Sespe Creek (seems like it should be called a river for SoCal standards) has been on my SoCal packrafting hit list this season but led to two separate false starts. The full 33 mi Class V wilderness run from Piedra Blanca to Fillmore is supposed to include some of the most scenic wilderness whitewater in southern California but is quite a serious 2.5 day undertaking. While I had been interested in this run, I recognized that finding someone to go with me with overlapping "in" flows would be difficult. Something more straightforward, without a shuttle, and of a lower intensity so I could do alone was what I had in mind. I envisioned a 14.5 mi Class III float from Piedra Blanca to Hot Springs Canyon, an overnight at Sespe Hot Springs, and then a return along the Sespe River Trail. Problem was that the 13.5 mi hike back would involve 9 river crossings, which depending on flow might require inflating my boat to cross and make for a long day. In the end I decided a more relaxed out-and-back would be a 9.5 mi paddle to Willett Hot Springs, overnight at the hot springs, and a 9 mi hike on the Sespe River Trail (only 3.5 river crossings). With our notable Winter rains this year there were many time frames with runnable flows. Mid-January I had a free weekend and decided to go for it, driving all the way to the outskirts of Ojai to find out Highway 33 was freshly closed...I was hosed and drove home in defeat. A second opportunity presented itself at the start of February when I would be in Santa Barbara. Highway closed again! It was starting to look like rainfall generated runnable flows and rainfall generated road damage were inseparable events. Finally mid-March the roads were open and the gauges were showing a slow decay. While on the river the recently recalibrated Fillmore gauge read 950 cfs decaying to 850 cfs, and the Wheeler gauge was 130 to 110 cfs. It was on!
The highway through Wheeler gorge was looking pretty war-torn from the winter storms but thankfully we were able to access Piedra Blanca without any trouble. We geared up in the parking lot and slowly carried our boats to the creek. Despite being on the higher side of apparently recommended flows, the first views looking slow, low, and rocky. Almost immediately (quarter-mile?) we encountered a great mess of willows forcing us to do a lengthy portage. This was followed by more willows distributed throughout the channel which were very unpleasant and hard to avoid in some cases. This proved to be a miserable first whitewater experience for my paddling partner who was attracted to the willows like magnets, sometimes needing a helping hand. Gradually the quality of the creek channel improved and willow-avoiding skills were built but is was still slow going and not all together enjoyable. At least the water was not too cold and the scenery was good. Dabs of snow on the Topa Topas was a nice touch.
I did my best to read-and-run the rapids but the willows required several portages. In one rapid willows led to a swim and the boat to be stuck in a log sieve. This took considerable effort for me to manage and free and was pretty demoralizing to forward progress. Once free we pulled over, had a snack and some water and weighed our options. It was getting late, we had 2 miles to go still, and and the current rate of progress we'd be pushing daylight. I looked at the aerial imagery in great detail, memorizing the few places to scout and potentially run both boats. We proceeded more cautiously, realizing that an extra scout or portage could end up being quicker than a flip.
The closer we got to Willett, the better the scenery with great cliffs of tilted rocks around each turn. I ferried both boats through the last two long willow slaloms and happily we made it to the upstream-most cabin with some natural light to spare. Surprisingly, we ran into a solo backpacker who greeted us and commented that we must have done it right. I never did find out what direction he came from. We found a nice downed tree and turned it into a drying rack of our wet gear. We took only our camping gear and hiked the quarter-mile uphill to the small camp spot a hundred feet away from the Willett hot spring tub. We quickly set up camp and readied the dehy dinners, good and hungry from the day's efforts. We opted to eat dinner in the tub which was an ideal temperature and a comfortable depth. We relaxed of the excitement of the day in the soothing waters. I slept well.
I knew we would benefit from an early start but sleeping in a little was too easy to do. It was 9:15a by the time we finally had breakfast, broke down camp, packed away the gear down the hill, had a look around all the old ranch buildings and finally started hiking. Notably I realized I forgot my excellent Hyperlite backpack about an hour from home and so stopped in at a WalMart to purchase a $20 70L duffel bag with shoulder straps. Problem solved but I now got to enjoy just how godawfully uncomfortable it was- it'd be a long 10 miles. We did a half creek crossing (knees, sans shoes) near Willett then had about 4 miles to hike to our first boat crossing. Though the trail dipped in an out of drainages and our packs were unconfortable, we made good time. We passed a group of deer eating breakfast not giving us much mind. I was impressed at the abundance of water even in the smallest creeks. With care we were able to maintain dry feet.
With four miles down we reached our first boat crossing. I tried to be as efficient as possible and hoped we could get across by shuttling one boat with the throw rope. Despite me wading into my waist the rope still ended up being a couple feet short due to a miscommunication so I had to let go and inflate the second boat. After two laps I had the packs across, and started repacking. This first crossing took about 35 minutes by the time we were packed up again on the south side- it could have been quicker but also probably could have been slower. The next one mile stretch of the trail was slower as we traversed along an enormous landslide that encompassed this full length. Now a total of five miles down we had our second boat crossing this time across a deep still pool. We made quicker time of this crossing and were able to shuttle one boat. Though we still had four more miles to reach the car and were on the wrong side of the creek, we now only had one more crossing and I had hopes we could do it without a boat.
The trail was now even easier to walk though our packs became increasingly uncomfortable. Trout Creek took some care to cross with dry feet. At Piedra Blanca Creek we finally gave up and crossed with wet shoes. The last Sespe crossing before the trailhead was deep and swift but braided enough (four channels) that we could cross it on foot. Altogether the 10mi hike took about 5.75 hrs, not horrible considering the crossings. The next weekend a packraft crew was planning a full run of the Sespe. Somewhat guiltily I talked them out of it based on my experience with the willows and the fact that the creek would be even lower. Someday I hope to be able to check out the Class V lower gorge; the couple photos I've seen were stunning.
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