The Royal Gorge
By: Cody Howard
So I'll start off with a coupla words to describe The Royal Gorge. Big, extra big and XXL. But i could go on all day about how sweet it is in there and how many big runnable falls there are. I would be doing the place a dis-service in doing so. Words, video and photos cannot do this special place justice.
First off, the put in is on private property, so right off the bat, we were sketched out. But that all came to a sudden halt when we turned off the freeway to find that the road was still snowed in! So parking the car at 8am we commenced to hike the 6 miles to the put in. Stealth as usual, we put on around 11:30am....a very late start to Day 1 of the Royal Gorge. Oh yeah, did I mention that this particular trip is 50 freaking miles long! And we are just barely putting on!
So I had my Solo Large fully packed when about 40 lbs of climbing/safety, food, sleeping system, ext. I was weighed down. And a being 210 pounds myself, I was pushing it to the limit (or so I thought) Boy was I wrong....the boat handled great! The first coupla warm up drops where a bit odd, but that was just because I was getting used to the added weight in the stern of my boat. So 8 hours later and 3.5 miles, we were standing above the most beautiful sequence of big drops I have ever seen....Heath Springs Falls. A banking 40'er to 60'er to nasty exit 20'er. Everything in there is exaggerated, big time. The drops are closer together than I pictured, and they were a lot bigger than I imagined. Again, the past videos I had seen didn't to this place justice. I decided to run the top drop, in what would be the highlight of my descent. With a shake of my brothers hand, I paddled to the edge and free falled. My momentum carried me in a free-wheeling motion, and I landed flat. Freaking hurt! But all was well.....then my brother Bret ran it. He impacted harder than expected and swam. I'll add, this isn't the best place to swim either! But all was rescued and we set up camp.
Day 2 started off with a bang. We were down to fabled Rattlesnake Falls by noon and had a great lunch. Afterwards it was the same old cali-granite...terrible!!! Not. We arrived at the perfect 25'er and I completely forgot my line as I paddled over the lip. I was not were I wanted to be, and went over the handle bars....snapping my paddle. Afterwards there where more classic lines, and epic portaging around Scott's Drop and Wenba Falls. These two are huge, and again, bigger than I pictured!
After the long Day 2 we had made it out of The Royal Gorge. Day 3 awaited. This was the killer. We had 30+ miles to go and had to do in one day..........skip ahead. We made it! Freaking long Day 3, but we made it. All in one piece. Only gear flaw was my paddle and the Solo styled about every line I through at it. Great for expedition and great for big drops! I still could go on and on about how great it all was....but I won't. This run has been a major highlight for me and will not be forgotten. A very special gorge indeed......
(Check out http://www.huckinhuge.com for more photos and video of this amazing adventure.)
