Gettin' Lucky in Idaho

With the flows dropping in Idaho, we decided to head there for a quick tour en route to Hood River.  The main objective was the South Fork of the Salmon, but we also wanted to get on something in the Payette drainage on the way north.  After burning a little too much time getting supplies in Boise we decided to hit the South Payette Canyon run.  It was 7 pm on July 4th when we got to the take out, and fortunately we were able to quickly wrangle a shuttle driver.  The dramatic evening light in the deep canyon was a great way to celebrate 'merica, enough so that we skipped the debauchery down the road in Crouch to enjoy a quite campfire.

The next morning we headed up to McCall with one objective, find a shuttle driver.  We tries every connection we had and every outdoor shop in town, but a few hours later we still hadn't found anyone.  It turns out the day after the forth of July everyone in McCall is either working or too hungover to want to earn some shuttle cash.  Without other options, we headed to the ranger station for out permit, deciding we could hitch back to McCall and then hire someone to drive out towards Yellow Pine on the back end.

We were rolling out of town past Little Payette Lake when three kids in the road flashed a brown claw at us.  After a few chuckles, we made a U-turn to see if any of them were interested in helping us get our rig back to McCall.  By the time we made it back, two of them were in the bushed purging their previous nights' mistakes, but the third was game to ride out to Yellow Pine with us and drive the jeep back to McCall.  On the ride, we found out she was guiding near Riggins for the summer and would have no trouble driving the Jeep down to the take out.  Sometimes things just work out perfectly when you least expect them too.

Chill canyon section on day 1.  Photo JJ. 

Dinner with some freedom brauts.  Photo TJ. 

We ended up putting in on the East Fork of the South Fork near Yellow Pine in the late afternoon, which was a great roadside section of class IV before continuing past the South Fork and Secesh confluences into the overnight section, camping shortly above Devil's Creek Rapid.  Great splashy class IV with a touch of class V spice at the end continued for the remainder of the South Fork.  We found a great campsite under huge pines at the confluence with the Main Salmon.  The next day we made quick work of the twenty miles down to the take out through lots of flatwater with the occasional beautiful glassy wave.  3 days out on the river was just what the doctor ordered and the great but not threatening whitewater on the South Fork was perfect for licking our wounds after some rough days in Durango.

Some mighty fine creek boat surfing out there.  Photo TJ. 

And more glass... Photo TJ. 

Beautiful canyon scenery as well.  Photo TJ.

It was only noon when we arrived at the take out, so we decided to get some more boating in for the day.  After resupplying in Riggins we headed up to the South Fork of the Clearwater, which unfortunately didn't have enough water.  Instead we decided to head up to the Lochsa, arriving at 7:30 pm for a quick evening run.  It had been a long time since Tom and I had run the Lochsa but its rapids were just as good as we remembered with big powerful wave trains with the ocassional big hole.  We finished up just in time to hitch a shuttle and find fantastic riverside camping just before dark.

Idaho had treated us well, even serving up a breakfast of waffles, berries, and ice cream in Lewiston on the way out, but it was time to head to Hood River for our cousin's wedding and a little time on the Little White and Green Truss.

Living the Fantasy

After waiting out some cold early season weather down on the Kaweah, it was time to get going on the high sierra season.  Fantasy Falls of the North Fork of the Mokelumne was first on the list, and Jason Stingl drove out from Colorado to round out our group.  Tom and I finally made it into Salt Springs reservoir at some point way too late in the night and found Jason setting up camp.  We slept in a little too and finally made it up to the put in on Hwy 4 about 1.  We lazed around in the sun for another hour, slowly getting packed for the 3 day return trip to Salt Springs.

By the time we pushed off, it was well after 2, but we were under the impression that the first day was short and relatively easy, even with no previous trips for our group of 3, so we were in no rush.  The beginning of Fantasy is anything but, as steep, sharp, and dechannelized rapids fill the first few miles.  Even with a good medium-high flow, the boating is not enjoyable, but we made it through after a few hours, a few pitons, and a few pins.  A few miles of beautiful meadow paddling separates the mank from the beginning of good stuff: where gorges and bedrock come together to make some of the best rapids in the world.

After a few more hours of good stuff the river started to form longer gorges which required long, time consuming scouts.  The whitewater was good in the gorges but with the hour getting late the water was getting higher by the minute, as the North Fork of the Mokelumne has an enormous diurnal oscillation to it's flow.  The high flow was leading to more conservatism in scouting as rapids were linking together, which in turn was making things take longer as the water continued to rise.  After some serious hole bashing and a spicy eddy catch to portage an extremely unfriendly looking ledge we finally found a gorge with a drop we were looking forward to: the watermelon seed pinch which is immediately followed by camp.

The first big drop doesn't always go as planned...  Photo: TJ

 Sam Grafton gets it right.  Photo: TJ

Joe Keck on another good early one.  Photo: TJ

Jason and I elected to run the gorge while Tom portaged due to the high water.  From the head of the gorge to the pool above the watermelon seed there was no stopping.  Jason and I blue angeled through the beginning, but as I came into the last drop into the pool, I could see something was awry.  In turning around to watch my line, Jason was stuffed into an awkward crack blocked by a log.  After a little too much adrenaline and panic we had a line on Jason and his boat so he could step out safely without risking any loss of gear.  Now we only had the watermelon seed between us and camp.  The normal funky pinch hole was just a wave train but the hole below the subsequent angled ledge was enormous.  Fortunately, we both made it far enough right to avoid the meat, cruising into the eddy at camp just as the sun was going down.

Sam Chesley early in the watermelon seed gorge at much lower flows.  Photo: JJ

Night 1 camp with much more light than the first time we arrived.  Photo: TJ

We awoke to another bluebird California day, taking our time before getting on the water.  No one was feeling the twisting slide right below camp, so our day started with a portage.  Fortunately, just around the corner was the total reality vortex gorge, which definitely is the best named and might be the finest paddling gorge in all of California.  Slide after clean slide, some big and some small, but all good and clean all contained in a glorious granite gorge.  It just doesn't get any better.

Tyson Titensor just below camp.  Photo:TJ

Sam Grafton on the same.  Photo: TJ

 Big crew heading into TRV Gorge.  Photo: TJ

More classic whitewater, including the mushroom boof, continues as the river alternates between boulders, bedrock, and meadows.  Then, the jedi mind melt gorge appeared.  Going on beta that we could work through it at river level, we dropped in.  A little bit of tenuous scouting and eddy catching took us to the lip of the mind melt.  None of us had the head space to consider the mind melt at that point, so we opted for the quick portage on the right to the end of the gorge. 

Grafton above the mushroom on a subsequent trip.  Photo: TJ

Grafton on the mushroom.  Photo: TJ

 Sam Chesley on the same.  Photo: TJ

A little more quality boogie and we arrived at the next gorge: riflemans.  The entrance was complicated by a few logs and the bottom is always intimidating as a pinch throws you onto right wall and into a big boxed in hole.  We all dodged the logs and fired into the bottom.  It wasn't pretty but we all battled through one way or the other.  The gorge opened up a bit and some great fluffy run out rapids delivered us to more scenic meadow paddling.

 TJ dropping into the main event of rifleman's gorge on a subsequent trip.  Photo: JJ

Sam Chesley catching air in the rifleman's runout.  Photo: TJ

Soon enough, we arrived at a waterfall in the meadows.  It's a super fun boof and also marks the start of the typical portage around the good to go gorge.  We took a quick peak at the whitewater to make sure we had the portage right, and we saw a few things we didn't want to deal with, so it was up an over for us.  The portage isn't too bad on the open granite and soon enough we arrived at the meadow following the gorge.  At this point we knew we had covered good distance for the day and decided to camp on a huge flat in the meadow section.  The mosquitoes were thick but we enjoyed a relaxing evening thanks to a little DEET.

TJ on the meadow waterfall above Good to Go Gorge.  Photo: JJ

Grafton on the same.  Photo: TJ

Chesley on the same.  Photo: TJ

Again, we had a nice relaxing start, waiting for the sun to arrive in camp and greet us.  After a little meadow cruising we arrived at a great waterfall with a nasty log.  Luckily it was pretty easy to get right and avoid collision with the monster.  A few more minutes downstream brought us to the untouchables, which didn't take us more than 10 seconds of looking to send the boats to the shoulders.  Just downstream we found the bear trap which had a similar effect.  As you can tell, we were portaging quite a bit, which is just the way things go on Fantasy unless you're really feeling the fire.

TJ on the good morning falls.  Photo: JJ

JJ on the same.  Photo: TJ

 

Grafton avoiding the sketchy log.  Photo: TJ

Hanzel on the bear trap lead in hole.  Photo: TJ

And busting the curler in less than desired location.  Photo: TJ

 JJ on the lead in.  Photo: TJ

And lining up the curler in slightly better position.  Photo: TJ

And the whiteout.  Photo: TJ

More tranquility in the meadows.  Photo: TJ

Again, the huge rapids were followed by mellow meadow paddling.  This time though, the meadows gradually build to a continuous class V read and run boulder garden.  This goes on for a mile or two, only to be interrupted by the runs namesake, the iconic Fantasy Falls, which consists of a 30 ft. sloping falls followed by a 15 ft. falls in the grandest of settings.  This set is great fun and is followed by more boulders and slides leading to the Island Slide.  It's long, complex and looked rowdy with our good flow, so chalk up another portage.  More boogie brought us to swim like a carp, where the river pours over a powerful ledge with a beautiful curler for launching.  Tom launched beautifully while I launched just well enough to not receive a beating.

 Double T on THE Fantasy Falls.  Photo: JJ

 

 

The same moment but taking it all in.  Photo: TJ

Sam Chesley on the same.  Photo: JJ

JJ on the second falls.  Photo: TJ

 TJ finishing off Fantasy Falls.  Photo: JJ

What follows is perhaps the most famous rapid in California, a beast of a slide known as show me your tits for some ancient graffiti which used to be visible at the base.  I'll be honest, if I had never seen pictures or videos of this chaos on a slab drop or heard countless stories of people running it, I would never run this slide.  But this is the internet age, and we had, so after a good bit of hemming and hawing I dropped in, hoping to make it to the bottom upright, and preferably forward.  I accomplished both of those goals, but it didn't stop the hole at the bottom from latching me into the spin cycle.  After 10 or 15 seconds I had enough, and eventually I was able to find the pull chord and end the violence.  Just like in the movies, I went deep before popping up in the huge eddy along with all my gear.  Big fun!  Tom came next with similar results except his gear didn't eddy out, but Jason, who had portaged, tracked it down easily.

TJ dropping into the big one on a subsequent trip.  Photo: TT

TJ riding switch into the bottom hole.  Guess what happened next?  Photo: TT

Even though the Salt Springs Reservoir is only half a mile down, numerous ledges follow at low pool levels, including a pinch into an undercut which isn't dangerous but is good at separating kayakers from their boats.  We had already had enough swimming so we portaged and enjoyed the rest of the goodness into the reservoir.  Despite the big walls and eagles soaring above, the lake was anything but fun as a headwind and occasional whitecaps upped the effort to cross the 5 miles to the boat ramp.

Over the next few weeks we completed two more trips down Fantasy Falls at successively lower flows.  With each trip we ran a few more rapids, but there was always plenty of portaging.  Despite the portaging, this run is becoming one of the most popular high sierra runs, and for good reason.  Great camping, great scenery, and great whiewater are everywhere.  Plus this run probably has the best ratio of good kayaking to effort of any California overnight trip.

With our last trip on Fantasy our brotherly tour is about a month old, which is by far the longest kayaking trip I've ever been on.  It's been an interesting adjustment from our normally rushed California agendas.  I'm really not good at laying low and taking rest days, but they're a necessity on a 7.5 month long kayaking binge.  Still it's a blast to be out here kayaking (nearly) every day with my brother.  Life is good!

Southeastern Overnighters

While the Southeastern US may not be known for overnight kayak opportunities, there are certainly quite a few that are great as practice for their big brothers in the Western US and are absolutely worthy of exploring in there own right.  Over the past year I've been fortunate enough to dabble heavily in the available options.  Starting last September, I've been able to overnight the Gauley River, Raven Fork, Clear Creek, Obed River, Daddy's Creek, and Chattooga River.

As everyone knows, the Gauley is classic.  I'm fortunate enough that my Dad has been rowing a raft down the river at least once a year since before I was born.  I'm also fortunate enough that he agrees to put up with me and my kayaker friends as tag alongs in exchange for helping with rigging and breaking down rafts.  This results in a night in the lap of luxury on the side of a beautiful river with better food and drink than I ever get at home.  While the 26 miles from the damn to Swiss can easily be paddled in a single day, there's still plenty to be offered for a two day trip.  Despite the less than ideal camping (rafting companies own most of the nicer camping spots) and less than full on wilderness (logging roads in the canyon are frequented by locals on ATVs), the Gauley as an overnight offers a great opportunity to experience the river in a new way.

I won't say too much about the Raven Fork overnight trip here other than it's the best class V overnighter in the Southeast.  This is also the most true overnighter.  It could be done in a day but it would be a long day and the water levels work out better if it drops for the second day.  The logistics are a little difficult as you need high water, good weather, and an open straight fork road.  The upper section is rarely paddled and is some of the best class IV wilderness paddling around.  The campground at Enloe Creek is one of my favorite official campgrounds anywhere.  The lower section is the best class V creek on the east coast.  It's all tucked in one of the most remote areas of the southeast.  It's as good as it gets.

Ben Warf killing it on Caveman on a non-overnight trip through the lower Raven Fork Gorge.

The upper section of Clear Creek between Clark Range and Barnett Bridge is somewhere between a float trip and a whitewater run, but the scenery and over all experience make up for the lack of exciting rapids.  Great camping in rock houses and a cool hike to a nice 50 ft. waterfall round out the experience.  For class II-III paddlers wanting an overnight wilderness paddling experience, this is where it's at.  I don't think I'd do this run every year, but the overall experience is good enough that I'll go back again.

Kirk Eddlemon enjoying the serenity of Upper Clear Creek.

Sometimes the scenery is big too.

The comforts of rock house camping.

Priorities...

Four Mile Creek Falls is just a nice little bushwhack away.

One of a few spots where the family canoe is not the vessel of choice.  Still, it works.

The Obed River from Potter's Ford to Nemo might be the longest stretch of bridgeless whitewater in the Southeast.  While there are a few rough access points in between (hiking or 4 wheelers), a full twenty miles of canyon, protected by Catoosa WMA and the Obed WSR, await you between the two bridges.  While the whitewater in the upper is not classic, it's enough to keep you entertained between the cliffs.  The second day, below the Daddy's creek confluence, passes through the main Obed canyon and its classic class III rapids.  This is the best overnight trip in the Obed system, and probably all of Tennessee.

Mark Newton drives into the awkward pinch at Billy Goat Bluff.

This photo tries to make it intense.

Glamor shots at camp.  Look at that body...

Classic whitewater in the main Obed Canyon.

Daddy's Creek from Antioch Bridge to Devil's Breakfast Table is a classic Tennessee class III+ run; however, add in the extra 12 miles through the Obed Canyon and you've got a great 18 mile day or short overnight trip.  This year we chose to do it as a quick overnighter, putting on at 6 pm and taking off by 8:30 am the next morning so we didn't miss any work.  The whitewater is fantastic in both the Daddy's Creek and Obed Canyons, as is the great plateau scenery.  While not really a true overnighter (the run can be done in 3-4 hours with good water), the camping is great under the main Obed wall and there's no reason to rush through this place. 
 

Daddy's Creek Canyon is classic.  Even when it's low.

Camping in the Obed Canyon does not suck.

The Chattooga River from Earl's Ford to Lake Tugaloo was the first overnighter I did after moving to the Southeast.  Alongside great scenery and camping, this river just has soul.  Section III is a nice adjustment to loaded boats and the Narrows is magical.  Section IV has great camping (right below seven foot if you've got a small group) and a great finish with five falls.  This river also runs when little else is going in the summer time, which means great weather.  All in all, it's a classic.

Full moon camping on the Chattooga is where it's at.

That's it folks.  Just a few ideas on where to go to find some overnight whitewater enjoyment.




Jim