Covid derailed plans for a 3-day field trip around the greater Salton Trough area at the last minute, but with reservations already made, it seemed like an opportunity to scout a few field locations and check out the UC field station at Borrego Springs to make the eventual field trip run more smoothly. After a tasty lunch in Palm Springs we drove on to the Calcite Mine area to check out one of the slots. I forgot how interesting the area was as we traversed rocky roads up and down in and out of the vast canyon network. We did not have a bunch of time and so opted to check out Palm Slot. We walked through dusty wind up the desolate wash network until it finally began closing in. The palm tree in the slot was a novel feature. Beyond was a nice narrow section of slot with three chockstone boulders overhead including a low one that almost appeared to levitate. This nice section was over all too soon and we reached a 25ft dryfall, our cue to head back out to the car. We drove out the other way, closing the loop.
After a thorough orientation around the very cool field station, we drove the sandy wash network to check out Font's Point at sunset. This was really quite a cool view over the Borrego Badlands and I am surprised in my many visits to Anza Borrego that it is something I had not seen. The promontory provided a fantastic view over the many intricate badland crenulations, home to untold fossil treasures and some of the sedimentary record of the carving of the Grand Canyon. Driving back to the field station we drove through a dense and violent sandstorm, temporarily reducing our travel to about 20 mph.
The Forks again. I was hoping for redemption after a notable swim in West Wall Rapid that resulted in me losing my paddle two weeks prior. We thought the flow might be a bit higher this time around but it ended up being about the same, 650 cfs. After meeting at the Brush Creek takeout at 8am, we drove on to the Forks trailhead. I would be the only one in a packraft this time so the others fussed around with their hardshell carrying systems for a while and then we were off down the trail. I beat the others to the river and began inflating so I wouldn't slow the others down. We happened to briefly meet a solo packrafter just coming off a headwaters trip- I was jealous. At about 11am we were finally on the river. It was nice to do this section above Freeman again. It has some of the longer generic Class III rapids on the run. The water was chilly for the minimal layers I chose but manageable.
At about 1 mile into the run there was a log fully across the river. The hardshells could take some strong strokes to slide over the low point at river center but I would have to portage on river right. A short straightforward portage, but one with an unforeseen consequence. It was not for another mile of river that I realized I did not have my camera which I had stashed in my seat pouch. I stopped and looked everywhere for it- it was gone. The camera was tight in the pouch when I sat on the inflated seat; the only explanation was that I lost it at the portage. I consulted with the others and weighed my options. I did not really want to slow them down by an hour or more if I pulled over to run up the banks to find it so my options were to say goodbye and plan to hike out, hitch, and meet them at the takeout, or, to continue on and put out the word hoping some good person found it. I decided to continue on but was bitter and crestfallen. This run always seemed to have it in for me. The first time I did the run I swam more than probably any other run I've done. The second time it took my paddle. The third time it took my camera. It now had cost me more than an action packed 10 day trip to Mexico. Reflecting further I could identify an unfortunate chain of events that led me here. Losing my paddle on the last trip meant that I managed to forget my PFD (stored next to my paddle), which meant I did not have my normal camera attachment system to use. The improvised pouch solution broke down when I had to get up to portage an unexpected log.
I was hoping to stop at Freeman Falls but somehow we ended up paddling past it. We read and ran Lower Freeman Rapid where I had a clean line. We used the left sneak route at Needlerock again. For lunch we stopped at the ruins of Durrwood Lodge, which I had not stopped at before and was interesting to explore. I used my right sneak route through Vortex, which went really well while the others portaged left. West Wall Rapid (Confusion) where my flip happened on the last trip was top of my mind. We all decided to read-and-run it. This was the adrenaline crux for me as I pivoted and positioned my way down the long relentless rapid. I was in a much better position over the first pour-over than flipped me last time, lined up for the second, and then paddled like mad for the messy third and final drop. This one I went completely under the water on but managed to come up upright. I was out of breath and thrilled to have that one behind me.
The rest of the run went fairly smoothly. Yet again my focus switched to searching for my lost paddle (not to be). Jonathan had a nice clean run through Carson Falls while the rest of us portaged. We arrived back at the Brush Creek takeout at about 4pm. A flip-free trip for the others and myself, I would have thoroughly enjoyed the run were it not for the missing weight of my camera. Rumor is that someone found it but as of now I have not heard anything directly so my fingers continue to be crossed. Thanks to Keith, Jonathan, Tim, and Clara on shuttle for a great trip and especially to Keith for driving and letting me use his paddle.
Keith talked me into another jaunt up to the Kern for a Forks trip with the idea of getting up there early enough the afternoon before for a quick 2.5 mile run down the III+ Limestone Run, one of the few other things currently running. We met Tim and shuttle driver Clara at about 6pm and quickly got organized. Through a series of cascading mistakes I managed to forget my PFD at home but Tim saved my day by having a spare handy. Initially I was worried about being too cold in the full shadows of the run but the air temperature nicely modulated the cool water temperature. The run has three named rapids - Limestone, Betty's Bakery, and Joe's Diner; at this flow of 600 cfs they were each fairly tame and straightforward. The run went fast and without incident. It was nice to be on the river in the quiet late afternoon, to have a palate cleanser after the drive, and a warm up to tomorrow's Forks trip. Thanks to Tim for PFD and Clara for shuttle. Keith and I camped at a dirt road offshoot on the way to the Brush Creek put-in. The night was surprisingly cold.
After a lazy camp morning we drove towards Kernville for a relaxed packrafting jaunt down the Powerhouse Run (Lickity Split). This would be the first packrafting experience for three of the five of us. The river was running about 450 cfs meaning we would have lots of rocks to dodge but overall low consequence on the few rapids and riffles. Basically near-perfect beginner conditions. We got everyone organized, set the shuttle, then had a brief on water orientation before we floated down. Everyone seemed to get the hang of it and generally thought the boats were more stable than they were expecting. At one point we saw a deer and I mentioned how fairly often I will see beavers and turtles on the Kern, and then moments later I spotted a turtle that surprisingly let us get fairly close without the urge to plunge into the water. Powerhouse Rapid went smoothly for everyone.
I stopped for a quick scout of Ewings Rapid since I had no idea what it looked like at this flow; it ended up being fairly straightforward down the middle with not much hole to speak of. We pulled into Riverside Park, closed the shuttle, deconstructed the mountain of gear, then ate some burger stand food in the grass under the tree before we parted. It was a short trip but everyone seemed satisfied at the packrafting sampler. Thanks to everyone for a great trip, especially Keith, Kari, and Dav who loaned packrafts to make it happen.
The plan was for a fairly relaxed weekend with friends and that is what we got. On this my ?3.5th? time down Dry Meadow Creek, better known as the Seven Teacups, we went in the top which I had never done before. The way in was hot and dusty with some angry bulls to bypass but good conversation made up for it. We ended up suiting up probably about 0.5 miles too early, which slowed us down a bit. There were some cold pools to wade, slippery rocks to navigate, and a nice patio section we passed en route. We ran into another group of four right at the normal suit-up location and would end leapfrogging with them the entire way down the canyon. The flow was moderately-high; fun, fresh, and not scary.
The Seven Teacups (stolen from previous post)
I forgot how cool and intimidating the view was from the top of the first teacup; two smooth walls of granite slanting in to an ominous horizonline with no end in sight. After a quick snack we led the charge down the canyon. I dove through the natural bridge into the first teacup, then jumped into the second teacup, and rappelled with the others into the third. The rappel into the fourth teacup always feels like the crux of the trip to me with a few moments rappelling through the full flow into the void beneath the falls. This went smooth enough for everyone and we spent some time on the sunny patio here. I took two laps climbing the slab and did the classic jump into the fourth teacup (my first time as I did not know where to climb out previously).
We continued on through some of the nuisance-y short rappels and jumps to the top of the big falls. Here the other group ended up going first so we spent lots of time lounging on a warm granite slab. Eventually it was our turn and we rappelled into the washing machine, a boiling pool trapped behind rocks, trickier than I remembered.
In the interest of time we bypassed the rappel at the left turn falls and instead downclimbed the slabs on the left side of the canyon. We went first down the rappel into the toilet bowl, overall not too challenging to escape the recirculating pothole in these conditions. For the last rappel we used the sideways traversing option to the redirect, bypassing the narrow slot I've usually gone through.
In all it was a pretty leisurely pace down, but I think everyone else had fun. With this stretch of the Kern fresh in my mind from the previous week, I brought my packraft and had a very pleasant float out. Like last week my GoPro refused to function on this section. The river was running at 400 cfs and the rapids had noticeably less bite than the 650 cfs a few days prior, which made for a comfortable solo run. I portaged Carson Falls. I made it the 2 miles to the bridge in 31 minutes, Brush Creek in 40 minutes, and drove back to the bridge within the hour to hang out with Cyndi as the others finished their walk. We then drove into middle Brush Creek and had a pleasant campsite hangout as the moon rose nearly full.
The writing has been on the wall that weak Sierra snowpack, atypical weather patterns, and deep drought were going to mean a sparse boating season so after some deliberation I decided to tag on to Keith's friend's all inflatable trip down the Forks of the Kern. My only previous Forks trip was back in May 2018 at a flow of 1600 cfs- it was pushy, scary, and I felt off my game as I bumper car'd my way down multiple rapids and had lots of flips. Flows this time were a much more forgiving 650-700 cfs so I was looking for some redemption, a chance to enjoy the river scenery a bit more without being constantly on edge. We had some convoluted and somewhat frustrating logistics that eventually found us on the river just below Freeman Creek. One of the bigger rapids on the run, Lower Freeman was our warm-up, which I recognized as one of the rapids that swallowed me up last time around. Several opted to portage; I managed to have a clean line with a couple key paddle strokes keeping me out of the maw of the hole at bottom right.
Lower Freeman Rapid
It was a really pleasant day and I quickly settled into the pace of the rapids. Geno was a huge help announcing beta to keep us moving. Needlerock Rapid (frontispiece) was particularly fun and scenic. A couple of the IK folks had frequent swims that slowed us down but being an overnight trip we didn't have that far to go and still made it to camp at Peppermint Creek with plenty of daylight left. I forgot how nice some of the views of the Needles were along this stretch of river.
After changing out of my dry suit and staging my canned margarita in the river to chill, I strolled over with a few others to check out Lower Peppermint Falls and shot a few drone videos and photos. I particularly liked the vantage upriver of Lower Peppermint Falls and the Needles. We had a pleasant evening hanging out in camp. I woke up in the middle of the night with weird shoulder pain and chills but I slept well after.
Lower Peppermint Falls & the Needles
We had a relaxed 9:30am start on the river. We passed through many of the bigger rapids on the river without much incident (Big Bean, Vortex), until West Wall. Here one of the group had a swim requiring a rescue and chasing down a lost paddle and boat. I tried to run it but struggled pushing past the eddy line and got cornered out in a hydraulic for an instant swim (my only one of the trip). The swim was remarkably uneventful without any bashings or hydraulics holding me but very disappointingly I lost my paddle. Keith quickly pulled out a spare but I was nevertheless bummed out at this point.
The lead in to West Wall Rapid
We were now well behind our schedule but I managed to stop for a few minutes at Dry Meadow Creek to fly over the Seven Teacups- it was really neat to see this oblique aerial vantage on this classic pothole chain. My GoPro was misbehaving the rest of the run and I was preoccupied looking everywhere for my lost paddle (no luck). Everybody opted to portage Carson Falls. We had another swimmer right above the falls; the swimmer managed to not go over the falls but we had further delays in tracking down a boat and paddle yet again.
Seven Teacups
Below Carson Falls
We took out at Brush Creek. Fortunately for Keith and I the others were going to close the shuttle, leaving us to head on home. The trip had some frustrating aspects (some of them self-inflicted), but it was still nice to get out.
Covid derailed plans for a 3-day field trip around the greater Salton Trough area at the last minute, but with reservations already made, it seemed like an opportunity to scout a few field locations and check out the UC field station at Borrego Springs to make the eventual field trip run more smoothly. After a tasty lunch in Palm Springs we drove on to the Calcite Mine area to check out one of the slots. I forgot how interesting the area was as we traversed rocky roads up and down in and out of the vast canyon network. We did not have a bunch of time and so opted to check out Palm Slot. We walked through dusty wind up the desolate wash network until it finally began closing in. The palm tree in the slot was a novel feature. Beyond was a nice narrow section of slot with three chockstone boulders overhead including a low one that almost appeared to levitate. This nice section was over all too soon and we reached a 25ft dryfall, our cue to head back out to the car. We drove out the other way, closing the loop. 
