(Quadruple Crown Photo Gallery)
Throughout the state of Colorado, there are many great areas with lots of SIK creeks. However, the area that gets the Grade A, Top Choice, make you want to stand up and yell , "Doggpound!" seal of approval is the Crested Butte area. Within the land surrounding the town of Crested Butte lies the elusive Quadruple Crown, 4 steep runs that will satisfy the vertical addiction of the most hardcore creek boater. These runs are the coolest things since Chuck Norris! It is always nice to see an acitvity where a guy can go and get a little crazy without too much of a stink being made. It used to be that a guy could drink a little ripple or smoke a little grass, howl at the moon or may be challenge the mayor's son to a gentleman's duel. Nowadays these things are considered to be against the unwritten laws of society and are frowned upon. Despicable. But I digress.
(The Dogg looking forward to the low water Upper Upper East.)
The 4 runs that make up the Quadruple Crown are the Upper East, Oh Be Joyful, Daisy, and the Slate River. All present different challenges and all are well worth the effort. Oh yeah! It was time to get sonic like a hedgehog, funky like a chicken, and ill like repute! It was time to pass Go and collect 200 dollars! Joining me on this adventure was fellow Fluid Team member Seth Chappelle. Since all of these runs are roadside creeks, Bryon Dorr followed along to shoot video and photos and the Dogg cheerleaders were there cheering in support at every drop. We also decided that Crested Butte was the perfect venue to show off the greatest creek boat in the world, the Fluid Solo.
Since the Upper East is the easiest of the 4 runs, we decided to start there. Although very fun, It is not all the scary. In fact, I've seen more terrifying things in your mom's bread and potatoe pudding! The normal put-in is below the town of Gothic but I heard that there is another big drop upstream so we put in at a trailhead upstream of town. At the put-in, the creek was very tiny and flowed swiftly along a shallow streambed. After a quarter mile of Class 1, we came to a steep walled gorge and the creek disappearing over a horizon line. The creek necked down and went down a narrow slide that exited left off a 12-15 foot diagonal falls into a narrow corner. I flew down the slide and launched a SIKy off the falls. This got the cheerleading squad all fired up and they converged on me to celebrate. After a quick dance session, I told the ladies to save their energy because there would many more SIKy's launched during the course of the day. Seth and I raced downstream, bombing the Upper East's many cascades and slides. The run ends above Stupid Falls (a bouncy 60 foot cascade). We opted not to run the falls because It definitely needed more water and I feel that Seth and I are now dumber for having laid our eyes on it. We didn't sweat it too much and headed over to Oh Be Joyful for the second leg of The Crown.
(Can you hear the cheerleaders screaming?)
Oh Be Joyful is the steepest of the Crested Butte creeks and is famous for its big slides and waterfalls. Seth was particularly fired up to run this creek since it contained the bigger drops than he had ever run. The run starts with a 15 foot waterfall that goes through a narrow twisty notch on the left. If you're a smooth operator operating correctly, this drop can dish out some serious boofs. I flew into the notch and caught the flake shelf perfectly under the hull of my boat and went air born. They could hear the sound of my boat pancaking on the water all the way down in Crested Butte! They brought in a Richter Scale to measure the impact that boof had! Seth followed with a nice launch of his own. We bombed the next several slides and drops to a 25 foot waterfall. We both plugged in off the falls and headed downstream to face more high speed waterslide action. The run ends in grand fashion with an extremely long slide that ends in a 10 foot cascade. After some high fives from Seth and Bryon and some booty shaking dances from the cheerleaders, we loaded up the Go Big Rig and headed to Daisy.
Daisy is my favorite of all the Crested Butte creeks for its tiny size and continuous drops. After several fun slides and cascades, we came to Big Wood Falls, a near 20 foot falls followed by a slide. Seth set up video and I flew down the approach slide and launched a humongous boof that drove the crowd of adoring fans wild (Oh Yesh! It was SCHWWWEEEETTTTT!)! Of course, you wouldn't expect anything less from the greatest kayaker in the world! I got out of my kayak to video Seth and he informed me that he missed me on the video. Needless to say, the Dogg was none too thrilled to hear this news. I roundhouse kicked him in the throat and told him to get it right this time. I carried up and fired up another righteous boof, this time getting it captured on film. Seth followed up with a NICHE boof of his own. We stopped soon after to set up video at Rip Your Head Off, the last drop of the creek. I sailed smoothly down the approach slide and launch a schweet boof through the pinch slot, falling 6 feet onto the clapper slab.
(The Dogg layin' the smack down on Big Wood Falls.)
Seth and I continued down the Slate to finish the last leg of the day. Most people think that the Slate isn't worth a pisshole in a snowbank because it looks flat from the road. Let me tell you, reader, the Slate packs some punch once it enters the gorge. There are many slides and drops up to 6 feet tall, many of which are gorged in and are complicated by trees. Granted for superpaddlers like Seth and I, the drops were no big deal but they were a lot of fun. Towards the end of the run, there is a famous drop named Wicked Wanda. This drop had tees in it the last time I was here and I ran the approach drop before realizing I had dropped into a gorge with the only escape being to climb straight up and out. I promised that I would be more careful this time and would scout the drop before committing to the approach. However, I failed to recognize the drop until I was already in it and I boofed the approach and landed in the same cliffed in eddy that I trapped myself in four years ago! Wicked Wanda had once again proven to be a formidable opponent for the Dogg! I couldn't see Seth and couldn't really signal him to get out. I tried holding my paddle up but realized that that means to come downstream. He melted straight in off the horseshoe ledge approach and emerged riding a bowstall, a technique that a friend of ours told us was a great way to hold your position for boat scouting. I'm unsure of how Seth felt about being in this position but, luckily, he dropped back down flat and caught the swirly eddy I was in. I tried to stabilize to climb out but the swirly eddy prevented this. I looked downstream and could see that the trees and boat that had blocked up the rapid last time were gone. After debating with Seth about the best course of action, we decided that climbing out of the boat and up the cliff was very risky and could result in a terrifying swim. I concluded that the only way out was to head downstream and hope that sheer talent and good looks would be enough to carry me safely through the drop. I hung left, pillowing off the undercut on the right and went cleanly off the 5 foot drop and through the boily hole at the bottom. Seth followed with a nice line as well and we both breathed a collective sigh of relief that we were no longer trapped in that gorge. No one was happier that the Dogg had emerged unscathed than the cheerleaders and they showed their excitement with an extra special dance routine at the takeout.
It was a sweet day, 4 great creeks, SIK drops, huge boofs, and a great adventure.
-Bobby the "Dogg" Miller-
