Santa Paula Canyon Nov 2-3

Santa Paula Canyon was a favorite place to go after some rain while a student in Santa Barbara. A walk past a quiet private college, orchards, and petroleum pumpjacks leads to a wild valley of monstrous landslides, great cliffs of tilted sediments, perennial waterfalls and plunge pools. Most visitors stop at the first waterfall ("Santa Paula Falls" or mistakenly called the Punchbowl) and its pleasant swimming hole as the graffiti and trash will attest to. Fewer know that a scenic gorge exists directly above or another gorge a short distance even further with more swimming, cliff jumping and sliding options. I had been as far as an area called Jackson Hole before that featured two modest sized waterfalls. It was not until years later when I had my canyoning interest firmly cemented that I realized from aerial photos that there was an interesting looking slot canyon much further upcanyon as well as a 200ft waterfall and some smaller falls. To the best of my knowledge no one had descended these before so I got it into my mind that I'd like to do a first descent at some point. The entry restriction for 2017's Thomas Fire had recently been lifted and reports I could find were that the lower valley was in good shape post-fire. It would be a little ambitious but I planned a pre-traffic escape Friday, which enabled a hike in to camp at the bottom of the middle gorge just before nightfall. The hike was as I remembered it; the grotto camping spot was even better- I think more sediment had been deposited to make a gravel bar where before there was just a large pool. Unfortunately many others had found this spot and decided to leave an obscene amount of graffiti, trash, and toilet paper at this beautiful spot. That didn't stop me from enjoying this place, and I had a great evening in the hammock enjoying the remarkably comfortable temperature.

After a good night’s sleep and a leisurely morning, gear was packed for the day’s canyon and the rest of the camping gear was stashed behind a boulder nearby. It took a little scrambling effort finding the start of the middle gorge bypass trail but once we did we were on our way. The trail that bypassed the middle gorge by switchbacked the shabby slopes to its side but after a short scramble it was found. The entire slope was deeply charred from the Thomas Fire and at several points the regenerating vegetation was such that it was actually easier to cut the switchbacks. Detouring to the edge of the slope to peer into the gorge below usually offered pretty dramatic views. At the top of the dip slope slab it was time to start traversing into the drainage and this is where the fire damage became unbearable. We struggled through collapsed charred skeletons of regenerating chaparral while avoiding abundant poison oak. At many points the trail was unfollowable requiring slow and annoying detours. Progress was painfully slow, scratchy, and dirty. After recording progress in hundreds of feet after a half hour it was becoming an exercise in masochism and I began to see the day’s original plan slipping away from us. It was clear no one had hiked this stretch since the fire. This was miserable and we needed an out. Just shy of Jackson Hole we gave up and I rigged a rope as a hand line to climb down a crumbling sediment cliff to the streambed. This also sucked but soon enough reached the streambed which was thankfully excellent travel by comparison. We hiked upstream about 10 minutes to reach Jackson Hole where we stopped for a snack on the slab by rock. Both waterfalls were disappointingly dry but the area did have some really interesting springs and a short distance below some deep pools with fish. The upper canyon would have to wait another day.

        Bypassing the gorge on the fire-damaged trail

After a sufficient rest we hiked along the stream, which again was easy rock hopping travel that could be done with dry feet. After about a half mile tilted sandstone slabs of bedrock began appearing in the stream, while at the same time the cliffs lining the creek closed in to form a gorge. We bypassed a few small falls until we found a feature too tempting to pass up: a perfect 50 ft slab with a thin veneer of water running over it and a slippery coating of algae. Wanting to give the slide a try, we both suited up and took turns. The slide was fantastic; the water was rudely cold! I repeated five or six times which was enough for a brain freeze and an interest in moving on. A short distance downstream was the main event, the wickedly steep and long 150ft slide I remembered. This is perhaps the longest natural waterslide in southern California. It was as intimidating as I remembered but unfortunately there was much more graffiti than I remembered. We both started small on the slide, entering at about the 20ft mark to be sure we understood the speed generated. Gradually I worked my way higher and higher up the slide until plopping in the pool at the top of the 150ft. For my first full run I started in control with my hands and feet controlling my descent speed to some degree. When that seemed ok I decided to go for an unhindered slide the next time around. This got me going much too fast, bouncing off of small bumps uncontrollably, feet veering sideways instead of in front of me and almost banking outside of the channel while narrowly avoiding the wall at the bottom. Fun but the next few runs I chose to remain in control... 

After we both had our fill of the slide we continued on down the gorge with a little rock scrambling, ledge traversing, and downclimbing to bypass the deepest pools. In a few short minutes we were back at the final falls and grotto at the end of the gorge. Here I fished out the backpack with the camping gear from behind a rock and awkwardly carried two packs down to the bedrock patio area at the top of the lower gorge. Here we ran into a group that looked a little baffled to see us in wetsuits and helmets.

We carefully downclimbed the slippery falls into the lower gorge and jumped into the flooded corridor, swimming as quick as we could to minimize immersion in the freezing water. Another downclimb and another flooded corridor led to the terminal horizonline of Santa Paula Falls. I peered over and was a little tempted to jump but listened to reason. The height was not bad but the slippery push off and bad geometry required a strong outward jump with some potential to screw up. So instead we upclimbed back to the first flooded corridor and I had my fill jumping in from the side of the gorge. After three or four times brain freeze kicked in and I was done. We carefully climbed the knotted rope up the steep side of the gorge, grabbed gear, and hiked around to the bottom of Santa Paula Falls.

Though half in the sun and inviting, the final pool was just as cold as the others! I climbed the slippery falls and had one last jump off the side. We dried, changed, and snacked in the sun before repacking everything and hiking back up and out the trail.

The hike out was without incident and we made good time back to the car. We broke up the drive with a meal in Pasadena, then onward to Riverside. The fire damage, bushwhacking and graffiti were kind of a bummer but Santa Paula Canyon remains a pretty rare southern California gem. Given the accessibility and scenery it was great to be the only people camping in the canyon.

San Antonio Falls Oct 25

Thousands of years ago there was an earthquake that spectacularly shook the San Gabriel Mountains, causing the southeast face of its highest peak Mt San Antonio to detach and jumble its way downslope in a brief but terrifying instance of time. This landslide traveled at great speed (100 mph perhaps) down San Antonio Canyon, splashed up the east wall of the canyon as it rounded a bend, and decreased momentum to deposit person- to house-sized boulders on a sizable flat (Manker Flat). In a minute or two 50 million cubic meters of rock had traveled up to 2.5 miles away from where they started. This landslide has had effects on the landslide that still persist today- Manker Flat forms a sizable area of flattish ground where nearly a hundred cabins have been built; erosion into the higher parts of the landslide deposit have driven downcutting into a steep bedrock gorge, San Antonio Falls. As part of my mapping efforts in the area I was very interested to check out this canyon and document the amount of incision that has occurred. That it was supposed to be one of the highest quality bang for buck canyons in the San Gabriels (5 nice rappels for about 2 hours round trip) that I had not been to before would be an added bonus.

We walked up the paved access road, marveling at the steep loose slopes and precarious positions of some of the cabins in the region. At the first big switchback with a viewpoint of the lowest falls we veered off the trail and up a gully, careful to avoid spiky yuccas and loose rocks. The route was not the most obvious and anastomosing social trails had clearly developed but we found our way to the top of the first rappel with minimal delay. 

Being a warm day, neoprene booties, rain pants, and a rain shell sufficed to keep the cold splashy water from chilling us. We found good bolts at all the drops- where we had anchor choices we always chose the wetter rappeling option. The rock was surprisingly solid and the rappels were not awkward at all.

We made good time down the five rappels and couple short downclimbs. Being a weekday there were only two groups at the base of the final falls. The last rappel was probably the easiest to go smooth and fast and so left me wanting more. I noticed the hints of a social trail that looked to climb above this final falls and so could not resist taking one last lap for joy's sake before packing up and heading back to the car. The considerable incision to create this gorge certainly seemed to post-date the landslide. Once I get results of the age of the landslide back I will have a better handle on how rapidly a gorge like this can form. Thanks to Heather for field assistance and company.

Great Falls Basin Oct 13

The unusually steep slopes and narrow slit of the canyon draining the Great Falls Basin just a few miles north of Trona stand out as a unique feature for the broader area that had me curious about its potential as a technical canyon for many years. Though this is an incredibly out-of-the-way location, I have managed to spend at least six of the second-weekend-in-Octobers of my life visiting the dusty  and fragrant mining town of Trona for its (this year 77th) annual Gem-O-Rama event where world-class evaporite minerals can be collected. The event is always a great time and always impeccably organized but also leads to a similar experience year after year. I was craving the opportunity to do something new and skipping the morning "mud trip" seemed perfect. If all went well I'd be back in time for the afternoon "blow hole trip." I had no concern about doing the canyon alone other than if my car could get me to the start.

As I found out the canyon is actually rather stunning and is something I would be willing to do again (not something I say often). Certainly a regional wonder worthy of a detour or in conjunction with other local excursions. A short drive from the highway and a 40 min hike gives you over 2 hours of canyon. Excellent Alabama Hills-quality rock with flash flood polishing and sculpting reminiscent of some of the best Sierra canyons. Five beautiful and mostly unawkward drops. Nice moments of solitude. Only 100ft of rope needed so you do not need to carry too much gear.

A short five mile drive from the Trona Gem-O-Rama got me to the Great Falls turnoff. The road started alright at first but progressively the sand got deeper to the point that the auto-traction-control-whatever on my Prius began to slow me down and I had to delicately throttle to try to maintain enough speed to not come to a screeching sand burying halt. I made it 2.5 miles from the highway (0.5 miles short of the road end) until my car ground to a halt and refused forward progress. Fortunately the traction control seemed to behave somewhat different in reverse so I was able to back up and turn onto the slightly more compact wash surface adjacent to the road. The front of my car was stuck in sand above my mud flaps for some moments until I was able to carefully coax myself into a turn and then park on a slightly harder patch facing downhill. Getting out would be a problem for later! For now I felt lucky to have made it as close as I did. Wild burros watched my antics with mild curiosity, probably commenting among themselves about the inadequacies and stupidity of Prius driving city folks. 

        Prius-eating sand with the bottom of Great Falls in the distance

The approach hike was remarkably straightforward and so I made good time. There was a great trail leading up the side of the valley into a hanging valley. From here I could follow the contact between the two plutonic rocks (resistant Alabama Hills-style monzogranite and a more erosive granitic). For a portion of the approach I could not resist the lure of the slickrock and so veered slightly off. Somehow I managed to gain the 800 ft elevation to the saddle, though it felt like much less than that. The view from the saddle was great- a maze of granite rockpiles for miles ahead forming the Great Falls Basin proper. I picked my way down minor washes to the canyon bottom, then skirted just above the bottom to avoid the spring-fed vegetation thicket. A sandy jaunt and then some scrambling over and down boulder brought me to the first obvious rappel. The approach took me a pretty leisurely 45 minutes.

        View from the saddle into Great Falls Basin

There were plenty of anchor options for this first 40ft rappel but it took a few moments of thought to decide what the best option would be to make the pull very easy. This was a comfortable rappel down a polished chute into a chockstone grotto below- a really nice start to the canyon. Wanting to get some decent photos despite the solo trip I did some silly selfie maneuvers (set up tripod, set 30sec timer, run and hoist myself up rope, look natural...).

        Rappel 1, above and below

I was in it now. The entire canyon was in cool and comfortable shade which was a real treat. Chirpy birds abounded. It was all quite pleasant. A stemming downclimb led to more sandy floor, then another obvious rappel. I used the historic hardware left over from a water piping system for this short 25ft rappel. 

        Rappel 2

More sandy floored hallway and a nice cluster of trees led to a left turn in the canyon where things became more vertical. A downclimb around a concrete weir and then an awkward 8ft downclimb were next up. The bottom part of the downclimb was actually more of a foot slide down a pipe. Here the canyon became considerably more sculpted, the flash floods obviously carving strongly in this steeper, narrow place. There was also some nice reflected canyon golden light in this spot (frontispiece) too nice to resist more silly selfies.

        Rappel 3

The third rappel from modern bolts and chains was a really pleasant 45ft drop. This canyon just kept getting better and at this point the walls towered steeply overhead. It was clear from the lack of footprints and fresh sedimentary features that this canyon flooded not all that long ago yet I was surprised at the lack of water. Only about 15 steps from the third rappel is the fourth at about 50ft length. I could see a very wet landing below so stripped down to shorts and put items in dry bags just in case. Previous accounts indicated this was often a swimming pool. This vertical rappel had a somewhat awkward start around then beneath a chockstone, then requiring careful avoidance of not snagging on piping and related metal shrapnel bolted to the rock. Once close to the bottom I could see the deep landing and so worked up momentum by kicking off the rock so I could pendulum over to the sand island and then drop onto it. This worked well but getting off the island to the shore required one ankle to be soaked. With care I was able to keep the rope mostly dry on the pull. 

        Rappel 4

Next up was a climb over a large boulder and then down the other side using an old pipe as a guide. The last rappel (40ft) was perhaps the most fluted and sculpted of them all. It was clear from the bathtub rings on the walls that this was often a swimmer as well- I appreciated the dry conditions given the cool comfort of the canyon. More tripod selfies of this photogenic spot, then a climb up the awkward chockstone at the downstream end of the basin. 

        Rappel 5, above and below

This darkest and narrowest corner then turned and opened into a wider boulder-bottomed canyon. I navigated over, down, between and around house to car sized boulders to bypass the last drop in the canyon before dropping onto the vast sandy floor of the wash. The size of the wash and amount of sandy fill attest to the ferocity of floods that must rip through this canyon. It makes me wonder how long the water pipe system actually managed to stay functional before it was abandoned. I was back to the car in three hours after I left it, pretty good time considering all the staged photos and little bit of anchor building I needed to do. The excitement was not over yet as I had to delicately boat my Prius out the soft sand and back to the highway. No incidents thankfully and in minutes I was able to rejoin the Gem-O-Rama festivities, thoroughly satisfied that I got the opportunity to get up to a nice little solo adventure. The rest of Gem-O-Rama was good fun with some of the best collecting I've ever done and some nice camping with UCR folks at the otherworldly Trona Pinnacles.

Found Footage Sept 18

Just sharing some interesting found footage of two people packrafting somewhere at some time. Looks pretty cool!

Box Springs Traverse Sept 3

The Box Springs Mountains are my 2000 hectare backyard that surround my house on three sides forming a horseshoe shape. There are many excellent trails for running and biking and considerable potential to add trails to make even better loop options. Because of the limited loop options there are maybe three or four different routes I take 90% of the time I am looking for a run. For almost as long as I've lived in Riverside I had had great interest in doing a longer trail run along the full 8.5 mile ridgeline of the Box Springs (~2 miles of it off trail). Though I didn't have an obvious shuttle option and thought I might have to resort to using a ride-share app for the first time, I was feeling like I could use a solid run and it was time to give it a shot.

 

I parked in the neighborhood on the Moreno Valley side and set off through the fog up the M trail which I had never been up before. The temperature was wonderfully cool. I saw a curious and mostly indifferent bobcat along the way. Once above the M I followed the dirt road until I got to the hairpin turn near Hidden Springs. Here I veered off roads and trails and scrambled my way up along the multiple summits, still well in the fog. The recent fire greatly aided Everything up to this point was new to me so felt particularly energizing. Once at the prominent overhanging skyline rock the rest of the route was in known terrain for me. Despite the gopher holes, brush, and rock scrambling I managed to run the whole thing without walking, which was satisfying and maybe a little surprising. 

The 8.5 miles took me 2 hrs 17 min without any stops. I then jogged back to my house, took a smoothie break, pedaled/pushed my bike up Two Trees, and rolled swiftly down Pigeon Pass back to my car. The Box Springs have so much potential as a trail running mecca for the area with the addition of just a few more trails. It's a really special place.

Wonderland of Rock by Moonlight Aug 25-26

My dream for a full "Floor is Lava" traverse of Joshua Tree's Wonderland of Rocks remains a unobtained goal. Being quite hot this time of year, the thought occurred to me to try an evening traverse under a full moon. With a date set I recruited Jimmy who I thought would be up for it, and he recruited two more graduate students to join us. My thinking was we could start at 7pm and be done around 11pm, which in hindsight was a little unrealistic despite one of the group not being completely up to the challenge. Jimmy and I set our shuttle at Indian Cove and then drove into Barker Dam where we met Stephen and Haley at 6:30pm. I was a little worried when I realized they had no idea what they would be in for, and more still when we started off across the rocks and I recognized their pace. They were in good cheer though and so we kept on despite the early signs. Pretty early on someone's pants turned into posteriorless chaps, an amusing throwback for me to my first Wonderland traverse.

We had a couple deadends at the start which slowed progress but eventually reached a nice slickrock area where we could make good progress, enjoy the setting sun, and simultaneously, the rising sun. I was in my element with some of the more scrambly sections and probably could have made 2.5 times the progress of the rest of the group. The first few wash crossings were straightforward and manageable at the locations I suspected. At the junctions of two major washes we had to make six separate crossings which slowed us down considerably. The worst of them required me jumping in the middle of a bush and then jumping across the rock. Legality is debatable I suppose but the landscape was not altered and my foot did not touch the wash. It seemed the desert recently had a solid down pour: footprintless washes, fresh fluvial features, moist sand, patches of water, and the worst sign of all, mosquitoes in abundance.

Through the major wash junction, I decided to take a chance on an alternate saddle, which ended up being very tricky and ending at a blind slot. This seemed like the obvious place (and time) to abandon the floor is lava mentality. In 2.5 hours we made it about 1.5 miles! From here on we took the path of least resistance, following washes and intrusive contacts in a race for Indian Cove. We crossed over to the easternmost major wash and followed it north. Intervals were wide and sandy allowing us to turn off headlamps and travel by moonlight. We bypassed the first scrambly breakdown section, then had two more to navigate for distances of about 500 ft. The further down the wash we went the more standing pools of water we saw, and the more happy frogs. It was quite late by the time we reached The Helmet rock formation, I made sense of the junction of washes, and we set on down the steep and mysterious gut for Rattlesnake Canyon. Progress continued very slowly, giving me time to explore ahead and find three nice sections of talus cave we could drop into.

After what seemed like ages we dropped into Rattlesnake Canyon and then had the comparatively easy task of hiking down it to the trailhead. Despite the ridiculous hour, Jimmy and I had a solid run back to the car to spare the other two the last bit of effort. 2:30am we finished! We drove out, went desperately in search of a 24hr convenience store to stock up on cold Gatorade, then drove back to Barker Dam to close the loop. We drove through the entirety of the Hidden Valley campground- completely full! Jimmy and I parted with Stephen and Haley and drove all the way back to Indian Cove. It was 5am by the time I got to sleep in my car (to avoid the brutal mosquitoes), and 7:45am when the heat of the sun cruelly made me wake up and abandon the car! Jimmy and I climbed three  adjacent routes rather quickly (nice for me as I can't remember the last time I've been climbing outside) before the sun's heat chased us into our cars' AC, and back home for a nap in a bed. The Floor Is Lava Traverse remains an enticing possibility. I've only cracked the first 1.5 miles of six and am left wondering how big of a project this is. Perhaps it would be best if I attempted sections of the traverse before stringing the whole thing together to eliminate time wasted on deadends. What is clear is that it would make and incredible journey and a remarkable full body marathon. Thanks to the others for joining.

Fordyce Creek Aug 20

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

        Rotator Cuff (and next below)

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.

        Big Squeeze

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.

        Where's Barry?

        Sidewinder

        In Your Face

        Fordyce Falls

        Split Falls

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. 

        The Hole That Ate The Donner Party

        Knobs

        Ninja?

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!