Fossil Creek May 16

I took the opportunity for a post-conference detour to check out a semi-hidden Arizona gem, Fossil Creek. A curious carbonate spring in a region of volcanics emerges in the desert to create a remarkably lush eden. The spring runs year round with a base flow of about 40 cfs (what it was when we were there). The springs emit clear blue-green waters that cascade for several miles over a series of travertine terraces, making it a unique creeking experience in all the US. Ideally I would have liked to have hit it at around triple its present flow (120 cfs or so) but hoped base flow would be tolerable enough for packrafting. Only one way to find out.

The road into Fossil Creek was a pretty nightmarish bumpy, washboarded 20 miles, made worse by the slow grind through the dark. We got in late to the Childs Dispersed Camping Area on the Verde River, sleeping well beneath the mesquite despite the need of other campers to shoot off firearms. In the morning we took the short one mile stroll upriver past angry bulls to Verde Hot Springs, site of an interesting old 1920s era resort, now ruins with two riverside bathing pools. Interesting graffiti and art adorn the ruins offering half-wise words to contemplate while soaking. The wall-lined pool was a particularly nice touch to get out of the sun's wrath. We ate breakfast in the "outside" pool and had the "inside" pool to ourselves for a good chunk of time before strolling back to drive to the Fossil Creek entrance gate for the day's adventure.

We parked at our assigned parking spot near the Fossil Creek Bridge (take out for the classic 3 mile Fossil Creek run) and took a quick walk down to see the water. The first glance was not completely satisfying- this flow would be borderline packraftable and at a minimum scratchy and bumpy from the feel of the travertine pouroffs. The water was relatively warm but seemed cool enough that a wetsuit would be worthwhile. Shrugging shoulders, we packed for the possibility of packrafting (worse case we'd have a nice hike carrying extra gear) and started walking the road with our thumbs out. The second vehicle, a shiny truck, stopped for us in about 5 minutes time and we climbed in the back for the bumpy two mile drive to the top parking lot. We hiked the trail about one mile to the prominent 20 ft falls marking the top of the classic section, scouting the creek every time the trail veered close to it. We had a look above the falls and contemplated hiking to the spring, but decided to inflate at the pool below. I had a good long look at the falls itself before declaring it a very packraft-unfriendly drop. A few dudes showed up as we readied and looked on with mild amusement. We played around in the gap behind the falls and I couldn't resist a jump before we left the people behind and paddled downstream.

The obstacles started right away and seemed to be about a stone throw apart, keeping us on alert. The usual sequence was paddling across a crystal clear pool to a reed-lined creek that turned a corner to present a horizonline (or two) over a travertine dam. I approached with caution, making a quick decision of whether the falls could be cleanly run or was bony enough that I would bail to spare my boat some scratches. At nearly the same instance I tried to communicate the drop to Sara awaiting the report upstream. When the drops seemed large we stopped to scout. Most of the bigger drops were good to run but some of the smaller ones we had to portage at this flow. The overall concern of the day was boat damage not fear of the obstacles (for me at least, Sara seemed to find some excitement). 

Things proceeded a little slow initially with this drop by drop approach. The inevitable scratching sound of travertine scraping my boat bottom sent cringes up my spine but overall these were not as bad and frequent as I thought they would be. 

Powerhouse Falls (frontispiece and below) was a particularly nice falls with a clean double drop on the right line. Sara gave it a pass which meant I got to run it twice. From here we had an additional one mile to go. Motivated to do the whole thing, we made good time through this section despite being the least clean part of the run. 

We reached the familiar sight of the bridge a little after 3p. One last swim and we were ready to take off with a lengthy drive to go back to Riverside. About half way down the rutted road we ran into a couple that managed to drive their sedan into a ditch, stuck. It took some thought and effort but we were able to get them back on their way.

At this flow Fossil Creek was pretty gimmicky as a packraft trip but regardless stunningly beautiful and a place I would visit again. I'm particularly keen to see the three mile between the spring and the falls we started at. It sounds like there are several more very nice features along the creek. Thanks to Sara for use of her car and the company.

Kern Forks & Cups May 12

Forks of the Kern (18 mile wilderness packraft at 1600 cfs) + Seven Teacups (technical canyon at 15cfs?) = Forks & Cups. I had previously packrafted the 2 miles from the bottom of the Seven Teacups (Dry Meadow Creek) to the Johnsondale Bridge following a low water Teacups trip in 2015. That trip put in my head that it might be possible to find the right conditions to have a pleasant moderate flow packraft down the full Forks run and at the same time hit the Teacups at an exciting high flow. The idea to do both in a single day marathon was a more recent thought. A couple weeks prior both the Forks and the Teacups were in condition but the road to the Forks trailhead was closed, which presented too many logistics to pull off. Fast forward a couple weeks and Keith had managed to line up another keen paddler Eric to join, and importantly his friend Aaron who would be our keen shuttle driver. It was on!

We got into the Brush Creek parking lot nearly midnight to camp. The next morning we drove up to the trailhead at 6000', which was brisk in the cool morning shade. I wouldn't have a kayak to carry and drag down to the river so would make better time hiking but would have to spend more time getting my wetsuit on and prepping my packraft at the river and so started off before the other two. The trail down was pleasant enough, crossing back and forth through some basalt flows before reaching the Little Kern. Almost immediately after pushing off I realized three things: the river was higher and pushier than two weeks prior, the freezing cold temperature of the Kern which would keep me chilled most of the day, and that I was feeling sluggish and clumsy. These were bad ingredients to the day's journey but the quality of whitewater and scenery made up for it. The views of the Needles were particularly nice.

My first flip probably occurred within the first 5-10 minutes and unfortunately many more followed. In fact this turned out to easily be my worst day of paddling ever with more flips than I could keep track of but perhaps 6-8 total. I felt only slightly redeemed that Keith also seemed to be having an off day, having to bail his kayak twice. My flips were mostly stupid things- small waves suctioning me funny, unexpected pins against rocks, slow reactions leading me into monster holes, which didn't make it any better. Given the type of day I was having I opted to portage Vortex, and later Carson Falls. Needlerock seemed like a particularly nice rapid I would have liked to have seen from the inside of my boat instead of drinking it.

Scouting Vortrex and the flips (particularly Keith's bails) slowed us down considerably but we still reached the Teacups approach in time to give it a try. Eric opted to wait for us to go canyoning, which I felt bad about considering we ended up taking much longer than we expected (2.5 hrs instead of 1.5 hrs). Hiking up the hill was actually a nice break for me as at least I ended up a bit warmer. Also nice views of the lengthy West Wall Rapid just upstream. 

I estimated the water level in Dry Meadow to be slightly lower than two weeks prior but still plenty exciting. It helped knowing what to expect for hydraulics in the first half of the canyon and to have more daylight as cushion to take our time if needed. I rigged the arch rap for Keith and opted for the slide into Teacup 2. The hydraulic in Teacup 3 was easy enough to push against and the rap anchor easy to lunge for. 

Teacup 4 gave us more trouble than it should have. We both got down the rappel easily enough despite the channelized force of the falls. When we went to pull the rope the end got whipped up in a loop in the falls and we ended up with an overhand knot in the rope about a meter from its end. Both of us thoroughly pulling made it clear it was not going to slide through the anchor. Weighing the options, I did not like what appeared to be the easiest fix: me ascending the waterfall. This was not an ideal situation as I would have to ascend through the full force which would be pushing me down and it would be difficult for me to switch to descend in an emergency. It was as lousy as I thought and after only a few seconds in the brunt of the flow I could feel my strength leaving me. I signaled to Keith to pull the tail of the rope towards the side which helped me skirt the flow just enough to keep ascending. By the time I reached the anchor I was pretty seriously fatigued but quickly reset the anchor and rapped back down so we could get on with our trip. It's hard to say how much of this mishap was sloppy rope management versus just plain bad luck but objectively I lean towards the latter.

The next exhaustion fest was me being the first to rap into the washing machine hydraulic at the base of the big falls. Easily the most formidable feature at high flow, it was a frothy mess I could barely see or breathe in that continually pushed me away from where I needed to go. This required some thought to surmount and I had about three tries before I decided on a new strategy. I hoisted up the rope a couple feet to get out of the hydraulic, gave a big kicking lunge to pendulum across the pool and wedge my forearm in the gap between the boulder and wall. From that position I could hoist myself onto the rock and was free. This also wore me out good! With me already across, it was a simple matter for Keith to follow.

The next few features were easy enough. The Toilet Bowl, a deep pothole with the falls dropping in near its outlet (such that most water recirculates) seemed to be the most feared feature in descriptions of high flow but I actually found really easy to cross, getting through on my first try. Again Keith following was straightforward. The final slot with the redirect was also a pretty trivial hydraulic. At the slab above the river we rejoined Eric after profusely declaring our apologies to him. 

The last two miles went quick. Eric was the only one who ran Carson Falls. He had a deceptively clean run that made the Class V feature look like child's play. We continued on under the bridge and took out just downstream at Brush Creek where Aaron was waiting.

Hungry and tired, we all opted for beer and food at the brewery before Keith and I drove back. Despite both of our poor kayaking performances and our rope retrieval mishap, it was still an excellent day and perhaps the first time the Forks and Teacups have both been run in a day. Thanks to Keith for driving and organizing.