Carping - The Big Creek sequel

[ridinshockgun]

To give you an idea of how our day went - there were seven paddlers in the water at the put-in bridge, 4 of us at the takeout. I was one of the four and I had a big swim. Another of the four walked almost everything from midnight hole down.

Three of us decided to push on past the bridge and hike at least another 1/2 mile to a few rapids above Superman. This would put the hike in at just over 3 miles. We were time constrained which meant no rest after the hike, and not much on the river. The rapids (Superman especially) were well worth it, but because of the extra hike and paddle I was running out of gas at about Midnight Hole.

Rapid above the bridge:





A little further up:

Here I am blasting through your everyday Big Creek rapid:









Some random guy boofing baby gorilla:


Now to Action Alley -

I've been stomping everything I've gone after recently, including this little rapid on the Green for the second time in a row on Tuesday. I was about at the point where I felt like I could nail anything.



So I was definitely going after it today. I was tired, and I felt it, but there was no way I could mess anything up, right?

I hit the first drop perfectly, drove over the next drop - a whaletail type slide with a 4 ft boof and eddied out. Two more drops and I would be home free in the eddy above Baby Gorilla. I peeled out and was headed to the next drop where I needed to catch a boof flake on the left and then immediately setup for the next drop about 15 yards downstream. For some reason instead of driving at the boof I was lazily trying to sally my way over it by adjusting boat angle. I ended up upside down getting plastered against the RR wall all the way to the next drop. This friendly looking ledge not far above Baby Gorilla (an 8 ft drop onto about 2 inches of water if you're lucky):



You can see the wall I was enjoying in the picture. If you look at the top of this next picture you can barely see the first ledge and where I flipped:



I kept fighting and finally rolled up going over the lip of that ledge. I remember thinking, yes, I got it, beatdown over........

Because of the last second roll I dropped over the ledge about like a big log would and Im immediately upside down, resume beatdown, commence hole chundering. I tried to fight it but really had nothing left, but dammit I always fight it out. I knew there was an eddy on RR after that hole and had a choice to make. If I keep being stubborn and I didnt eventually get things together that I might risk swimming baby gorilla.......or the left line with the log in it.......or more likely in my case running the fucker upside down. So I pulled and swam to the eddy.

I remembered how much I hate when people bitch and make excuses when they swim, now I was that guy....... so I did my best to help out, laugh about it, and move on. That was the first time Ive ever swam out of my creekboat and pretty much anything over class II. Its been a loooong time.

I lost my paddle, borrowed a breakdown and on we went to the takeout with lots more fun mixed in along the way.

That place is amazing, its not just about the rapids but just being up there. Struggling up the hill with your gear knowing the reward that awaits, the scenery, fighting through the last rapids when you have nothing left. I can't wait to get back again.

[SuperChief]

Shout out for Creeking Stoke!

[teledave]

Damn, C that's one hell of a story. Sounds like you made the right decision punching out, although I haven't seen you do it since the Nanty. You are getting after it.



I just ran the 2-3 stuff in the Smokies, of course it might have helped a little if I had taken up boating before I was 40.

[MarsB]

Swims happen. Sounds like you made the right decision to punch out, given the factors at hand - fatigue, the prospect of running a manky rapid upside down, not to mention the cold. Glad everything turned out OK.

Oh, and that creek looks F-U-N! Nice TR!

[RootSkier]

That creek looks fucking awesome. Thanks for keeping the boating stoke alive when everything is rock solid up here.

[nbt]

If your still boating, your between swims

[Yonder_River]

Nice. Keep posting your adventures, I like reading them.

I just took my first swim in awhile in December and it blew! My scab wounds are still healing.

I'll be hitting up the Green Truss this Sunday so I might have some stoke to share here soon myself.

[Lost in AK]

Thanks for the creeking stoke. Been skiing a bit but I miss the water.