A Little Slickrock on the to and from GABF

It's been a while since our last post, but we are still up to no good. The latest was a trip to Gooseberry Mesa and Moab on the way to and from the Great American Beer Festival in Denver. We've never ridden slickrock before and man was it fun (and different than anything we've ridden before).

We'll try to get up some more pics soon, but while I've got time I'll throw up a couple of pictures from the i-phone

Rebecca and Lisa on Porcupine Rim


Eric doesn't need no stinkin' bike for slickrock


Rebecca enjoying the spectacular camping in Slickrock State Park

Dudes (and one Dudedette) Paddling Faster Than Normal

So you've done Cherry Creek, big deal. Have you done it in a non-stop fashion while paddling faster than normal from the confluence to the leap? Have you then gone on to run Lumsden with the peanut gallery in full effect? Have you then gone on to party for 12 hours straight? Have you then gone on to paddle the creek the next day in a state somewhere between extremely hungover and still intoxicated?

If so, you've officially earned your Cherry Creek Badge of honor. If not, you have something to aspire to... or is it perspire to...

RACERS, ON YOUR MARKS

If you have been to the Captain Kirk Cherry Creek Memorial Race, you know what it is all about. If you haven't... Well if you haven't it is kind of hard to describe, but I guess I'll try to explain what it means to me - it's about being with your paddling brothers and sisters and celebrating how lucky we are to be able to do what we do.

It is also about boating hard and playing hard.

Screw this Green Boat! The Captain (aka Charlie Center)

The Man, the legend - Noceti

A sober (I think) Joe Bosquin

Tim Hagan - the man behind the curtain
Eventual Runner-up Macy Burnham (check out the Dancer Pro...)

Keith and Rebecca (left) planning out their race strategy). It went something like this:

Keith: "If I get hammered, you have to keep going so that someone can time the race"
Rebecca: "If I get hammered you better save my ass!"

If you look closely you can see people talking smack

The intensity at the put-in. Feel the tension?

Safety boats getting a head start - they should get to Mushroom by the time I do...

The race itself is about 40 minutes long; from the confluence of the main down to Lewis' Leap. I have to say that you start to feel pretty exposed about 15 minutes into the race when you are already extremely tired, are headed into Mushroom, realize you are probably passing the last of the safety boaters and come to terms with the fact that you will be paddling the remainder of the class V run on your own.

To be honest, I'm guessing that there were folks past Mushroom to help out a racer in need - the problem was the lack of oxygen and tunnel vision prevented me from being able to see them. Keith and Rebecca, on the other hand were completely on their own; they raced as a team, ostensibly providing safety for one another as they made their way down to the finish line. This is certainly one of the more thankless jobs during the weekend and a big thumbs up to those two for sucessfully escorting the time clock down to the leap!

This year's race sure seemed to have all the makings of a good one. There were 5 Green Boats, yes 5 (I think that must be every single Green Boat on the west coast). Macy Burnham, Tim Hagan and Ben Wartburg were the only ones that "manned" up and paddled old school boats (the Dancer Pro, Animas and a sinking Dagger boat of some sort). I rounded out the class with my stubby Remix 69 - but like I told everyone, it's not the size that matters...

Sure enough, It was one of the more competitive races in recent memory (except for Charlie blowing away the field for the win). Here are the results


Long Boat
1. Charlie C., Green Boat, 36:40
2. Macy B., Dancer Pro, 37:44
3. Guido, Remix, 37:52
4. Taylor C., Green Boat, 37:53
5. Robbie H., Green Boat 38:07
6. Jared N., Green Boat, 38:38
7. Thomas M., Green Boat, 38:50
8. Tim H., Animas, 40:30
9. Ben W., Sinking Response, 1:01:34

Short Boat
1. Ben J., Mystic, 40:25
2. Aaron S., Nomad, 41:03
3. Kurt S., Nomad, 41:15
4. Joe B., Nomad, 42:11
5. Sean M., Nomad, 43:04
6. Chad D., Nomad, 46:43
7. Roman N., Fluid Solo, 55:10

Team
1. Rick S., Habitat, 44:46
Jim B., Jefe
2. Rebecca G., Remix, 45:37
Keith K., Nomad

Highlights of my run included a mostly-capsized run through Jawbone, a sweet boof off the center rock in Mushroom, a complete flub of Unknown Soldier, getting lost in some boulder garden, survival through Sky King and a nice boof at Christmas Tree Hole. Other highlights include, but were not limited to, Ben W mostly sinking his way down, Roman's heroic surf in Richard's Hole and Dave and Kevin's equally heroic rescue of Roman in Richard's Hole.

As racers finish their runs, they congregate on the rock overlooking Lewis' Leap and talk smack about how much faster they could have been as well as make fun of other folks as they make their way down. Comments like "Is Joe racing or is he safety - it doesn't look like he is racing..." or "Where is Ben, we are about to loose light on the sun-dail".

Charlie explaining exactly how he smoked everyone

So who's setting safety for the safty folks...

Rebecca looking bad-ass

Ducklings headed down the leap

One of the highlights of the weekend is when the race is done and everyone fires up Lumsden. The peanut gallery is always in good form and you get to see just about anything that can happen on Lumsden. We were a little late getting down this year and only got to catch the tail end of the action, but here is some of it (mixed in with a little pre-race day footy).

The scene...

The parking lot below Lummy

Is that Joe's boat?

Is that Joe?

After the fun at Lumsden, it's time for some serious lounging and swimming time before the late night party scene...

Lounging on the rocks

Who says pool toys are for kids

Taylor achieving terminal velocity

Something funny happened...

After this, things got a little hazy, something about a killer BBQ, the Big Creek Shot table, keg stands, men in dresses, not one but two bands, and a whole lot of dancing. Maybe we'll round up some pictures for a later post. Until then.

A little vidy of the Lumsden show




In memory of Kirk, Kenny Gould, Deb Martin, Larry Berg, Lars Holbek, Jon Burnham

Fun on Fordyce

If you are looking for a run that has all the feel of a High-Sierra run without all the work, you'll find it on Fordyce Creek. Recreational releases in the late Summer/early Fall make this a destination spot for most Class V boaters in California once many other runs are done. We made the 6 1/2 hour trip from Kernville to see what all the fuss was about - was it worth the trip? You bet!

400 cfs of Fordyce - portage #1

After getting back from Upper Cherry Creek back on July 4th, things have not gone very smoothly at the ol' work place. Without getting into details, we were more than ready for a couple of days off after about a month and a half of mostly work and very little play. We were so ready, in fact, that we left Kernville at 8 pm and drove through the night, ending up at Lake Spaulding at about 2:30 am with no paddling partners, no pre-arranged shuttle, and basically no plan. The thought was that there had to be people there - it was the only thing other than Cherry Creek running in the Sierra.

As usual, our optimism for hoards of California boaters was ill-founded, and a couple of hours after waking up at 7:30 am (so we wouldn't miss anybody), our attentions were turned towards having to spend a day in Truckee being tourists. We had heard that Fordyce is a fairly long day and thought that certainly by 9:30 the hoards would have arrived - they hadn't, so we packed up and reluctantly drove off to check out the Tahoe area. As we were pulling out of the parking lot the cavalry came to the rescue. Two cars with boats! Chris was in one car - a Nevada City resident who had done the run a few times before, and Serge - a Russian born paddler who, like us, was a newbie on the creek. After a brief conversation, we agreed to paddle and off we went.

I had heard various reports on the shuttle - long, 4-wheel drive, easy to get lost, etc. I'd also heard various reports on the run - Class V, remote, scenic, etc. In retrospect, I believe someone can do the run reasonably without having someone who has done it before (certainly beta on walking around the last couple of hundred yards would help). I'm not so sure I would take on the shuttle without someone who has done it before. Needless to say, it is 4-wheel drive (any reasonable 4-wheel drive will do), and you can get lost (take the unmarked right near the top of the hill!).

The next day things went a little smoother, the hoard (two other cars) appeared earlier (9:00 am) and we had picked up an additional paddler in our party (Jason flew in from Utah just for the occasion). Since we knew the river and the shuttle now we had a fairly leisurely day

Once you get to the river, things start off pretty much right away with a fun slide.

Rebecca rubbed out in Eraserhead

Rebecca, Headless?

Immediately after there is a series of peton-potential read and run drops (far left, not too far right not too far left - got it?). Then there is a scenic drop into a pool in a rapid known as Old Man's. All the while in this first half-mile you are still marvelling at the surroundings and the crystal clear water. Soon the river basically tells you to quite taking it all in and pay attention dammit. As you leave the pool of Old Man's and round the corner you notice the dropoff that is Insanity Falls. Now every rapid on Fordyce has been run, two in particular on not what I would consider "classics" and Insanity Falls is the least "classic" of the two. Don't get me wrong, there is a legit line and it looks like it could even be fun, but for some reason, the serenity of the trip to that point just throws me off any desire to run this...

The Scenery coming into Insanity Falls

After insanity, the whitewater stays fun for about another mile woth a fun boof, bishops balcony another fun boof and then Rotator Cuff

A super-fun boof below the falls

Of the classic drops on the run, Rotator Cuff is probably the one that grabs your attention the most (along with split falls). There is a nice long lead-in ramp into about an 8 foot falls with a hole that is nicely backed in on the right side. Of the two days I ran it I had a super clean sky-boof (on the first day) and a deep melt-down (probably taking it for granted on the second day).

Rotator Cuff - glory boof or melt-down...

Jason rotating the cuff on day 2 (don't ask me how...)

After this the river mellows out noticably for a few miles; beautiful class I-II stretches occasionally interrupted by fun class IV drops or gorges.

Rebecca Cruising

Lunch - eating it all up

In this middle section you'll find yourself alternately oggling the surroundings and grinning at your paddling companions - an absolutelly amazing section of river.

Wolf on another fun boof

Where's Barry? Sliding on the sweet left line of course...

Jason pinned again...

After you cross under the green bridge, the whitewater picks up again. A fun gorge (rattlesnake?) and some more drops until you get to the highlight section of the trip. Fordyce Falls, Split Falls, The Hole that ate the Donner Party and more...

Fordyce falls is a fun 15 footer with easy lapability and a couple of different lines to try (including yet another melt down just right of where Jason is in the picture below).

Jason on Fordyce Falls

Another classic on this run is split fall - not quite 20 feet from top to bottom, but if add the distance traveled underwater after you hit the pool, it has to be approaching 25'

Alex on Split falls

Wolf taking on the Split

Jason about to go deep

After all this, The Hole that Ate the Donner Party really doesn't look all that bad, but I can attest that the hole at the bottom is sticky and has enough juice to enduce a couple of ends in a Jefe...

The hole that is about to eat Eric (green jefe entering on the left)

A little vid of Rebecca...

There are about 3 or 4 more fun drops after this until you reach a boulder garden that gradually gets more and more choked off. On the first day we tried to work our way down until we ran out of space. The best approach is to hit the trail on river left when you see a giant rock. Stay on the trail a couple of hundred yards, it will go back down to river level and you can finish the paddle down to Lake Spaulding. Once you are on the lake you get to paddle a couple of miles back to the parking lot where most folks get to hang out and drink beer while a couple of unluckies get to do the 2 hour round-trip shuttle...

Overall I would have to give this run an A+ rating (above 400 cfs) with the only downside being the shuttle (and maybe the lake paddle for some folks). We decided that Fordyce Creek is the bastard child of Upper Cherry Creek and the Headwater of the Kern. The fractured granite domes that surround you and the cedar and sugarpine forrest that try to block their view are, in my opinion, the highlight of the trip. I would easily do this trip as an overnighter just to hang out and enjoy the scenery a bit longer. I think it is one of those runs where higher water is definately better - with 500 cfs feeling better in every way than 400 cfs. We'll definately look forward to making the pilgramage again next year...

UCC: on the high-side of great!

Intro:

First of all I need to preface this post with this: This run is entirely not worth doing. If you plan your life around making the 4-5 day window, you are a total loser. It is saturated with people, the hike in is brutal, the whitewater is overrated, the scenery is mundane and the camping is marginal at best.

With that out of the way, here is my outlook on Upper Cherry Creek...

Wow...

You can't really describe this run; you can only experience it. The secret is out - Upper Cherry Creek is the crowned jewel of California kayaking. It has everything: A true wilderness experience, draw dropping scenery and as for the whitewater - well, you've seen the pictures and videos. The downside is that there is going to be increased usage on this run, most likely to the point that exceeds what the area can handle. Some might point out that blogs like this only endanger this run (and others) even more - and they have a point. On the upside, there are several defense mechanisms built-in to Upper Cherry Creek. First is the hike; 10+ miles with a boat and all your gear on your back is part of the limiting factor (boat draggers will be black listed). Second is the whitewater; while some might argue you can turn this into a class IV+ run, the creek itself will limit the number of people that attempt it. Finally, the flow window is so short and relatively unpredictable, that only a dedicated few will be able to catch it at the right time.

The following account is obscenely long and will be fairly uninteresting for most folks. But when you finish a run like this you find yourself talking about in incessantly to anyone that will listen. So to spare folks that torture, I decided to write it all down; allowing you to skim, skip and ignore whatever you choose. If you are looking for detailed info on the hike, the run or flows, it's all buried in here somewhere. If you are interested in tales of carnage and terror, those are there as well. You'll even find some candid thoughts on fear and how special it is to overnight in the Sierra from someone who has been paddling for over 25 years. Enjoy.

Please Read and Respect

Materials:

Dedication certainly played into our trip this year; with flows remaining temptingly close to good, but seemingly never dropping in, UCC was the ultimate teaser. I had planned on going in as early as a week before we actually did - luckily there was beta coming out from folks paddling West Cherry that the water was still staying high. finally there was no more time to wait; we were going in - level be damned! Certainly I believed that the snow was running out, but the long drive up the East-Side of the Sierra Tuesday afternoon did nothing to instill confidence in my gamble. As I traveled over Tioga Pass, it sure seemed like there was plenty of snow around to keep flows up for a little longer. As luck would have it, it did - but it turns out water is good in UCC...

Until Better info comes along, the T above HH is one option for gauging UCC

Rebecca had left town to volunteer for First Descents - a great program that teaches young adults with cancer how to kayak. In her absence, the plan was to meet Tim Collins and Jacub the Czech (he actually has a last name - Nemec - with some funny squiggles over various letters) on Tuesday Afternoon and then hike in Wednesday morning. We had one more in our group, Jake Stoesz, who was going to arrive late Wednesday and hike in that night and meet us in the morning at camp just below the put-in slide. Seems like an infallible plan right?

I pulled into the takeout clearing to find Tim and Jacub hanging out with Jason and Nate, who had just gotten off the run. Yeah, it was high alright; stories of portaging entire gorges due to scary holes were mixed with reassurance that the water had to be dropping. A few beers and a couple of safety meetings had Tim and Jacub stoked to start hiking in right then and there - cooler heads prevailed and we decided to camp at the put-in and start our hike early in the morning as planned. The night's sleep was interrupted every now and then by thoughts of the hike and the whitewater that lay ahead...

My Rig

The Hike

Morning came soon enough and we started off on the 10+ mike hike at around 7 am. Now I say 10+ miles because I've heard everything from 8 miles to 12 miles. Distance is irrelevant anyway when you are talking about hiking since the terrain really dictates the speed of the hike, but I had heard that 6 hours of hiking time is a nice pace where you are moving, but not pushing it. Since we were going to be waiting for Jake the next day anyway, we decided to take our time and make the hike as pleasant as possible.

Jacub on the Hike

The first half hour or so was uphill; enough to make me wonder how my couch-conditioning program was going to work out for me. Soon enough, though, the trail leveled off and more or less remained cross country for the rest of the way. The hike had pretty much everything you could ask for; stream crossings, mosquitoes, sub-alpine lakes, mosquitoes, scenic overlooks and mosquitoes. Actually it was not that bad thanks to the invention of Deet.

This is Where Mosquitoes Come From

A First Look at Cherry Bomb Gorge - It Even Looks Big from Here...

All in all I would say we actually spent a little under 6 hours hiking, about 30 minutes on provisional safety meetings, 30 minutes resting, eating and getting water, 15 minutes wandering around at the standard getting lost spot and another 20 minutes while I ran back and got the water bottle I left at the creek crossing at the standard getting lost spot. By safety meeting math, that got us to the river in just under 7 hours from the start of the hike. By the way, just before Styx pass, don't go to the cabin - stay right along the creek. If you asked me what the hike was like, I guess I would say it is pretty much what you would expect an 10+ mile hike with your boat and gear to be like...

Looking into the UCC Headwaters

The final 20 minute descent to the river is gratifying, exciting and welcome all at the same time. Kind of like the bottom part of an icecream cone with all the good stuff melted down in it - kind of...

The Hike is Finally Over...

The Creek - Day 1

When we got to the creek, the main question in everyone's mind was "is it still too high?" Certainly it didn't appear to be - calm crystal clear pools can be very deceiving though. I went for a quick swim and sat at the river's edge and soaked in the beauty for a while as we regrouped and relaxed after a solid day's effort.

The Put-in! Nice 360 hole by the way

After a while, the desire to get in our boats got the best of us and we headed down to the put-in slide. A quick scout revealed a great sequence of slides and drops into yet another amazing pool. We hopped back in our boats and it was all smiles down to the pool. Jacub, who had gotten off a high water UCC portage fest a few days earlier mentioned that it seemed like the water had not dropped much. This did not bode well for the rest of the creek, but man, it was a good level for the put-in slide...

Tim on the Put-in Slide

Tim on the Pinball Section of the Put-in Slide

Tim Working out the Pinball Ferry

After a lap down, we decided to set up camp. There were plenty of places to choose from, and after we settled on one, we went back up for more laps on the slide. A nice dinner of mac and cheese and sausage topped of the evening - even the mosquitoes couldn't put a damper on the night.

Home Sweet Home - Camp 1

The Creek - Day 2

The next morning we awoke with the hopes of seeing Jake's boat parked on the beach - no luck. His plan was to start hiking about 9 pm the night before and maybe catch a few hours of sleep at the put-in, so we figured he was still up there catching some z's. We had a leisurely breakfast and then decided to do some more laps on the put-in slide. When we got up there we saw the Colorado boys who had started the hike just after us and camped at the put-in, but apparently no sign of Jake.

At this point there were two realistic possibilities; one was that Jake decided to stop and camp along the hike somewhere, the other was that he got lost and made the wrong turn into the gorge. The wrong turn has probably been done by many groups (including Tim on his first time in). It consists of getting lost at the standard getting lost spot, then plunging off into the canyon about 2 miles downstream of the standard put-in. Apparently sketchy down-climbing around cliffs is one good indicator that you have made a wrong turn...

As 10 am turned to noon, it appeared the later option was the most likely. We decided the best course of action would be to stay put (it seemed the water was still on the high side); even if we got started by 2 pm we would easily get down to Cherry Bomb Gorge before dark. As we chilled out on the rocks, basking in the surprisingly pleasant July sun, we finally heard some shouts. Looking up across the river we saw Jake walking upstream at river level with his boat on his back. After a few hoots and hollers of excitement at finally having our crew together, we got the story. Sure enough, Jake made a wrong turn, ended up downstream a couple of miles, hiked upstream for a while with all his gear, then decided to stash his gear and hike upstream with just his boat. To add to the confusion, he had hiked up earlier sans gear (to within 50 yards of where we were no sitting) and saw a group of 3 paddlers headed down. Having waved to them and having them wave back, he began dashing back to his boat only to find out after the fact that they were not us (we were happily doing laps on the put-in slide). Finally, after somewhere around 11 hours of hiking and a couple of hours of sleep, Jake, finally found us and we were on our way!

Sliding Away - Day 1

Below the put-in slide, there is a long series of easy granite slides with some of the most spectacular scenery I've come across. I have to say that even at high water, some of these slides were pretty rough; I've heard that at "ideal" flows, it is a bit of a drag (pun intended). After that you get to a rocky section with a few distinct drops, then back to more slide like action. Everything was going well until somewhere in the middle of the slide sequence, Jakub snapped a paddle. We busted out one of our breakdowns (now we were down to one) and cut the broken paddle into pieces to be packed out. After that it was back to more action...

Jake in the Overhang - Doesn't look so bad at high water

The Run-out of the Overhang Drop

Soon we came to the first real gorge - I believe it is called the class IV gorge. Jacub had been in at high water a few days earlier and said it was pretty busy, so we decided to give it a quick scout. Plus the extra time gave Jake a minute to rest his eyes while we scrambled down the granite to check out what was ahead. As indicated by it's name, this gorge is not very complicated, the only real issue is the exit rapid called West Coast Gorilla, which I think is bit more intimidating than its East Coast counterpart...

The First Real Gorge - Ending in West Coast Gorilla

From the original scout on river right, the drop looked pretty sketch - dropping into a small channel with pretty substantial piton potential in a pothole on the right. After running the gorge and checking out the drop from the left it seemed a bit more manageable. Jake had run it before, so he acted as probe using the far left line to clear the piton, albeit with a bit of action against the right wall in that general vicinity.

Jake goin' Ape

Jakub and I decided a center rout might be a little more agreeable and he fired it off. The only issue with the center rout was that the boof flake of choice did not have a ton of water going over it, requiring a deft move where you drive up on to it from left to right and then swing the bow back to the left hard before take-off. Jacub had pretty good position going in, but the boof flake just wouldn't let him on soon enough - the result was that he was a little late in getting his bow left and hit the piton pothole at full speed. The result was something like a kick-flip where he was able to remain upright and cartwheel somewhat off the rock; impressive, but not the line I wanted to take. Learning from that, I drove a bit harder, but still barely got my bow in position at the desired take-off spot. The landing was surprisingly soft and the run-out feels a bit like being shot out of a cannon; good stuff.

Jacub pre-kick-flip

Jazzed, we headed downstream into the second gorge (maybe this one is the class IV gorge?). There is a fun boof on the entry then a tricky one where you have to boof and drive right to avoid a bit of mank against the wall on the left.

Nice boof in the Second Gorge

After that there were a couple of slides then a nice area just above Cherry Bomb Gorge where we decided to camp. This brings up another fact about UCC; there are so many great camps that I think it can handle a large number of folks. The main concern is to make sure that you use proper etiquette when setting up and breaking down camp. Don't trash the place, don't poop next to the river and don't burn anything down - words to live by...

Home Sweet Home - Camp 2

The Creek - Day 3

The next day we got an early start; clearly everyone was stoked to see if the gorge was down to runnable levels. We ate breakfast and started making our way downstream. We got to the top of the gorge and started the long hike up and around (in the process Tim found a Rattlesnake that was so friendly it didn't even rattle). Our first glance of Cherry Bomb Falls over the lip was not the most encouraging; the entire cauldron was white. Not only that, but there was very little green water in the succeeding drops. Jake pointed out the sequence: left-left-middle-right-middle-left. I repeated this mantra in my head over and over till I had it down.

After making our way to the view up the gorge from the bottom it seemed the crux move was really the last. The falls and the weir were definitely stiff, but in theory, a rescue could be performed somewhere before right-middle-left; just before the last three drops it looked like you could get out on the right side. This seemed like a great place to set token safety for the last sequence that entailed a 6 footer without a clear launching pad into a decent sized hole, followed closely by another fold, then the crucial chokestone boof. There was clearly not much time for recovery in this sequence, so the first move was critical. The lack of safety options and the high water was making me a bit nervous. The devil and the angel on my shoulder began to converse - one of them, I'm not sure which, pointed out that this was my first trip down UCC and maybe I could come back and get into the gorge at lower water. It was even theoretically possible that the water level would come down substantially by that afternoon (we were bound to be going into the gorge around noon - the highest part of the diurnal flow pattern). A quick survey and Tim, Jacub and Jake were all in for going now. A second survey and nobody seemed to psyched about committing to another run later that afternoon. After several minutes looking at the final three drops, I opted out. With the water level and the lack of safety options, the devil, the angel and I deemed that the chances of four of us making it through there unscathed was pretty slim. Everyone nodded and we started heading back to our boats.

Our usually chatty group was silent on the hike back up. We got to the last overlook of Cherry Bomb Falls and lingered for a second or two. As I sat there trying to picture those guys going in, me sitting there overlooking the whole scene unable to do anything should a problem arise - I decided that we were better off if we all went. Besides, I knew I would regret not going in there and I felt strongly that I could make the moves. I broke the silence - "I'm in...". Everyone was stoked, I think we all felt much better as a team and even though I really hadn't spent much time with these guys, a trip like this really seems to create a bond between people.

As a side note, after the fact I wondered to myself about when you call off running something and when you go for it. Certainly there were lots of doubts in my minds about headed in there, but I would not say there was an ominous feeling. The longer you paddle, the more you walk around big stuff you know you can run - that's a fact. But where is the line between healthy concern and listening to your gut. I've always said I respect the paddler that walks something they can run more than the paddler that charges something they shouldn't. The question always is whether you can recognize your own place in this spectrum...

Once you commit to entering the gorge, there are only two options. One is to run it, the second is to back out at the lip of Cherry Bomb Falls and head up a sketch crack back to safety - but in reality once you drop in, you're in. The lead-in rapids in the gorge are pretty darned good - one we walked around since it seemed a bit dodgy and we were were more focused on what lay ahead. Once you finish these, there is a huge pool - the calm before the storm.

The first time you paddle up to the jumble of rocks above Cherry Bomb falls, it's a religious experience. The towering granite walls, the crystal clear water, the not-so-distant roar of whitewater echoing through the canyon. This is the holy-land of kayaking and one might argue that once you pass through, you will never be the same. I wonder if meeting the Pope would make me have to poop in my pants...

Once you get to the lip of Cherry Bomb Falls, you get to stare down the barrel of the gun. The line is pretty basic; drive left and hold your angle avoid surfing the weir and regroup for the next sequence. We decided to run it in groups of two; Jake and Jacub, followed by Tim and me.

Jake went first, opting to go right of the lead in rock (which was actually quite a bit underwater) driving hard left. He hit is line, but the approach left him almost sideways on landing. Since the water was pretty high, the boil coming off the wall caught his downstream edge and he flipped as he entered the weir. After a quick roll, he was upright but in the dreaded weir-surf pointed to the right (the least desirable direction). Jake is bomber and we were pretty sure he was going to work out of it, but it was still a disconcerting position for us (and him) to be in. Helpless, Tim and I signaled for Jacub to wait - the last thing you need is two in the hole. We sat there and watched and encouraged Jake to surf it out. I'd give it a good 30 seconds of quality time before Jake worked his way out - to cheers from the crew. Jacub now had the green-light and tried the line to the left of the entry rock. This line seemed much more controlled and he pretty much nailed it, brushing up against the bottom corner of the wall slightly as he dropped through the weir. Sweet; two down safely, two to go.

Jake headed in

Jacub - Note this is considered high flow for this drop.

It was time for Tim and myself to go. Now those of you that paddle with me might notice a little ritual I do before I run anything of difficulty. First, I find some dirt and rub down my paddle and hands; that's because somewhere in my lineage is there is a race of prodigious grease producing ability. If I did not constantly rub down my paddle, it would simply fly out of my hands every now and then. The other thing I do is splash water in my eyes; you see I wear contacts and this seems to be the best way to prime them so they don't swim around in my eyes, or even worse fall out. Well my ritual was cut short due to the fact that I could not find any sand - the whole gorge seemed to be stripped clean. Tim was clearly ready to go, so I skipped this step and went on to splash my eyes and get ready to go. Next time I intend to carry a pouch of sand with me into Cherry Bomb Gorge...

The plan was for me to go first, then Tim. We both decided to take the line to the left of the entry rock, driving a little left to keep off the wall at the bottom. I headed into the drop with left angle, once my stern cleared the rock I took a good right stroke - a little excited I probably pushed too hard and felt my boat start to spin left a little too much. No problem, I will just throw in a little correction stroke on the left - as I did, my dirty little ancestry kicked in and the paddle completely turned in my hands. Not good. As my boat continued to spin left, the only thing I could do was try to re-grip my paddle, relax and do the classic reverse boof. Yep, I was pretty much backwards by the time I went over the drop. You know how time can slow down right, well everything kind of came to a stop as I flew off the drop and I thought to myself, in a surprisingly calm manner: "Just Ride it out". I guess the kayaking Gods were feeling generous that day; I skied the autoboof, landing backwards but perfectly balanced, and just paddled away from the wall and through the weir. In the eddy below I saw Jacub laughing hysterically, Jake congratulated me on my line (having only seen me go through the weir he had no idea how bad I pooched it). Moments later Tim flew off the drop, facing in the desired direction and having little trouble with the wall or the weir, and we were all ready to negotiate the remainder of the gorge.

We were all extremely stoked until Jake pointed out the obvious - "we're not done yet!". The next few drops are pretty straight-forward; left, left, middle. Then a little break before the final right, middle, left. We eddied out and I looked up at our planned safety spot. As we sat there, Jacub grinned and peeled out - making it over the first drop, fighting left through the second and finding the slot to the left of the choke-stone. "Weren't we going to set safety here?" I asked, noticing how hard he had to struggle to get left. Tim kind of shrugged and charged off with a similar result to Jacub. I guess not, I shrugged to myself. Jake looked at me and I gave him the nod - off he went. Perhaps he was a little too far center or perhaps it was because Jake is just a big guy, but his boat went deep in the hole in the first drop, back-endering a bit and pushing him back to the right. Unable to fight left through the next drop he basically dropped over the middle dead sideways. At this point, Jake began his second surf of the gorge. Thinking that now would have been a good time to have that rope, I scrambled out of my boat in the tiny eddy and began trying to figure a route up. It was clear that I had to get the boat up to a pothole on the right and then traverse across a crack downstream to get into position. Knowing in the back of my head that the clock was ticking, I decided to grab the bow of my boat in one hand and try to pull myself up via a small crack with the other hand. This proved to be a serious miscalculation with a loaded boat. Straining, I pulled myself halfway up but could get no farther; the boat was pulling me back into the river. There weren't too many options now, one was to let go of the boat, the other was let it drag me back down to the water. Losing the boat would have not done Jake or myself any good since the rope was still in it, so I decided to try a controlled slide back towards the water. Thinking how bad it would suck to end up swimming the rapid that Jake was now stuck in, I clung to what little bits of rock I could until I was able to get back to a somewhat stable position back where I started. Pissed at myself for taking as much time as I was, I grabbed the rope, clipped it to the bow and climbed up to the pothole where I pulled my boat up and scrambled across the rocks to see what the status was. This whole process probably took over a minute and I was extremely relieved to see Jake still in his boat and in once piece in the pool below the drop. Apparently after repeated, and unsuccessful, attempts to surf out the desired left side, Jake had to finally surf out the sievy looking right side. I'm still not real sure how he did this, but he said it kind of flushed him under the overhanging rock.

So there I was, sketched out from almost falling in the river, out of breath and not at all pysched to run the next drop. By this point in time Tim had done a similar rock scramble up from below. About 50 feet separated us and I asked if it looked like I could make it to where he was standing. He gave me a two word reply: "Must Run!", and I turned back towards my boat and began getting in.

Sometimes when you are running class V you have no choice but to just settle down and get your shit together. This was one of those times. I seal launched into the eddy, sat there for a minute and took some deep breaths, conjured a mental image of the line and I was off. Nice boof on the right, controlled through the middle then a flurry of strokes to get left before a sweet boof to the left and around the Chokestone. Pheww!

At this point with everyone safely through Cherry Bomb Gorge it was all smiles - feeling stoked and relieved at the same time, we pulled up on the rock in the center of the next drop and seal launched into the last drop of the gorge proper. Taking a minute to rest and regroup, we recounted our individual adventures to each other before turning our attention downstream.

The remaining slides and falls into Flintstone Camp are just loads of fun - starting with the jedi slide, followed by a series of fun tea-cups.

Post Jedi Action

Dump-Truck

Too Much Fun after the Bomb

Tim and Jacub Safely into Flintstone Pool

Even with all the action, it was still just after noon when we pulled into Flintstone Camp - plenty of time to finish off the run. We all agreed, though, that we were happy to stop and relax and enjoy this awesome place for one more night. We ran into the Colorado Boys who were breaking from lunch and headed down to camp a little lower, probably below Dead Bear. They mentioned another group of 9 had run the gorge the afternoon before (probably the first descent of the year) and had a swimmer in the weir - no idea how that one ended up. We started pulling all the gear out of our boats and having lunch and the Colorado boys paddled off to enjoy the goods downstream.

For the next 8 hours or so we chilled, did the occasional lap down the series of waterfalls above camp and enjoyed being in the heart of Upper Cherry Creek. I have to say, that the dichotomy between being utterly overwhelmed with adrenaline one minute and being so completely relaxed hanging out by the pools the next is hard to describe. I have to say that that was probably one of my top 10 days on the river in my life - even though we only made it about a mile and a half...

Home Sweet Home - Camp 3

Ready you are: Happy-hour at Jedi Slide

Dayz End - Day 3

We also ventured downstream to look at the drops below camp - groove tube, perfect twenty and double pothole. We actually got to catch a couple of the Colorado boys running double pothole. I had no idea the lead in to that drop was so ugly, but I figured we would figure it all out tomorrow.

After getting back to camp, we saw some folks hiking down the opposite side of the river with their gear - leaving the kayaks behind to go-light into the gorge the following day. This seems like a good way to do it on some levels; if something goes wrong in the gorge you dealing with unloaded boats - something that would have really helped me in trying to get out to get a rope to Jake. On the other hand, once you get used to paddling a loaded boat it has its advantages - you can punch almost any hole and the added gear seems to add stability. The final advantage to doing the gorge with gear is you don't have to carry it all around the gorge...

That night we cooked up some gargantuan meals. I had evidently packed enough food for about eight days on the river; which was good since some other were starting to run low. By the time is was all said and done I think a packed out a single bag of couscous and an extra power bar or two. I had a great night's sleep under the stars and felt about as content as I had felt in a long time.

The Creek - Day 4

The next day we woke up and had a leisurely breakfast. The word was that we had some of the biggest drops still ahead of us, but plenty of time to do it. The water had dropped again - it was looking like those folks who were waiting for the fourth of July weekend were going to luck out with "optimal" flows.

We set off downriver, looking back one last time at Flintstone camp with Cherry Bomb Gorge in the distance. Around the corner was one little drop before we came to the Groove Tube, Perfect 20 and double pothole. Jake had had his fill of excitement the day before and elected to meet us at the bottom of double pothole.

Breakfast Drop - Day 4

Jacub busted out the video camera while Tim and I ran through. The groove tube is a cool 8 foot slot through what looks like a total maelstrom. The line is clean though and both Tim and I emerged unscathed. The Perfect 20 is all of 20 feet and lands in nice cauldron with potential problems on the left side if you were to end up there. You can run the left line and hit a flake partway down; the result is a drier landing, but potential for back compression if you land too flat. The other option is to take it down the right side and tuck straight in. At this point I must admit I'm no expert at running waterfalls; the tuck is not something I encounterd often in my days racing and most of the rivers I run these days don't have clean 20+ footers. Anyway, after a brief lesson from Tim, I floated off the lip of Perfect 20, tucked, hit, resurfaced, sweet. I couldn't resist sneaking a peak as I landed; the results was feeling like I had been slapped around a bit, but I think I kind of liked it.

Jacub followed soon after electing to take the left line, hitting the flake about halfway down. The result was a flat landing - luckily the water was high enough to make it soft (also Jacub is young and compressible).

On to Double Pothole. We got to the entry and scouted; the entry line the Colorado boys had taken on the right the afternoon before was not an option anymore. The water had dropped enough that the flake they had gotten their bow over was not very enticing any longer. Staring at the uglyness that is the lead-in to Double Pothole was discouraging. You've seen the video of the drop - it is super sweet looking. What you don't see is the rock jumble above where all the water slams into a giant boulder. At high really high water you can paddle up against the right wall and clear the boulder, then scramble left to the takeoff point. At lower water you can portage around the left side and put-in right next to the boulder and ferry above it. At medium high water neither of those options seemed all that legit.

After staring at our options for a minute we decided that we might be able to use a pothole right at the lip to put-in, but it would require some teamwork. With one person lowering a boat down into the pothole and one person holding the boat in position, the third person could get in their boat. At this point the paddler would need a push upstream to give them enough time to turn the boat down and head off the lip. This wouldn't leave much room for error, but it seemed like the best plan of attack.

After a brief discussion, we all agreed. The last step involved various 5-8 rock smeering routs to get everyone in place. After almost falling in and swimming the last part of Cherry Bomb Gorge, I had no interest in falling in and swimming Double Pothole - despite my 5-10 savants, my confidence in my rock climbing ability had seriously diminished in the past 24 hours. Jacob and Tim did most of the work while I clung to whatever little holds I could find to get in place. With Jacub going first, Tim in the assist position and me operating the rope, we were able to put successfully put our plan into action.

Double Pothole - The assisted Triple Pothole Version

Tim was next, now with me in the assist position. Once there, I realized that there was a lot of responsibility in the assists position. You didn't want to be the guy that screwed up the push, resulting in a beat-down of your friend. At the same time, it was all fairly straight-forward. Tim nodded that he was ready and I pushed him up and out into the current. A quick turning stroke and a couple of forward strokes to get speed and he was off. I never got to see anyone land their lines, but by Jake's reaction downstream everything seemed fine. Finally it was my turn. Jacub had climbed back up to assist me - a quick push, a quick turn and I was flying off the lip. Being so close to the drop, you couldn't really get much speed; the result was that it was hard to land high and dry, instead the bow scooped a little and I received a little face-shot before exiting the drop cleanly at the bottom. From there, both Tim and Jacub decided the quickest way down was to just jump into the pool; Jacub electing the take the forward flip route...

Jacub about to Flip into the Pool Below Double Pothole (top left)

Right after Double Pothole the hits just keep on going; another nice sequence of tea-cup drops followed by Kiwi in a Pocket and Dead Bear Falls. At these flows the Tea-cups were pretty juicy but fun - I would say that with much higher flows they would become pretty intimidating. We ran groups of two through that section and regrouped above Kiwi in a Pocket.

Having filled my adrenaline box for the week with whitewater and rock scrambling, I really had no desire to run Kiwi or Dead Bear. Both drops involved 20+ footers with cave rescue potential. Plus, having run everything else to that point I figured I should leave something to the imagination. Jake and Tim and I set safety and filmed while Jacub dropped into Kiwi - good line. Then Jake and I watched as Jacub and Tim fired up Dead Bear using the lead-in and seal-launch options respectively. The seal-launch provides very little time to line up the drop; in fact you really are just seal launching into the free-fall. Tim's just kind of kept going left after he hit the water, resulting in about a 45 degree angle on the landing. It looked a bit awkward, but he came up smiling...

Jacub on the Lead-in Line in Dead Bear Falls

Tim on the Seal Launch Line into Dead Bear Falls

After Dead Bear things mellow out considerably. There is a fun slide, then a drop with an overhanging slot that we decided to skip, then a fun drop ending in a hole that tends to make people swim - no problem though since the pool below is the size of a giant parking lot...

UCC Skittles - bite sized candies by the fun slide

Another Drop You've Probably Never Seen (but will enjoy)

A Tight Drop Near the End

At this point you begin to notice the character of the river changing dramatically. The river starts to meander through trees and past beaches. The next mile would actually be the worlds best inner-tube run; dangling your feet in the water, looking up at the granite walls, sipping on a margarita out of a nalgene bottle - truly spectacular scenery.

A Scenic Meandering Section of UCC

Jake Happy to be UCC'n

After a while, West Cherry comes in on the right and things start to pick back up again. There are lots of drops, but since we were moving quickly, they kind of run together in my mind. There is one good sized drop that I recall and one drop that we portaged (although it looked to be runnable). There was definitely some fun stuff near the end of the first gorge and a fun slide just before the last gorge.

A calm spot in the Red Gorge

About a half mile from Cherry Lake

The last gorge has several drops of debatable quality. The highlight being the Nozzle - a pinch drop with a bit of a recirculating eddy on the bottom left.

The Nozzle - Next Stop Cherry Lake

From there it is on to the lake. After a short paddle across the lake and a not so short hike up the hill we were back to our shuttle vehicle. Stoked, tired and extremely happy, we celebrated our memorable trip with warm beer and high fives. After headed back to get the car it was off to Buck Meadows for a 49'er burger; which on that day was quite possibly the tastiest burger I've ever had.

After four days of some of the best whitewater and most amazing scenery I've ever come across, it was time to go home. I can't say I was ready to leave, but I can't really say I was ready for more either. I had an overwhelming sense of bliss as I drove over Tioga Pass and back down 395 and the Fourth-of-July fireworks in Independence capped off my journey. It's funny how sometimes you need some periods of insanity just to help keep you sane.

-Eric Giddens



For future reference, here are some of the guages of potential relevance during the time we were on the water.

The T Gauge Above Hetch Hetchy

The Gauge into Cherry Lake - highly experimental

More Kaweeeeeah Action

Yep, another day on the Kaweahs - East Fork one day, Hospital Rock the next; Doesn't get much better for back-to-back day trips. There's lots of info out there on the East Fork, so I won't bore you with the details; just wanted to put up some pics of a really fun couple of days with Rebecca, Jason, Trevor and Geno. There are a few shots that are definately worth looking through, including a nice sequence of Trevor's eventful run through triple drop. The rest are a hodgepodge of shots while we scrambled for cameras between drops. Enjoy!

For those who might be interested in getting on this run this year, or at a later date, the flow peaked at 850 cfs at Three Rivers the day these photos were taken. If you are doing this run earlier in the year you might want higher flows at Three Rivers (due to the fact that the North and Sout Forks are contributing more water in the Spring). On the downside of the spring melt, you are looking for peak flows in Three Rivers anywhere between 650 and 1000.

Disclaimer: This is my subjective opinion having never run the East Fork at low flows. I have, however, put on at 1100 on the downside of peak flows and I can attest that it gets pretty burly - especially if it might be your first time down. FYI, the double secret probation gauge above the put-in bridge apparently read a fairly constant flow (no big diurnal) of aroung 165 cfs. For those who know, this corresponded to the water level being solidly in the notch, lapping 2-4 inches higher. Note: Summer of 09 was not a typical high Sierra year with cold weather and copious thunderstorms in May/June. Hope that helps... All information garnered in this blog may or may not be appicable to said unavigable waterway.

Let the boofs begin - Trevor catches air

The dicey seal-launch


The drop right below the dicey seal launch - which looms in the crack just up and to the right



Then back to the fun stuff...

Rebecca enters the sweet double drop

from below


Eric in the sweet Double Drop

Tim easily gets right


Rebecca also gets right



Eric entering Triple Drop

Landing...


Fighting left through the boil


Finding the Slot on the Left

Lining up the third drop for...

One last face shot...

Happy Ending...

Trevor Enters Triple Drop

Landing?

not where you really want to be...

entering drop 2...

some action...

Then out of drop 2...


Not done yet...


The finale

All in all, a very stout run through T-drop. Not sure I would have pulled it off without a good bootie beer...

A quick stop for lunch where we had a scaley friend to keep us company

Now I always loose focus when people write stuff on their blogs; unless I really know them, all I really want to see are the rad pictures. You might think I'm shallow and unintersting (and I am), but mainly I just have a very short attention span. Anyway, I'm going to interupt the shiney, colorful kayak porn for a second here to interject how much I really really like this run. If you take a second to look past the whitewater in each of these pictures, you'll see a really, really beautiful canyon; not only that, but those of us who have had to hike out know it is "effectively" remote as well. That said, the East Fork has something for everyone; if you want to go big there is Triple Drop, Deadwood, Baby Hook and Skyhook - If you don't, there are lots of great class V drops and a few poison Oak infested portages. Serious Sierra Goodness if you ask my opinion - which you didn't, but your at my blog...

And back to the action:


Jason lays it down old-school

Trevor sliding out the first slide in the slide gorge

Jason on the second slide - go between the Moose Knuckles

and sliding...

and sliding...

Tim lining up the overhang
not the smoothest slide on the East Fork


Garreth from the East Coast digging the East Fork


Tim rounding the corner


Happy People

Part II - Hospital Rock 4.9 ft on the Hospital Rock Gauge (more like 4.7 above the diversion, which was not pulling out the max cfs)

Tim not getting beat down in Baby Niagra

Trevor exiting 420 rapid
Garreth, Laura and Rebecca chillin in 420 gorge
Tim on Table Rock Falls

Tim exits the bird bath

Geno on the superstar boof

Eric at about 20 on zero to sixty

Trevor exceeds 55

Bootie Beers all around - for Geno

and a well deserved one for Trevor - not for T-drop (which for the record was not a swim), but for baby Niagra - a nice welcome to Hospital Rock...

South Merced

Lars Holbek called the South Fork of the Merced one of the best, runnable, Class V multi-Day trips in the World. After our first trip down this, it's hard to argue with him. The motivation for doing this trip actually had a lot to do with Lars' statement - after his passing this year, it seemed like a nice way to pay tribute him, Nancy and everything they have done for the sport of Kayaking. Plus, with a recommendation like that, how could it not be a ton of fun!

We drove up from Kernville late Tuesday night after work; the plan was to meet a few folks near the take out and shuttle up to the put-in for a two-day trip. Unfortunately, the Yosemite Park crowd was in full force even mid-week, and the pre-arranged campsite was full. After some late-night searching, we finally found a place we could crash for the night- a parking space in the Indian Flat RV camp.

The South Merced is 23+ miles long with lots of Class V - I'm not sure if Lars' 4 hour and 14 minute run will ever be duplicated, but certainly the first time down we were expecting a long 2 days. The result was a desire to get on the river somewhat early on Wednesday - something that was not destined to happen. The Wild Goose Chase that ensued Wednesday morning as we tried to catch up with the rest of our group was somewhat comical - except for the fact that we never caught up with the rest of our group. I'll spare you the details, but a big apology goes out to Tim and Chad - note to self; arrange a back-up meeting time and place in case the shit hits the fan...

Four of us (Jason, Corby, Rebecca and myself) ended up putting on about 1 pm with thunder clouds building, there were a few miles of mellow, scenic river before we started to hit the class V's.

About 3 miles of scenery before it starts

The drops on the South Merced are not really one-stroke wonders; most rapids are fairly long and involved. Having never done the run before, the going was slow. Most of the rapids on the first day are formed by boulders, but there are a few granite drops - and yes, the blind corner on the right side below that one drop is clear...

Rebecca on the run-out of another long one

Since we were not sure how long we were going to be going for the first day, I did not get too many pictures. Definately missed the opportunity to take shots of a nice big rattlesnake during one scout. Also the first long class V with the tree-duck should have been a good photo-op.

After about 3-4 hours on the river, Charlie Center and his crew caught up with us. Yep, they saw Tim and Chad hanging out at the take-out around 1pm, waiting for us to show up - oops. Can I apologize again...

The good news was that we now had someone to expidite our way down the next couple of miles to camp - Super Slide! Super Slide is probably the biggest drop on the South Merced, and also one of the easiest. It was so super, we had to run it twice!

Looking down the final slide

Rebecca entering the slide

Jason exiting

By the way, the cary up to redo this drop is easy at river level, so even if you are not camped out at Super Slide camp, I highly recommed taking the time to do it again... So fun...

Like every other overnighter I've ever had in California, camp was awesome. We packed in a couple of bottles of wine and sipped and snacked while we watched Charlie reel in the trout - a couple of really big ones that got away, the biggest I've seen in a place that was not stocked. Nothing like a campfire and sleeping under the stars in a place that no one but boaters get to experience.

Corby's Camp in the mist of Super Slide

The next morning, we slowly packed up camp; half expecting Tim and Chad to come boating down from a higher camp. Charlie, Katie, Thomas and Katies Brother (sorry man, I'm always referred to as Rebecca's Husband, so I feel for you) did a breakfast run on the slide - nice lighting

Thomas having water for breakfast

Little Katie, Big Drop

After breaking camp and glancing upstream one more time, we started off on day two. For the next hour or so, we played played tag with Charlies Crew; trying not to cramp their style (8 boats is too many for such a congested run).

Corby just below camp - this qualifies as a "boulder rapid"

We came across them at "the portage" and a few other drops until we finally lost contact with them for good in one particularly long rapid.

Charlie Center - Da Man

The second day consisted of too many drops to recount, all of them class V, but kind of staying the same the whole way down - quality. There was an interesting mix of boulder rapids and granite gorges.

Corby on another nice slide

Eric probing a deep hole

We probably put on around 10 am and spent a solid 6 hours running the rest of the class V; it's kind of suprising how many drops this river has. At one point, as we were scouting one of the main sections - a triple drop in a funky gorge - it started to rain some of the biggest rain-drops I have ever seen. Dime sized drops maybe? Sure seemed spooky as we dropped into that section

Corby in the storm

Eric on another nice granite slide

Corby finds a nice boof in the mess

We finally got around to lunch about 2pm; thinking we were almost done with the class V's - fat chance!

Eric on another drop

Finally, things started to mellow out, it seemed like we now had a good chance to make it out before dark.

Jason Finally gets to smile

The last notable drop on the trip turned out to be one of our favorites - I wish this drop was on my local river so I could lead people through it blind all the time. The river narrows on the left side and plunges between some huge boulders in a blind chute. It sure looks like you are probably going to die, but it is super clean and fun!

Corby in the fun chute

The last 7 miles are class III - a long paddle out for sure, but as the soreness and tiredness sets in from your two days on the South Merced, this paddle out seems like an ultra-meditative state of higher awareness... Either that or I was simply entoxicated from hyperventalating for two days straight...

Thanks Lars!

Spring Skiing at Virginia Lakes

Ok, to preface this trip, I have to point out that I grew up in Georgia, so snow is not second nature to me. Rebecca is from Wisconsin, so she is used to snow, but the Sierra in Spring is something we normally experience in a kayak, not on skis. With that out of the way, spring skiing is the bomb. We got a chance to get our first taste of back country corn with some friends up in Virginia Lake, just up the crest from Mono Lake.

Some friends of ours, Dave and Alison, have a family cabin on Virginia Lake - a super-cool, rustic 50 year-old cabin. In the spring, before the lakes thaw, you have haul in water from a nearby creek, but in the summer, they have running water straight from the lake.

During the winter this cabin is covered in snow...

The Virginia lakes area has a sequence of lakes; Blue Lake, Red Lake, Virginia Lake and Little Virginia Lake (probably more too that I did not see). Pretty much everywhere you look you see sick slopes leading down to a lake - one of the prettier places I've ever been.

We started off the first morning headed for twin chutes; the "bunny hill". Since Rebecca and I have never skied spring conditions, we had no idea what sort of adventure we were about to have...

Starting our journey up

and up..

At first, skinning up was not too bad; the soft snow gripped pretty well to the skins and going was pretty fast. After a while though, the top layer got so slushy that you could not really traverse without your skis slushing downhill. That combined with the fact that it was too steep to skin straight up made the going pretty tough.

A short pause for a snack and a view

After a while, we abandoned our skis to hike up the rocks first (hiking on shale in ski boots is not ideal), then resorted to postholeing up the rest of the way.

Still going up...

At this point, I have to admit that I was about as gripped as I have been in a long time. Here we were staring down this steep mountain, with nothing to stop you from sliding all the way to the bottom, on snow conditions I've never even made a turn on before, on three-pin tele bindings. Luckily, Rebecca was brave enough to go first and show me that it could actually be done - and that it also happened to be really fun.

First Turns

Dave is mister super athlete who normally snowboards, but decided to take tele skis since that is what we were all doing. Of course he had no trouble carving down the slope either, leaving me with no option but to point my skis down and hope for a carve or two - Georgian Style!

As it turned out, I did not have to slide down the mountain on my butt like I thought, and everyone had a ball cruising down the soft, but carvable conditions. By the time we got back down to the cabin, it was definately cocktail hour.

Eric with an Epic IPA after an Epic Adventure

Spring in the Sierra - Nice!

Emboldened by a few beers and fun drinks, we embarked on a late afternoon ski on Red Bowl just to the West. Copper and Lucy were psyched to join after their day of napping at the Cabin, so off we went.

Copper in the up-track

Rebecca once again leading the way

Copper and Lucy pulling in just behind Eric

On day two, we decided to head up to the top of Red Bowl and give that a shot. The way up was not quite as difficult as the day before - an earlier start and a slightly different aspect allowed us to skin up a bit farther. Once we hit the last steep ascent though, we got to a point where we couldn't go up anymore; the problem was that the conditions again made it hard to traverse. So after another gripping escapade across another steep slope, we made it to solid ground. Here we resorted to the hiking method again and quickly made it to the top.

Glad to be back on solid ground

At the top, spectacular views awaited. Eating lunch on the warm rocks looking over this spectacular vally was quite the reward - and we still had skiing to do!

Rebecca at the top

Dave and Charlie soaking it in

Once again, we found ourselves on top of the world; the slope even steeper than the day before, even less to arrest your fall. Dave and Allison were back on snowboards and quickly took off, making sweet turns the whole way down. The only problem was the slope was too steep for us to even see them. Rebecca once again probed for the tele crew.

Rebecca headed down

To make a long story short, we made it down; all pretense of style thrown out the window. The final runout of the slope ended up right along Virginia Lake with its ultra-blue waters welcoming us to the end of the run. All in all, when I wasn't pooping in my pants, I was having a great time. Certainly the beauty of the area and the quality of the skiing was plenty of motivation to get better on our skis in time for next spring...

Allison and Rebecca traversing the lake

"Can you believe we skied that!"