Keith and I teed up for another attempt at Deep Creek, this time aiming to take on some more mileage. Our previous trip in March 2018 was cut short due to a very late put-on and an unexpected rescue of two teenagers trapped on the wrong side of the river; we only ended up running about 2 miles. Still limited to a single day this time, we opted to park at the Mojave Dam and hike the PCT as before, scouting the river as we went. Everything up until the Rainbow Bridge looked familiar (I recognized rapids from our previous trip) though I was happy to note healthier flows compared to our previous trip (550-450cfs). We noted a couple features worth scouting just past the bridge. Kinley Creek was flowing strongly enough to have me take my pants and shoes off to cross. We made good time hiking the 5.5 miles to Deep Creek hot springs. At the hot springs we encountered four friendly folks happily soaking away in the main pool. The lower pools were either underwater or filled to the brim with driftwood so we snacked and soaked for a short break before readying our kits immediately adjacent.
The rapid immediately upstream of the hot springs looked like good fun and so we hauled our boats a few hundred feet further up the trail to get one more in. This rapid was well worth it. We put on at about noon (700cfs) with very little noticeable drop in flow (500cfs when we took out). Maybe I would have taken just a touch more flow but it was great as we had it. There was one awkward bedrock slide just below the hot springs and then a willow section before it got really good.
The mini-gorge below Kinley definitely stopped us for a careful scout. There were several sizable features in a row not to screw up and one very nice drop and eddy pool at the end. I ran first, mostly in control for a clean run, then Keith followed. This ended up being the best single rapid on the stretch we ran.
We scouted The Flume rapid and ended up running the double drop on the left. Around the corner we slowly worked our way through the mazy boulders of Arid Piles, pulling out for a trail portage around the last couple hundred feet of no go. We got back in the boats just below the Rainbow Bridge. I was feeling pretty good being flip free up to this point but still managed a couple swims in the rapids below.
With the extra flow versus our previous trip and more careful trail scouting we were able to avoid the worst of the willows this time. I gave Prime Time Falls a hard pass this time (portage) not wanting to repeat my facegrinding flip from the previous run. The foam below the falls were particularly impressive- up to eye level while I was in my boat.
Prime Time Falls (above and below)
Though more rapids followed (and I managed another flip or two), the rest of the run was pretty straightforward, especially the new-to-us stuff below the corner where we rescued the kids last time. We paddled right to the dam outlet and then carried our boats a ways along the dam until we could find a spot protected from the cold sideways rain.
It was really nice to get back on Deep Creek and check out 5 solid miles of it. I look forward to doing the full 14 mile version as a two day trip sometime! Thanks to Keith.
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