My first creek! Creeking consists of paddling in tight places where there isn't much water -- such as the Moose Creek, where flipping a kayak would mean hitting lots and lots of rocks. It also includes the danger of pinning, i.e. having the kayak stuck in rocks.
But, first things first. In the morning I wanted to show Brian my new digital camera -- I brought it in the waterproof OtterBox. Well, we couldn't open it -- I closed it in Salida, at 7000 feet, and the atmospherical pressure at sea level just clamped the box shut! Good stuff: it really is waterproof :) I ended up wedging the outside with a screwdriver, and it popped with a very loud noise.
Chris (Cook), Brian and I drove to Palmer, met Eric who just finished work, and waited at Taco Bell for the other Chris (Christensen) and Jody. They didn't show up, and there was a possibility of miscommunicating, so we drove out to the put-in, near the Matanuska Glacier. They weren't there either, so after waiting a little bit we put on.
It was SHALLOW! Yikes! Rapids weren't really rapids, in most cases they were tight spots that required dodging lots of rocks. About a mile in we saw a white truck on the side of the road, and it was Chris and Jody, along with Steve Greer. We climbed up the steep bank, and ran the first section again.
It was fun -- one could count all the play spots on this five mile run with the fingers of one hand. The creek required constant attention -- not a place to flip in. The most fun section was the waterfall -- it's a ten foot drop, with a few choices of launching spots. We scouted it, some of us walked it. I ended up running it three times, ha ha ha, I loved the feeling of launching of a rock into space, being suspended in the air, and then hitting the water and sinking the entire boat in it.
The stages of waterfall running:
Somewhat tired, we all drove home. Eric and Jody came by to
Brian's house for dinner, cooked by Steve (Brian's roommate/landlord)
and his friend Rick. Mmmm... it was delicious! Sockeye salmon,
steak, beans, rice, plenty of wine. The evening ended with more than
a few shots of vodka, and Rick trying to pass a guitar composition of
his to me. He judged my play as worthy of it, although I suspect the
vodka may have affected his judgment.