FOR founder and river pioneer Jerry Meral in his C-1 on the Stanislaus in 1971

Jerry Meral was a prominent river explorer and conservationist in the early 1970s (and beyond), co-founded Friends of the River to help save the Stanislaus River, and was later a highly effective and influential force in California conservation generally. Learn more about Jerry.   Here, he’s in his C-1 (one person whitewater canoe), which was just about unique in California at the time (and even later..) – but it was no hardship on Jerry, who loved his canoe and with other kayakers helped him make first descents of the Tuolumne, Cherry Creek and more. These two images show him at Devil’s Staircase (right – note the white rock dike in the background) and at Bailey Falls. Early 1970s gear was often rudimentary (lifejacket, shirt…) but that was no barrier to being right in the middle of things on the river!