image-9530\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.aorafting.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/mid-1970-AO-trip-Geo.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/www.aorafting.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/mid-1970-AO-trip-Geo-300x167.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.aorafting.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/mid-1970-AO-trip-Geo-768x427.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n<div class=\"su-spacer\" style=\"height:20px\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As with so many rivers in California, what started long ago as a desire to strike it rich, resulted in the discovery of a wild river in a wild place. This \u201cpot of gold\u201d gives people like you and I an opportunity to be on a river and in a pristine wilderness area and reap the benefits. <em>Thank you Harry and Melvin for getting the ball floating!<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"su-spacer\" style=\"height:40px\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"post-author\">\n      <div class=\"container-fluid\">\r\n    <em><small>Posted on July 2, 2021 by<\/small><\/em>\r\n    <div class=\"author-bio\">\r\n\t    <div class=\"col-sm-3\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/gregg-miriam-armstrong.png\" class=\"author-avatar img-responsive\" alt=\"Gregg Armstrong Bio\" \/><\/div>\r\n\t    <div class=\"col-sm-9\">\r\n        <h3>Gregg Armstrong<\/h3>\r\n\t\t<p>Gregg is the middle child of George and Dolores Armstrong&#8217;s five children. He has been working with All-Outdoors since it was founded. He guided and set up early operations on California rivers in the 70&#8217;s and 80&#8217;s before making marketing for AO and reservations his main responsibilities. One of his claims to fame is that he and his wife Marion had triplets, who grew up to enjoy rafting and outdoor activities as much as he does. When not doing AO and family life he loves to ski, garden, and spend time with people.<\/p>\r\n\t    <\/div>\r\n        <div class=\"clearfix\"><\/div>\r\n    <\/div>\r\n<\/div>  \n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Tuolumne River is a very special place and has become the best wilderness multi-day whitewater rafting trip in California. How did this all come about? The answer is an interesting story of ambitions to get rich, foolish grit, and the need we all have to replenish our souls in nature.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":9524,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,119],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9522","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-california-rivers","category-rafting-tales"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.7 (Yoast SEO v27.7) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>First to Raft the Tuolumne River<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.aorafting.com\/blog\/first-to-raft-the-tuolumne-river\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"First to Raft the Tuolumne River\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Tuolumne River is a very special place and has become the best wilderness multi-day whitewater rafting trip in California. How did this all come about? The answer is an interesting story of ambitions to get rich, foolish grit, and the need we all have to replenish our souls in nature.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.aorafting.com\/blog\/first-to-raft-the-tuolumne-river\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The AO Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/alloutdoors\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-07-02T19:00:59+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-01-10T00:24:27+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.aorafting.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/tu-first-decent-feature.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1920\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1100\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Gregg Armstrong, Co-Founder\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" 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