So I am a little out of order on things here but Cherry Creek was one of my favorite experiences from my Cali trip and I think some of my favorite photographs as well. It was absolutely the most unique place on the trip. Middle Cherry Creek is a seldom seen section of the Cherry Drainage that begins right below Cherry Lake and above the confluence with the Tuolumne. The normal put-in requires hiking in at the confluence with Lake Eleanor but “luckily” all of the flow was coming out of Cherry Lake so we opted to put in very conveniently right below the dam. We were a large crew of 7-8 people all from different parts but we had no problem meshing together and having a good time. The beginning of the run starts out really mellow with lots of small boulder garden rapids and a couple of portages due to massive boulders blocking the river. Then, out of no-where you roll up on the rapid pictured below. One of the most beautiful views around.

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From here we thought we were off to a great start and our beta told us that even with putting in at the dam it would be a quick day run. The river was broken up with low volume manky boulder rapids and then, as soon as you were getting sick of that, it would open back up into beautiful Cali perfection. Near the bottom of this section, before we reached the confluence, we reached a mini gorge that had some fun moves in the top finishing with a twisting boof with what looked like a punchable hole at the bottom. Most of the crew was down low getting a good scout and me, being a little gun shy of the poison oak (for very good reasons) got two thumbs up from both JJ and Rolf and felt confident that it all went well. I had smooth lines up top, fired off the bottom boof and thought I had the perfect line.

Unfortunately, I was very wrong and after as much rodeo as I could handle I was out of my boat with Watershed bag and camera in hand, not my paddle. Luckily, the rule of the group was if you give two thumbs up and it doesn’t go…you still gotta go. Rolf came down after me, tried a different line, and exited in similar fashion. JJ pulled out some serious points for running the right side and keeping his momentum right and staying dry in his boat. There were no other takers after that. My paddle was recovered thanks to the awesome team effort, and we were back on the water with a lot of time lost, still not yet to the confluence.

JJ firing off the “right” line.

So about a mile or so down the river we reached the confluence. Knowing we had too far to go and not wanting to sleep without gear we decided to leave our kayaks at the confluence, hike back out to the cars and come back down the next day to finish it all off. Luckily it was only straight up, full of thorns and poison oak, and we would get to do it twice. All said and done now, it was worth all the effort. Day two was where all the goods were packed in even with lower than ideal flows. There was so many quality drops and an awesome crew to fire it all off with. It did leave a lasting memory with me as I had an intense outbreak of poison oak for the rest of the trip ending with a trip to the doctor. You know when the doctor, nurse, and everyone around won’t come near you and he gives you a triple dose of prednisone that you did the right thing to get help, especially when you go to the doctor 2 weeks after the trip!

So Middle Cherry Creek is totally a classic if you can catch it. Wear pants, bring extra gear, and be ready for some good times. Here are my photos from the trip. Definitely my favorites, in mostly sequential order that I can remember. Hope ya like.

Ladybugs at the confluence.

JJ firing on day 2.

Rolf

Calhoun

Rolf

JJ

Chris Harjes at the lip

Rolf

JJ

Harjes

Jared

Calhoun

JJ

Rolf

Fantasy falls is an epic adventure with all the essentials of a California Classic. You put-in high in the Sierras on a small creek right where the road passes over it. It’s a beautiful view in every direction with full ponds, huge granite domes and cool temperatures for a backdrop while you load your boat with enough gear for the 3 day tour. There was no need to rush on day 1 as our goal was to simply make our way through the first mank section and find a nice camp to enjoy. No pictures were taken on the river from day 1 as it’s mostly fast paced boulder mank. The more flow the better to bounce your way down. Don’t worry though, as manky as the first few miles are, it does not give you an idea of the goods still to come. Half way through the mank section we caught up with a group of two French men that had missed the crew they had planned to join. We decided to join up and make a crew of 5 consisting of Rolf Kelly, Jared Johnson, Jules, David and myself.

Here was our camp on day 1. A beautiful spot tucked in the woods with a huge pile of firewood to burn thanks to the high water line. Photo from Jared Johnson.

A good nights rest you’ll definitely need as the first few gorges are stacked up right away with awesome slides, holes and some fun pinched-in moves. This river really dishes anything out and everything goes. It’s just a matter of how hard you want to charge. Here are the shots from day 2.

Rolf, preparing his nasty-blistered feet for day 2.

Rolf charging one of the first drops of the morning.

Jules, our French connection.

Things really opened up for some long slides.

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Day 2 is a full day mission. Our group had never been there with the exception of JJ so we scouted a lot and picked our way down. We had a map of the area and my Suunto watch with altimeter to track how far we had made it. We camped right before Rifflemans gorge on a sweet beach right by the river. One of the craziest parts about Fantasy is how much the river fluctuates throughout the day. We placed a stick in the beach first where the water was when we arrived, then again at the high point from the night. When we woke the level was over a foot lower. The pic helps give you a visual.

Our camp on day 2.

Careful of dem snakes. This was just a little guy but others were spotted on the shores.

The third and final day is full of action as well. Several more deep gorges, big slides and the more iconic drops of the run await.

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Here is Fantasy Falls proper. Rolf charging.

David.

JJ.

and Me, thanks to JJ for the shot.

Next up after Fantasy falls is “Thing” aka “Show me your tits” aka a massive piece of chaos leading into a massive hole that is well known to serve up some beatdowns. Everyone in the group knew of this drop and we were all determined to run it before we’d even laid eyes on it. Once we rolled up on it our confidence was definitely shaken as it was late in the day, the flow was high and pictures/video just don’t come close to the real power behind this beast. After trying to come up with some reason not to run it, we finally hardened up and fired it off one after another, and to the shock of us all, no swims. That’s not to say we didn’t have interesting lines, but the hole at the bottom always let us through. Here I am testing out my aerial skills.

Rolf amongst it.

JJ in the entrance.

We were all so fired up in the pool below and it was just the steam we needed to finish up the river and the long paddle out across the reservoir to finish it all off. Here is a parting shot with the sun coming down as we touched the dam on the far side.

SYOTR

Here are more photos from the Cali trip thus far. The day after getting off Big Kimshew we hustled over to Quincy, CA with our sights on some bigger water and the Middle Feather. This was an awesome way to spend our 4th of July. Even though non of us brought any fireworks there were plenty of American flag covered Budweiser cans to feel the holiday cheer. We loaded our boats full and it was a great opportunity to test out my Stomper packed up. The new outfitting makes it so easy to pack full of gear. It’s amazing how much stuff you can bring on the river. Here is most of what I brought and check out how the backband is up and out of the way.

The Middle Feather is normally a 3 day mission but with all the CO boys having to get back to their jobs by Tuesday and catch their flights Monday night we opted to crush through it a bit faster thanks to Tom Janney sort-of knowing the lines. All said and done it took us less than 24 hours to get through the canyon. Day 1 begins with a beautiful class III sight seeing mission. The crew ahead of me had a bear swim out into a rapid and check them out; a sight I’m jealous I missed. After about an hour of boogie the gradient picks up into some awesome boulder garden rapids with the most beautiful granite walls I’ve ever see on both sides for miles. Here is the main event on day 1 with Tyson and Tom showing how to thread the needle past this massive hole on both sides.

Our fearless guide Tom Janney:

Tyson Titensor close behind:

We made camp on a beach a few miles above Devils Canyon with a great view, fire pit, and even a grill which came in handy for the full rack of ribs I packed in the back of the Stomper.

Camp on day 1:

Packing in the protein for day 2:

Day 2 we all woke up early and got fired up for another day of big water class V. Again, Tom hopped in front and lead the charge. He had been on this run about 5 times before and impressively chose good lines most of the way through. There are so many rapids on this run it’s impossible to keep track. We rarely scouted or stopped in eddies. He confidently charged us through saying, “I think it’s this way…” and we would blindly follow. The holes are massive on this run and I was the first to test it’s power early in day 2. Not quite awake, maybe 5 minutes down from camp, I dropped into a big one and took my licks for a solid amount of time. Long enough for the crew to eddy out and enjoy the show but luckily I held on till it’s fury was over and it let me out still locked in to my Stomper 90. There were no swims on this trip and my eyes were open the rest of the day through. We reached the new takeout, just upstream from Milsap Bar on river left around noon and waited for our chariot to pick us up and say our goodbyes as the crew headed back to CO. It was an awesome trip and I can’t wait to get back next year. The flows for our trip were around 2,800 cfs.

Here are some more photos from day 2.

Jared Johnson charging in the morning:

Tom, rapid above the portage:

“Chunderboy would do it”:

Jake routing through Helicopter:

More coming soon, keep checking back.
SYOTR

Homestake Creek race attracts people from all over the world. It’s the opportunity to gauge yourself with the best paddlers in the sport. Olympians, future Olympians, World Champs, world cup slalom kayakers, and even the locals all show up to put down their best two runs. Racers come for the $2,000 cash prize, the fame, the american women, or just for the love of competition. This year was some of the tightest competition I’ve ever seen in kayak racing. No one person stood out as the obvious choice for the leader. The flow was around 100 cfs making it just pushy enough to bounce off some rocks and not enough to make it any cleaner. Keeping your kayak up to speed was key with so many direction changes and places to accelerate all over the course.

Teva and the Vail Valley Foundation really know what’s going on when it comes to timing as well. They had on location the exact same timing system used for the Birds of Prey World Cup Ski races in November. So, when Honza Lasko and Mike Dawson tied for first place down to the hundredth of a second there was no questioning it and they fairly split the winnings between themselves, each taking home $1,500. Local transplant Jakub Nemec also crushed his way down finishing 3rd place for the men. On the ladies side it was Adrienne Levknecht holding the top spot for Team Liquidlogic. She killed it on both her runs with her first run good enough to put her in the top 10 of the men!

Brianne Horton was on the camera again capturing some awesome moments from the event. Check them out below.

Mike Dawson, tied for 1st.

Honza Lasko, tied for 1st.

Jakub Nemec, 3rd.

Adrienne, stomping her way to 1st.

Isaac Levinson, with a strong 6th.

Me, Liquidlogic Black Ops style, 12th place.

Nicole Mansfield, representing for Demshitz women.

Till next year, start training hard ‘cus you know the competition is.

SYOTR