Immersed in Colorado and Idaho for years of boating I naturally equate springtime to mean the start of boating season. Well, in California Spring sometimes kicks in around January. This year big dumps of snow hammered us through the fall, winter, and spring and periodically we had melt downs and rains to bring in rivers that haven’t run in year, that at times often were miraculously sunny. The challenge is figuring out what’s turned on and where. It makes for great thinking and hashing it out with the great flow readers of California and the rumor mill.
Well this year for much of the winter and spring I was without my Fluid boats. I hooked up with my Fluids in Vail and took a humbling look at the future of playboating (Seth Chapelle turns a spot I can barely spin at into a PSA about freestyle playboating). Anyway back in Cali the s*** is off the hook gushing like I’ve never been lucky enough to see…
First off for the Solo was a couple of quickies on the fading water of the playground called Brush creek. Wendy, my girlfriend, and I biked a couple shuttles and spent the day lapping the falls and slides. Next up the Bald Rock Canyon on the Middle Fork Feather. It had been a couple years since I’d taken in the beauty at another one of California’s Cherry Bombs or run the classic drops on that great river. I had a great day in the Solo and found it to be reliable and predictable for me. Super stable too.
Got a quickie on South Silver…more on that in a second…
I’ve been wanting to get on the SuperDink section of Dinkey creek ever since I’ve heard stories of a mile long slides. Who wouldn’t be? I heard a rumor it was way too high but Rick, the holder of knowledge on Southern Sierra flow data said otherwise and I had already been freaking out that the 100+ degree weather threatened to close the valve on the great spigot. Jim made the charge down from Sac-town to where ever the hell Dinkey creek is (got the bumper sticker to prove it too). The creek happened to be the perfect flow but the lower section tended to be manky enough that it could have used some mas agua. Anyway, we had what we had and it rocked!
All this time South Silver creek, my after work creek, was rumored to be in. I was still freaking about missing things due to a snowpack that was sublimating. Anyway I managed to get in there a few afternoons this year and I try to pack as many laps as possible on that sucker, especially Sky Scraper which has got to be one of the most amazing feeling rapids out there. Speed is what it’s all about! I have pictures and video from a bunch of folks so thanks everybody.
Where else? The South Yuba, a skunk or two, work (bummer…but reality) and then finally whispers started to swirl about Upper Cherry Creek. This sucker is the holy grail of creeking and the epitomy of California granite. It’s got more granite than you could ever dream of from top to bottom in that gorgeous canyon. Just add water…but how much? Checking the gauge on the internet isn’t how it’s done…visual check in the middle of nowhere, thank god for the payphone by the boat ramp. This was my third year in there. Highlights this year included my yolk for knocking out the hike, pizza for the first night and getting one step closer to finally getting a rapid with my namesake. No picture of the pizza or infamous rapid. You might check out Zee Diddy’s (better known as The Dogg) article though.
This season just won’t quit either. Cherry creek season was just capped off with the Captain Kirk Downriver Race. It’s a must attend event if you are ever in the area late summer! Fall classics are going left and right. It’s going to be a fun filled fall and winter getting to know my Solo better and better. Can’t wait for the next rapid, the next river, and the next cool trip with buddies!
-Greg Speicher
