Soon to do hard time (five weeks straight with students at summer field camp) I had a lot of things to get organized but was also itching for a day off. When Keith offered a ride to the Kern with the possibility of two laps on the Kern and a lap on Brush Creek it was an offer too great to refuse. I was dying with curiosity to see how my Alpacka would manage a turbulent flooded Kern and even more curious to see how I would manage the slide-drop-slide granite rollercoaster of Brush Creek. Keith did all the driving to the Kern with me mostly sleeping in the passenger's seat, which I did feel bad about. We showed up in Kernville a little after 10am, met others, and drove to the put-in for the Powerhouse run.
Last time I ran Powerhouse (Lickity Split) was as a boy scout in low flow in a raft. How far I've come! The river was cranking! The other whitewater kayakers gave me curious looks and asked me about my boat. I explained I was the comic relief. I had a clean run on Powerhouse despite some monstrous waves tossing my boat like a toy. I even mostly intentionally took on the Ewings Hole, and barely escaped to cheers of onlookers. Next up was a Cable run, which put me back in my place. Here I managed to ride out most of the longer, more challenging rapids, only to eventually be overtaken. I self-rescued both my flips at least so there was little drama other than a little swallowed water. Great fun and fast runs! Clips of those two runs below.
I was keen but nervous for Brush Creek. A mile of granite waterfalls and slides with few eddies and plenty of opportunities for wrong moves. Oh and drops up to fifteen feet, easily the biggest I've done. The pack of kayakers interested in Brush thinned considerably to a handful. I was quickly established as the weakest link, most likely to result in mayhem. And rightfully so. This would be steep waterfall creeking, a step up from everything I had done before. A test of both me and my boat. The gauge read a solid 3.0, thought ideal or even a little high by some. It seemed about right to me. Keith, Brett and I would form the lead group, followed by three more. We'd meet up at the end of Triple Drop, which has one of the more consequent-prone features.
Brush was....AMAZING! Challenging yes, adrenaline yes, but oh my gosh it was fun. Best slip and slide ever! Initially I followed Brett closely who knew the run better than almost anyone else and called out beta for me, which was an incredible help. Regretfully the battery on my GoPro went dead pretty soon into the run and Keith also had issues with his.
Four frame sequence below:
The first half of the run had the biggest, most challenging features. To my surprise I managed to stick it all cleanly including the fifteen-foot drop. I was pretty stoked and all smiles. I did repeatedly have annoying packraft malfunctions like my thigh straps loosening up and my skirt popping on the big drops even though I landed cleanly. This slowed us down some but I found out someone in the other half of the group was slower and more prone to flipping than I.
A clean run would be too much to ask and I did find two places to flip. One minor drop with a funny wave and Spearhucker, a horrible little slide down a tight corner where packrafts have a significant disadvantage. We also had to do a couple short portages. By the time we reached the bridge I was satisfied but also still hungry for more. The group of six toasted cold parking lot beers before we drove our separate ways. It was a long day of driving for Keith and I, but for me, it was completely worth it. I can't wait to try to hit it again next season!
Brush Creek!
