May 4th, 2010. Flying over the Sierras it became evident just how early it was to be headed to California. Cold weather and stormy skies plagued the entire trip. I slept with my down jacket on every night and rarely took it off during the day. "Drying" gear froze overnight on a regular basis. It wasn't quite what I envisioned but the cold weather did at least keep things from blowing out. After being picked up in San Francisco by the trustee ol' Drew Duval our first stop would be the S.B. of the Feather to meet Will Pruett and Nick, who had been there the previous two days enjoying some juicy flows. The Chattanooga boyz go fast and that's what we did, not much scouting, if any other than 99 problems, was done as we blazed the river in a little under 2 hours. The following photos are from a variety of trips down the S.B., all photos by me except the two of me by Nathan Klema, thanks buddy.
The classic falls above the takeout. Although an easy waterfall, this thing still dishes out plenty of broken paddles and bloodied faces. Pack your Werner, AT's weren't standing up to it.
After jumping in with the Janney brothers and Christian Cook in from Colorado we went back to the S. Branch. Then we ran the Little North Fork Middle Feather down to Milsap Bar. Sweet run although there's some burly mank in there. A few ultra-classic drops and the two-day aspect of the run keep it good in my book, but again, overall not classic.
I believe this is Jaroslavs drop. I dropped my watershed camera bag in here and it got recirculated in the hole/eddy for a while before Tom could grab it. Luckily, I was using my camera at the time.
This was the classic drop at the end I'd been waiting for. I remember it from old Scott Lindgren videos and now I finally know what river it's on.
We ran Canyon Creek and got to hang out with Anthony from Reno. He provided entertainment in the evening as he usually does. Then we ran the Upper Middle Cosumnes, which I actually ran several times while out there. These couple photos are from a high water day. The burl swirls were in play and Tom took a swim early on. He got redemption at Skate Park shown below and all the other good rapids on this run.
The South Fork Merced is an incredible river, one of my favorites to date. We saw an opportunity to put on after a couple of cool days when the level dropped to 800 Cfs at Wawona. We made the immediate drive south and put on with now warm temps and a mostly sunny sky. The first day is awesome, big drops with plenty of swirls for everyone. Everything can be run but most people make a few portages in there. We elected to paddle past Superslide and camp a little ways down past some of the burliest stuff since the level would rise for day 2. A large group led by Evan Garcia had the same idea and we ended up in nearby camps. That night it rained again. Waking up the next morning I saw the level had clearly risen but the sun was out and the river looked very inviting. We picked our way down through burly rapids and had a great day, everyone was stoked to of had a safe trip down at high water. To Tom, Christian, Louis, Mike, and Nathan, that was a great trip I will always remember. Look forward to paddling with you boyz next time.
Somewhere in there we paddled the Secret Stash section on the W. Feather. It's a cool run with a few distinct mini gorges that pack powerful rapids in each.
R. Kelly on the first and best drop.
R. Kelly on the first and best drop.
Tom stylin' it
One of the last days I did Golden Gate on the S. Fork American with Will Pruett, Nick Murphy, and Nathan K. We were all expecting a super burly long day but to our surprise it wasn't too hard. We made one portage around Brain Fade due to wood and skirted a couple of the meat lines but everything else is really manageable. Nate was the only one to attempt the meat line at Taco Bell and it burled him up real good resulting in a swim and lost paddle. He came out no worse for the wear.
Right side of F-111 Falls. Will took an exploratory line under the rock shelf that extends out from river right.
Nick Murphy going with the left line.
Cali was great. It's always a cool feeling when you can actually look forward to returning home after a paddling trip instead of dreading it. Not only do I return home to a great girl, I get to come back to Asheville and reap the benefits of summer living in Western NC. Most importantly, this trip to California was a growing experience for me since I learned alot about what I want to do in life. More about that later, now I just wish some of these afternoon thunderstorms would bring creeks up. We'll see about that.
