South Silver

After a few runs where I really felt like I spent a lot of time thinking, the idea of going into South Silver sounded great. This run is like an amusement park with lots of clean drops and awesome slides. This run definitely falls into Ben Jackson's PGA category: PGA stands for Post Granite Awesomeness. 

This run contains great rapids including Autobahn, Skyscraper and Plastic Surgery. 

We drove from Coloma to find the take-out which happened to be the easiest part of our day. We checked the flows at the take-out and it looked like we had a good medium flow. From here we took a while to find the put in, a few wrong turns saw us back at main road. We found a group of kayakers also looking for the put in, they managed to point us in the right direction. We put on the river at 4.30pm, just as well it's a quick run. 

Shannon, Matt and myself boogied down stream, making quick time.

Such a fun run. Enjoy the photos...

Shannon on Autobahn

 Shannon on the bottom of Autobahn

Matt on Autobahn

 Shannon

 Matt facing the wrong way

 Me stomping down

 Getting ready for a soft landing

 Getting the nose sky high

 Running the pot holes

At the top of Skyscraper

At the bottom of Off Ramp

Me at the top of Skyscraper

On the last section of Skyscraper

 Off Ramp

Shannon at the top of Sky Scrapper

Shannon about to land sideways

 Shannon on Off Ramp

 Matt on Plastic Surgery

 Plastic Surgery

Burning Man

Kidder Creek and the Scott River

I ventured out to Etna (Northern Cali) with the idea of doing a couple of runs around the area. PK had mentioned that the Scott River was a great trip out at a good flow. Rush suggested doing Kidder Creek as well. Sounded like a good day out, two new runs in a day. 

Kidder Creek was the first on the list. It's a small creek that flows into the Scott River . To get to the put-in you take a road towards the mountains, between Etna and Fort Jones. The road takes you next to the river most of the way. On the drive up I was surprised at how small the run was, not a lot of volume in a very small gorge. There was maybe 200 cfs at the put in, maybe less. It has a couple of very cool rapids and it also had a little bit of braided river bed. Jess and I joined Zak, Rush and Ben for this run. Rush was the only one in the group who had done this run.

The first part of the run has lots of small, tight drops with some good boofs in a tight little canyon. Around the halfway point of the run we came to a tree that crossed the river. It had a sneak chute on the right under the tree, and a smashed up jet boat on the left. The jet boat was a crazy thing to see on this run because the river has some reasonable gradient in places, is narrow in lots of spots and had only just enough water for our kayaks.

Jess and I on the first rapid

Jess lining up a boof

Nearing the end of the first rapid

The tight exit of the first rapid

Lots of cool chutes

Jess

Looking at the jet boat from upstream

And looking back up at the jet boat

Jess almost getting pulled back by a sticky hole

From here Zak, Jess and myself drove towards the Scott river to do a 20 mile section. The style of this run was good but the quality of the water was a down side. The water was very murky - this is mostly from local agricultural run off. I prefer pristine water ways that you can drink. The whitewater was more of a river feel with lots of big holes and pour overs. 

At the take-out we were met by an angry local. We were about to take out on his land, which he wasn't at all happy about. As soon as we started talking to him he chilled out a lot - this way mainly due to the fact that none of us were from America and he had been watching the news story about the stranded Emperor penguin in New Zealand which he was eager to talk about. 

Rock rail slide on the Scott

Jess leading the way

One of the many big holes

Lining up another hole

Zak getting air

And yet another big hole

Bridge Creek (Cal Salmon)

Rush put out the idea to head into Bridge Creek. Bridge Creek is a tributary of Woolly Creek, which is one of the biggest tributaries flowing into the Cal Salmon. It had been on the cards for a couple of days, but the water was still high. With the arrival of Ben Marr we had a solid team of four to head in there. To get to Bridge Creek you first need to navigate your way through the old forestry blocks. We arrived at the end of a road which marked the start of our trail to the river. With a good solid hour hike behind us we were ready to put on the river. Bridge creek is a very funky run. It has a lot of manky rapids, lots of rocks that come at you from everywhere and lots of wood. The rapids that were big were also mostly very clean. 

Rush and Ben on a very cool slide

Rush hitting the kicker

Ben on a funky 20 footer

Rush on the same drop

Me on the same drop

Me on a triple drop
(One that Ben had also decided to fall into and swim down... Rush bagged him)

A clean granite gorge

Nice boofs all over the place

The last one; straight down the middle and 25 foot blind drop

Bridge Creek saw only a few incidents. Zak Shaw took a hit to the ribs (which I believe broke two of them), Ben Marr slipped into a rapid while scouting (fortunately he had a good line and was rescued before the next drop) and Rush broke a paddle (not paddling but during a throw-and-go). 

At the end of Bridge Creek we paddled into Woolly Creek. This is an awesome run on its own, with lots of cool moves, a big water feel and some holes that had some punch. It was a great finish to the day. 

The more my memory fades and my muscles relax (mainly from the hour downhill walk to the river) the more I think that going back into Bridge Creek would be a good idea. The rapids that were runnable were awesome and getting to do Woolly Creek without the six mile hike in is a great idea.

Thanks Ali for the shuttle.

Clear Creek Klamath Trib

Clear Creek was a new run for everyone. We were planing to meet a friend (Silas) at the put in and paddle it with him, but when we arrived at the top there was no sign of him. There is a small car park that is very close to the river. The car park is also the start of a walking track that follows the river. We walked up a track for about 20 minutes which gave us an extra gorge to paddle through with some fun warm up drops. 

Clear Creek is a very scenic river that travels through a narrow gorge with steep, moss lined walls. The run is pool drop in nature with a couple of steeper rapids in there. There was one portage (a very backed up hole with a tricky lead in) and a multi-tiered, hard to scout and must-run rapid near the end. We decided to do the Lower Clear Creek section (that begins at the take out for the Upper) instead of walking our boats back up to the road. The lower section was beautiful grade two with a couple of shallow rapids. 

When we arrived at the take out we were very happy to see that Rush's truck was parked there. We had organised via email to have our friend drive the vehicle to the take out for us, but we hadn't heard back from him before we left. If the vehicle wasn't at our take out it would have ment a ten mile hike back to the put in. I think that we would have volun-told Zak to run back to the top (he runs more than any of us and is very fit).  

Thanks to Silas for planting the idea in our heads to go to Clear Creek, it was worth the drive.

Me on the must run and hard to scout rapid (P: Zak Shaw)

 Some fire-burned trees at the car park/start to the hike

 Cruising in the top section: Jess, Rush and I (P: Zak Shaw)

 Zak getting ready to keep his nose up, Rush looking on

 Jess, about to charge straight over a huge hole

 Rush, about to land between rocks

 The seal launch after the portage

 Jess getting on the green water

Rush probing the must run

Salmon Valley Assault: The Classics

The last few weeks have seen fantastic flows on the Cal Salmon river. It has been sitting around 5000 cfs, which means that everything has enough water for great paddling, plus a bit extra. With multiple runs on most of the rivers, here are some pictures of the last couple of weeks. 

North Fork Salmon: 10 Mile to the 4 Mile marker

The North Fork has a very awesome section, particularly the top two miles. Lots of boulder garden rapids that flow quickly into the next rapid. The run has a few must-make moves which become easier during lower water. I got down this run four times in two weeks, all at different levels and usually taking an hour or so. From the seven mile marker to the four mile marker is a bit easier, with long rapids bouncy rapids and some good boof moves. Most of the rapids have a shallow feel, with a steep nature.

Me getting the line right (P: Zak Shaw)

 South Fork Gorge of the Salmon: Limestone Buffs to Mathews Campground

This run is my favorite run in the Salmon Valley because it is accessible, you can see a couple of the rapids from the road and it has lots of cool boofs. Woolly Creek has some better rapids, but you have to hike in to get there (which is hard to justify when it's a hot day and all I want to do is be on the water). South Fork Gorge takes about an hour to paddle once you know the lines. I think we took 45 minutes when it was flowing higher - about 5000 cfs at Somes Bar.

When the run is high, the rapids come at you quick and the flat water can still back loop you. When it starts to get to a medium flow (3500) the holes have more punch and a bit more suction, but the rapids slow down a bit and there's a bit more time to think.

This run has a lot of character, with rapids called Fake Amusement Park and Amusement Park (proper). The last three rapids are in a vertical walled gorge, which is very cool to paddle through.

Me (P: Zak Shaw)

Me, halfway through the first major rapid (P: Zak Shaw)

Zak poised to paddle

Lining up one of the many boofs (P: Scott Harding)

In the thick of the last rapid (P: Scott Harding)

Nordheimer (Main Canyon on the Salmon)

This run is great. It has a big water feel while still having lots of boofs and creeky movies. It has some fantastic rapids like Bloomer Falls, Airplane, Cascade, Achilles, Grants and Freight Train. The run takes about an hour if you know the lines, longer if you want to surf along the way. To make the run a bit longer you can carry on down though Butler to Brannon Bar. This gives you an extra 45 minutes and The Gaping Maw. This has been a great afternoon run as the water has been warm and a shorty is all you need. 

Me boofing Airplane

Jess on Cascade (P: Zak Shaw)

Jess lining up the tongue on the new rapid

Me chasing down Ben Jackson

Hitting and side surfing The Gaping Maw

Thanks to Jess Matheson, Ben Jackson, Zak Shaw, Peter Kettering, Rush Sturges, Ben Marr, Matt Coles, Scott Harding, Dave Farkas, Silas Beaver and Graham Charles. It has been awesome to get so many laps on these classic runs with great people. I've had a really good time in the Salmon Valley.