Keith's Plan A was to spend the weekend trying to hit both the Big Tuolumne and Cherry Creek runs, which I was game for. We soon found out the release schedule for the Tuolumne was half what it should have been and that there would be an informal race on Cherry Creek. About the same time Keith found out there would be a 350cfs release for a creek I never heard of: Fordyce Creek, a 12 mile solid Class V run just north of the American River. The Youtube video and description he sent along was enough to excite me into overcoming the formidable 7.5 hour drive we would have to endure. It was a rare gem with only about three weekends a year that have a boatable release and was touted as giving up true backcountry wilderness scenery with relatively easy access. The shuttle logistics sounded considerable though such that we were not sure we would be able to pull it off without connecting with other kayakers. By the time we left on Friday afternoon, and even by the time we met up with Keith's friend Eric in Santa Maria, we still did not know which river we were headed to! Eric drove north while Keith tried to find out through friends and Facebook if any other boaters were going to be running the river and I was lost in my thoughts. Somewhere outside Bakersfield we had a plan- there would be three other kayakers we could tag on to that had the requisite 4WD to close the shuttle. Onward to Fordyce! I was excited- this sounded like it could be the most solid Class V run I've had a chance to run. We arrived at Lake Spaulding, the take out at some late hour, quickly met two of the kayakers, and then collapsed at the edge of the parking lot.
Eraserhead
The proposed early start quickly turned into a morning of indecision and second guesses. It took a little time for the final kayaker to arrive and when they did it turned out there was an epic misunderstanding on the NorCal kayakers part: each thought the other was bringing a 4WD vehicle. So we had two minivans and a low slung sedan for what we were told was a horribly rough road. More procrastination and indecision but I readied my gear to make sure I was not the one slowing people down. The lack of a 4WD was the first problem but I quickly found out I was apparently the second problem- one of the NorCal kayakers said he was not comfortable doing the run with a packrafter given the commitment of the run. I was tempted to point out that he didn't know any of our skills and any one of us could be the problem that turned the trip into a misadventure but chose to just mutter fair enough instead. Their loss, I ventured 7.5 hours for this. This person did offer to close our shuttle for us which was a very kind thing to do. Finally, eventually, we sorted ourselves out and drove up the approach road along the adjacent Rattlesnake Creek. The road started well used and well graded, but turned into a rock crawling mess once we hit Fordyce Saddle. Here as we unloaded the second of three NorCal kayakers said he didn't have a good feeling about the trip between the approach, late start, and perhaps most specifically, me the packrafter. We were down to four with Tom representing NorCal. I shouldered my pack and set off down ahead of the other three, determined to get myself inflated and dressed at the put in before the others arrived so I did not slow anyone down. I very quickly outpaced a Jeep pack rock crawling their way down the road, and then had a mostly quiet walk to myself. At the edge of the Fordyce Lake Dam there was a route marked with white arrows leading to the gauging station. I geared up, stretched, and then relaxed in the shade waiting for the others to arrive. By noon (which seemed dangerously late at the time) we pushed off down the speedy river.
The river started with some fast blind turns and woody debris to avoid before very shortly arriving at the first of many beefier rapids we would see, Eraserhead. It was a frothy, fast mess and one look was enough to tell I was going to be providing plenty of comic relief on this run. As expected halfway through I got slammed by a lateral, flipped, slide through the rest of the rapid on my side, and then had to ran and swim after my boat a couple hundred feet. Keith knew not to be too alarmed by this worrying start but I can only imagine what might have been going through the others' minds.
I soon found my stride, taking on several IV/Vs with ease (but also finding a couple to flip in). Tom and Eric soon appreciated the speed and ease with which I could both self rescue myself and also get out and scout. There were several rapids where I could instantly jump out of my boat and provide enough beta to save the hardshellers from popping the skirts and having to look. It felt nice that I had a place on this creek and in this team. At the start of a pretty dramatic gorge we portaged Insanity Falls- to do otherwise certainly seemed insane. The next section was incredibly scenic with steep gorge walls, deep blue water and really nice bedrock drops. Locomotive Falls was a definite highlight. A little further on was a steep 15 foot drop through messy roostertails, which Keith decided to portage but I wanted a shot at. I went cleanly through the drop but hit the pool's froth in an unexpected way and ended up flipping straight over backwards which I don't think I've done before.
Locomotive Falls
The rapids were unrelenting and I found a few other opportunities to flip. A notable one was a 6 foot drop with a nasty churning lateral at the top that I knew would be trouble for a packraft. I almost stuck the landing but ended up going for a lengthy rapid swim for over a hundred feet until I was able to climb back in, and frantically deal with the rest of the rapid on the fly. I ended up going over the last 6 foot drop backwards and unstrapped, but stuck it and had a big sigh of relief as I pulled into the eddy below. I'm sure this one looked particularly stressful from the view of the onlookers. Keith also managed to fudge this rapid and swim, ending up being his biggest mishap of the trip. I was able to retrieve the kayak and throw rope Keith back to the right side of the river and very fortunately Eric was able to retrieve Keith's paddle. Keith seemed a little surprised at his flip and took things more cautiously afterward.
The river continued with great varied interest. We had great isolated drops into deep pools, long Class IV boulder slaloms, fast mini-gorges and two "squeezes" where the creek shot through a less-than-paddle-width bedrock slot in a turbulent white mess. We got pretty good at scouting the major rapids and reading and running where possible. I often ended up at the back of the pack and when they would eddy out above an uncertain rapid to scout I several times made the split second decision to blast past them and take on my fate. This usually worked out alright and gave me some of the greatest joy on the run. Eventually we reached a flatter middle section with stretches of Class II-III where we took a late snack break. We paddled hard to gain miles, which allowed us to stress a little less and just focus on having fun.
We all let out a shout of joy upon seeing the footbridge over the creek which would signify the start of the last 2.5 miles of Class V before the lake. This section had some of the biggest features and at least a couple that were packraft unfriendly enough that I gave them a portage and was glad I did: Where's Barry? required a high slide along an inclined wall that I probably could not pull off as well at the hardshellers, and The Hole That Ate the Donner Party also looked like major trouble for a packraft. Sidewinder and In Your Face were both fun rapids that I took the first run down. In Your Face was enough fun that I actually lapped it twice more while waiting for the others. Fordyce Falls was huge and I was a little tempted. In the end only Tom ran it, critically wounding his paddle to the point that half of it fell of by the end of the run. From the pool below I could finally spot a clean line down this solid 20 footer and with hindsight if the day was not already so far on I would have considered running it. Otherwise I was generally happy with my decisions of what to run and what to portage. Only Tom and Eric ran Split Falls (frontispiece), which ended up being the first of Eric's two major confidence draining swims of the day.
Sidewinder
The Hole That Ate the Donner Party ate Eric real good. He was stuck in it for a good long while, prompting Keith and I to switch into frantic rescue mode. I was able to rescue the paddle and boat, and Keith, Eric. Keith and Eric were lagging a little at this point and eager to portage anything they didn't feel 100% about. I ran a couple more rapids than they did. Tom got swallowed by a mean hole at the bottom of Knobs after fighting it for a solid minute or two. Everyone got a bit of mayhem out of the day, arguably me the least of the group. To make time only Tom ended up running the last couple major rapids and then we mostly portaged some of the manky boulder garden just above the lake. We all ran the very last twisty drop into the lake just at sunset where we met two friendly paddleboarders excited to see us dropping down the creek.
We made it! It was a slow 2 mile paddle for me across Lake Spaulding in my high drag packraft, Tom even managing to make faster progress despite having only half a left paddle blade! Tom even had a couple words of congratulations to me and apologies on behalf of his friends for doubting me. Between my extra scouting, leading rapids, fast self-rescues I slowed us down the least which felt great. The lake was calm and the evening peaceful as the sky faded to dark and I kept my nose pointed towards the boat ramp at the far side of the lake. The others beat me to the dock by a solid five or ten minutes but I enjoyed the solitude at the end of a fantastically rowdy day.
The original plan of driving to Cherry Creek for a run tomorrow seemed way overly ambitious given how tired we were. Eric came up with a fantastic Plan B- crashing at his parents' place in Coloma about an hour's drive, then breakfast and a leisurely run down the uber classic (the country's most popular whitewater run?) Class III+ 8 mile Chili Bar run with his parents kindly completing the shuttle. It was a pleasant enough run to do once, with a couple solid rapids and a few nice play waves. Then came the very long drive home. I took the wheel for the full Central Valley stretch. Huge thanks to Eric for driving his vehicle and arranging the stopover with his lovely parents. Photos of me by Tom. Big thanks to Keith, Eric, and Tom for a fantastic trip. I am thirsty for more!
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