Chris Lau and I ran this stretch last year, at bony 60 cfs. Now that the water started coming up, and the gauge showed it at over 200 cfs, we made plans to go again, over the Memorial Day weekend. I wasn't really sure what to expect, since with more water it'd be quite a different place.
It was my introduction to class V creeking. Last year was fun and play in comparison with this year. Chris called it "freight-training" -- getting in the water and going going going. There were practically no eddies, and most of them only big enough for one kayak. Since the three gorges were reasonably tight, in order to stay in visual contact we just most ran everything through. There are stopping spots between the gorges, where I would take some deep breaths -- I was taking very shallow breaths, being closer to the edge than in the past two years or so.
Between the first and the second gorge I got snagged on a tree branch -- I hit a pillow slightly off angle, which threw me near to the right bank, and my kayak went underneath a branch that was about 1.5 feet over the water. I could try rolling under it, but with the swiftness of the water and the number of rocks that didn't seem very safe. I shouted to Chris, who was ahead, and he found a micro-eddy and started walking upstream to help me out. In the few minutes that it took him to get out of his boat I was able to lean forward, push my boat upstream in little jerks, and slide away from the shore. There were two branches, and I managed to kind of snap the second one with the weight of my body, and went free. What a rush. Second canyon
The second canyon appeared fast, right after a sharp left turn. We eddied out next to a little snow patch, held onto the trunk of the tree, and quickly talked about the line we scouted earlier. I was getting somewhat confused with what's where -- remembering three gorges, with so much stuff going on, was rather difficult. Chris peeled out, and I followed closely.
On the picture below (click to enlarge it) you'll notice marks "A" and "B". Before looking at our line, take a peek at what was at "B" -- that was really the crux of this gorge. There was a tree, diagonally in the constriction, and although there was plenty of space to go around it, it did take up a third of the river. Going there would mean major trouble...
Chris led through the mayhem, and went over the pourover. I didn't see what happened, later he said that he penciled in on a rock, took a big brace, and kind of stalled there (A). Since I was right behind him, I almost ran him over -- fortunately I was able to go left of the tree (B), slide that way, and go through the constriction (C) where I wanted.
Third canyon
I had some doubts about the third canyon, feeling that yes I could do it. The water was freezing, and we kept our hands in it -- not paddling for even a minute or two and having them out of the water made them thaw, and therefore hurt and tingle. So.. we had to keep them cold, just clenched around the paddle shafts.
I led the upper part of the third gorge, not eddying out where Chris waited for me, and everything was fine until I saw a huge horizon line. Remembering there was no wood, but yet not wanting to run it blind, I eddied out. Chris passed me, dropped, disappeared, and I couldn't tell what happened -- he was already past the bend. I was left in a bit of a dilemma -- I wanted to see where he was, but I didn't want to run the drop blind. So I ended up crawling up the bank and the scree-covered wall, saw Chris was OK, scouted the drop, and went back. A portage, which I briefly considered, would have been a ton of work. And this was the last drop...
In the time that it took me to scramble around, Chris saw me from below, got out of his boat and stood by the main drop with his throwbag, in case I'd need it. From where I was, I couldn't peel out into the current -- I was too close to a big rock (A), and couldn't attain high enough in the eddy to "for sure" get around it -- and 50% chance, above the main drop, that didn't feel right. So I drug my boat down the stream, below the boulder (30ft), and put in there. I lined up for the seam (B), dropped, got stern squirted, and with the bow of the kayak pointing straight up made it around the small pyramid rock (C) that the current was slamming into. Chris thought it was quite elegant, but in fact, while recovering from the stern squirt I wasn't thinking about the pyramid rock (C)...
Alive!
We were alive! Not at the take-out yet, but close. I willed myself not to feel cocky and to discount the rest of the run. And rightly so, as there was more wood in this last section than in the three gorges we ran. At one place there was a tree across the entire creek, some 2-3 feet over the water. High enough that we could fit underneath, but low enough that we wondered whether to duck or to lay on the back deck. Chris backpaddled a bit into some foam, found some slow water, slowly ducked his head and floated under it. Even with all the fast water around :) I tried to repeat it with his style, but going 3-4 inches to the right of the foam, the current slammed me 2-3 feet to the right, just where there was a branch all the way down to the water. Aargh! I grabbed it with my hand and threw myself under it, made it through, but without any style points...
After taking out, I pedaled the shuttle bike back to the truck, got Laika, and we looked at the gorges again.
Class V thoughts
I've been getting ready for Class V all last year -- that's why I bought the Mutant creeker. Creeking videos they seem like a blast, and the paddlers make it look so easy. I felt that with my technique I was ready to move into this new realm... And I still feel that I do. But paddling today with Chris was an eye opener. Some thoughts:
- Scouting: a must. Read and run is OK to some degree, but there are too many things that can go wrong. Our scout this time took longer than the run...
- Eddies: they are not always your friends. They'er generally small, too small for two paddlers, and peeling out requires being sideways, which increases the potential of pinning on rocks.
- Reading: I have a habit of going through some rapids sideways, so that I can clearly see what's ahead of me and paddle to one side, or setup for a ferry. Not good in creeking -- here one should always be pointing downstream.
- Picking lines: There don't seem to be as many lines here, either. It's almost as if you let the water carry you where it's going, and the skill comes in avoiding things you don't want to hit, and in reacting to all the slaps and hits.
A big "thank you" to Chris for taking me down -- I enjoyed it, all in all, I had to make this step sooner or later...