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.

South Branch Middle Feather

After Deer Creek, we all went our separate ways. However, Nemo (Toni's Toyota Tercel) got a flat tyre and not having a jack onboard, meant a quick phone call for Hank (our truck) to come to the rescue and help out. While parked next to the freeway, we came up with the plan of going into the South Branch of the Middle Fork of the Feather. 

Nemo

After some solid night-time 4WD action and camping out at a forestry junction (thanks TomTom - you need updating and a few navigation lessons) we rocked up to the put-in. There was another team there about to put on, which is always a good sign. The flow was on the high side of medium. 

Only Ryan had been in here before (and with Evan Garcia leading him down) so his memory of the run wasn't very helpful. With a bunch of scouting we made it safely down the run.

Me on one of the early drops

Toni at the end of a gorge, working on her rescue pose

Jess, getting her nose up

Me trying to straighten up

Looking back at the goods.

Pete, stomping it

The run was steeper than I thought it was going to be and I don't do so well with heights. The heights affected my mind - I didn't feel solid at all. I would love to go back in there now that I know what the lines are and have an idea of what I am getting myself into.  

Me launching 

Toni, firing it off a double drop

Ryan, flying

Me on the double drop, after spending a bit of time in a corner pocket 

Deer Creek

We rallied to Deer Creek, as all other options were going big. The idea of doing a multiday trip was well received by the crew. With a quick phone call our team went from 5 to 8. We met at the take-out with a flow of 750 cfs. An alternative put-in was easily found (thanks to Andy Round). From there we made good time, even overtaking a group within the first 30 minutes (that had put on an hour before us). 

The run had a lot of read and run Class 4, not too much that was harder than that. A couple of rapids stacked up and had some good boofs. The style of the run is volcanic - big boulders make up the rapids.

A few rapids were continuous but these were mostly found in the first half. The second half, after our camp, started really well and ended with manky Class 1, willow-infested, low-volume grovelling. Our team had 2 swims, both of which were pins. This was due to the mid-stream boulder rapids. If given the chance to go back it would take a good crew, more whisky and 1000 cfs to get me onboard. 

Sorting out gear at the put-in

Jess doing a night time repair

Ryan learning the hard way how to back flip

Pete showing how it's done

Drying gear at the take-out

Pete back flipping