Keith, Eric, and Rocky were initially planning to head north for some hard kayaking mid-week, which unfortunately didn't mesh with my teaching schedule. As plans evolved the trip moved to the end of the week and I shuffled a few things around to try and go. I was desperate for some excitement and challenge and realized this might be my last opportunity for some difficult packrafting for a while. I was in! I packed packraft and camping gear, largely blind to what I was getting myself into. I had heard of the "Main T" run and nearby "Cherry Creek" but did no research ahead of the trip.
The drive to the Tuolumne was long and uncomfortable, certainly the longest I have had to continuously wear a mask. A 4:30pm departure from Redlands got us late into Casa Loma where we crashed in the woods at about 11am. Thankfully I slept pretty well and in the morning we drove to meet Rocky and to set the lengthy car shuttle. This time of year the Tuolumne is a dam release run. As we drove down to the put-in we could see the frail and unrunnable 300 cfs river; within minutes of us arriving at the put-in the 1100cfs release pulse arrived and the river noisily swelled.
The Main T is an 18 mile run from Meral's Pool to Ward's Ferry, variably rated III/IV/IV+. It is a classic pool-drop stretch of river, though my memory is that it was primarily pool paddling. The river had some nice long rapids requiring careful maneuvering around boulders, but I found the gradient to be such that I had plenty of time to read the river and respond. Overall it felt like Class III, though I did manage to find two places to flip (easy self-rescues). Clavey Falls (frontispiece and below) was the standout rapid on the run and the only one we scouted. Wanting to minimize mayhem I opted for a sneak route instead of running the main drop at the top; this I almost managed to screw up by beaching myself on a rock but it worked out in the end.
Along the way there was interesting historical hints of past gold rush ventures, including most notably a stone and mortar powerhouse supplying power to a mine. Despite this it was a remote feeling run. The rocks along the way were interesting; essentially no granite as I was expecting. There were some beautiful snowy chunks of marble in some places. We got out to check out some [dry] waterfalls in a couple side creeks on river left, which was a nice break from paddling.
It was hot and we had a lot of paddling across the pools to try to keep time to a minimum. Towards the end the hot headwind was particularly cruel to my high profile packraft and I often slipped behind the others.
The last mile we paddled out the reservior to the bridge. The reservior water was incredibly warm and I could not resist a jump off the old bridge abutment at the end of the run. I thought the run was nice enough. Maybe I'm spoiled or it is different at high water but it did not really have the classic appeal that was advertised. It was enjoyable and great to experience but I do not feel a particular need to ever run it again. And, as I soon found out, it really was not much of a warm-up to tomorrow's Cherry Creek run. Walking to the mailbox doesn't really prepare you for running a marathon.
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