South Silver Video

Cherries: the Upper and the West

Upper Cherry and West Cherry are two of the greatest overnight trips on the face of planet earth. The glacial gutters carved into the solid granite bedrock of the Sierra Nevada range provide more than enough stimulation for the eyes and adrenal glands during the time spent careening down mother nature's handmade waterslides. Since there are already numerous descriptions of the runs, and the hikes, I will spare you the details, and get right down to the porn. Enjoy the pics.

Martin enjoying some sunshine on Upper Cherry.

Josh on the put-in slide. Upper Cherry.

World Class scenery. 

The famous Cherry Bomb Gorge.

Looking upstream at the confluence of Upper and West Cherry.

West Cherry.

Kiwi Nick. West Cherry.

Martin in the goods. 

South Branch Middle Feather V

South Branch has earned the distinction of being perhaps the cleanest run in the Sierras. the first few miles consist of some easy class 2 boogie that gives way to some fun class 4. Soon, there is a mandatory gorge rapid that marks the beginning of the goods. From here down it is one perfect drop after another, until the perfect 50 at the take-out. 

Megan running a fun kicker before the main goods.

Martin earning some sky miles on the first 20 footer of the Disney land section.

Kiwi Blue with a steezy boof.

Martin stompin a fun drop on the SB.

Nick on the same drop.

Nick running the mandatory melter above a 100 + foot portage.

Jim cleans the 50 footer.

Martin gettin ready for the buttery smooth hit on the big one.

The view downstream from the take-out. More than words can describe, so I am not going to even try.

Upper Middle Cosumnes V-V+

The UMC is a great high quality low Sierras run that has water for a short amount of time due to its low elevation and relatively small watershed. We ran this in late May on its way out, but caught it at a good flow, around 300 cfs on the gauge at Mt. Akum.

The hike in. Unfortunately we got lost and had to tromp our way through poison oak forests and down this little tributary creek to the put-in. 

Martin running one of the first quality drops that the UMC has to offer.

Jim running a sweet boof-to-melt that leads into a longer rapid.

Martin boofin into Lars Holbeck. This drop has a nasty little rock at the bottom that has caused more than one ankle injury, so get that bow up.

High Water Burnt Ranch Gorge

Crissler scoutin up Numero Uno.

Having paddled the BRG almost every weekend since September due to its proximity and reliable flows, we almost jumped out of our pants when the spring dam releases began, and our backyard run began spiking. Thursday afternoon found Crissler and myself standing at the put-in, staring into the chocolate milk that was the BRG. Rolling into the first rapid, China Slide, our hearts leapt with joy as we saw a surging wave train rolling as far as we could see, over what is normally a bumpy boulder garden. This style of blown out waves was standard until we reached the last rapid above the falls. As the gradient increased, and the gorge narrowed, the features became bigger and rowdier.  

Crissler running the bottom of Number 1.

Crissler in the run-out of the first falls. Big waves. Big eddy lines. Awesome!

Lead in to Falls 2. Just to the lookers right of the sieve pile is a nice whirl pool sucking down into the mess, just big enough for a boat. The hole on the right is much more stout than it appears as well.

Martin squirtin through the bottom of Number 2.

Falls 3 was one of the most fun big water rapids I have ever run, and the pace kept up below the falls. Rolling into Table Rock rapid, I heard Crissler comment from behind me, "shit, table rock is gone". Scrambling left, I attempted to skirt the huge hole that had formed on the right corner of where the rock normally would be. Unfortunately, I did not make the move in time, and found myself attempting to punch the beast. After getting beat down for around 25 - 30 seconds, I swam. I stayed deep for a good while and finally popped up next to Crissler, grabbed onto his stern, and started kickin my ass off for the eddy. Crissler was awesome and managed to get my boat once it came out of the hole, and we carried on downstream with no further carnage. 

Our flow on this day was around 3600 cfs and we both thought it was a sick flow. The rapids are long and pushy, and as I found, not a great place to swim. I would be stoked to run the BRG at this flow again and think that it is a great run for any solid paddler who is confident running big water.

Dry Meadow Creek (Teacups) IV-V

Melissa DeMarie running the nasty crack drop. This was the standard line, flying off sideways and backwards.

Dry Meadow creek is a tributary of the North Fork Kern, about 45 minutes outside the town of Kernville. The day starts with a pleasant two mile hike in to the creek through mostly open meadow, hence the name Dry Meadow creek. Our day started off nice and mellow with a lap through the Brush Creek waterpark. After meeting up with the rest of our group, 12 of us in all, we rallied to the trailhead for the Teacups. We made it to the creek and found a trickle of water flowing through bushes and over manky bed rock drops. After scraping and portaging through the first mile or so, we caught our first sight of the goods. Staring around the corner we saw creek make its way under a water level land bridge, and then fall off the face of the planet. Dry Meadow drops nearly 300 feet in .2 miles, over 1200 feet per mile, in its final plummet towards the NF Kern. There are 6 drops that are typically run, mostly in the 10-20 foot range. 

 

Martin watching while Kyle Hull runs the first drop.

Melissa boofin the second teacup.

Martin on the drop after the crack. This is a sweet 18ish foot ledge.

Dustin rollin into the pothole drop above a nice slide to vert. 

Our day, which had so far been running buttery smooth, turned slightly epic on us after Dustin's dad pitoned off the second drop and broke his lower back. This necessitated a helicopter evacuation that would last around 7 hours, and require everyone to be on their top game. Fortunately, Craig is recovering nicely, having sustained a broken vertebrae in his lower back. 

Dry Meadow Creek is a place of unparalleled beauty, and is definitely worth paddling for the experience. However, it is a fair amount of work for a relatively short section of good drops. The paddle out on the NF Kern has some fun class IV rapids, and also Carson Falls, a larger rapid with some consequence. The day before our run down Dry Meadow, Carson Falls was the site of a tragic drowning. My heart goes out to the family and friends of this man, and I hope his last day of paddling with friends was the best ever. 

 

North Fork Trinity River IV-V

The North Fork of the Trinity begins high in the Trinity Alps Wilderness and flows south, dropping 3600 feet before its confluence with the main stem of the Trinity near Pigeon Point. The section that is most frequently paddled is a fourteen mile stretch that ends just above the confluence with the main stem, at an old homestead site.
The Goods:
The North Fork starts off fast and fun with many class 4 and 4+ boulder gardens. The first rapid is maybe 100 yards downstream from the put-in and it keeps up a continuous nature for the first two miles before mellowing out a bit. The majority of drops in this section are boat scoutable, but there are a few places that have some bad wood and would be not so fun. One drop in particular is within the first mile and can be recognized as the river splits around a boulder island in the center of the channel. After the first two continuous miles, the nature changes to more pool drop rapids, and several distinct bedrock gorges. Somewhere in this section, we came to a fun looking drop with a boof flake on river left. As a routed into the drop, I noticed that the left side of the boof fed into a nasty backed up hole, complete with and undercut and sieve. Charging right, I watched as Paul Fritze fell off the left side and into the hole. I eddied out below and proceeded to watch Miguel and Orion fall into the same nasty pit. About the time Miguel went into the hole, Paul swam out, followed shortly after by Miguel. Orion, however was nowhere to be seen. About the time I started getting really worried, Orion popped out downstream of the undercut. In the process of getting beat down, Orion had pinned upside down between the left wall and undercut, and even after swimming his boat needed to be pulled out with a rope. Thankfully, everyone was fine, and we even had a breakdown to replace Orion's paddle which we found in two pieces.
*Note: Orion was heard to say in the morning before putting on that it had been a while since he had swam, and it was about time to pay his dues. This was exceptionally funny at the take-out, and even more so once the booty drinking commenced.
The best rapid on the run comes in the lower half of the stretch and is called Mister Sqiggles. The drop entails boofing off a nice ramp into a pillow, and then a short gorge that is more fun than peein' in your pants. Below Sqiggles the North Fork makes one last plunge through its final gorge above the confluence. This final gorge contains the infamous Leap of Faith. Although this ledge is not tall, the hydraulic at the bottom, especially the left pocket is notorious for causing swims. The best part: it is a must run, and the largest portage of the run is just downstream. However, there is plenty of time to recover in the pool below, as I found out after a nice free rodeo lesson. Below the portage rapid, which I believe is called Arndt's Falls, there are more fun class four rapids until the take-out.

And now for the pics...

 

Crissler Torrence running a drop in the first canyon.

 

Orion with his boat. The sieve is visible on the left in the pocket. Nasty.

 

Dan Menten running Mister Sqiggles.

 

Martin running Squiggles.

This is the view looking back up at the portage. We ran the bottom two drops seen from here, but the top of the rapid is choked with wood.

When we paddled this run, it took around 5 hours. We scouted maybe 3-4 times and routed everything else, following NF veteran Dan Menten through most of the goods. Plan on taking a full day for a first time run. Also, this section of river is fairly remote, and hiking out is not an option at most points. To Conclude this banter, I might add that the NF is a beautiful wilderness run that maintains a serious, but fun nature throughout its entirety, and is a must-do for any class 5 paddler, and strong class 4 boaters, with the possible addition of a few portages.

Where the Hell is This?

To access the NF Trinity, follow Highway 299 until the turn for Helena, which is located around 5 miles east of Big Flat. Follow the Helena road north until crossing a bridge. Take the road on the right just past the bridge. This is the take-out, and also makes a killer campsite. To reach the put-in, follow the original road upstream until a fork after a few miles. Follow the signs towards Hobo Gulch Trailhead, which should be about 12 miles up the road at this point. This road in good condition, but there are a few large rocks to watch out for, as we found out with Dustin's Subaru. 

Silver Creek, OR.

Dustin Stoner and Crisler Torrence below Silver Creek Falls.

Our crew (Dustin Stoner, Chris Shehab, Martin Belden, Crisler Torrence, and myself) arrived at silver Creek campground after a long day of driving, highway accidents, unexpected surprises on Sweet Creek, and just as it was about to rain.

After a night of off-and-on downpours the team was ready for another day of waterfalls! Because of the fact that I forgot our guide books we had to drive to an area of cell service to get directions to put-in and take-out. As we were getting directions via Ryan Scott, a Christmas tree farmer was nice enough to show us to the put-in and explain that just upstream was a massive waterfall.

The drop up stream ended up being a clean 65 footer that both Martin and Chris fired up! Due to low flows however, Martin and Chris Both were slowed down and at the lip and as they went vert. there sterns drug over the grabby volcanic basalt sending them over the bars and head first from top of the impressive drop. This ended up with Martins paddle breaking, Chris being ejected from his boat “Like a bar of butter” and making for the most impressive and comical photos of our trip!

Martin Beldin about to Land on his dome from 65 ft! What a savage!

From this drop the river meanders for about ¾ of a mile before plunging over the 126 ft. Silver Falls. The portage around Silver Falls is really easy but takes a little time since you have to walk on a well defined hiking trail that traverses back and forth and eventually goes back behind the waterfall.

Once we were put-on after the portage our team rolled up to a blind class 2 corner, about 2 miles from silver falls, which turned out to be an awesome 15 foot slide to vert drop. When running this there are two options, at least at low flow, run right or portage the top and run the left slide.

Crisler Torrence running first.

Martin Beldin draw stroking to perfection.

This turned out to be the best drop on our trip since we had low flows and there was wood and axis problems for all the nicer drops. None the less this trip still revealed it’s epicness in the form of us missing the take-out and eventually getting lost. Since we missed take-out, which is supposedly the south fork confluence, our group floated farther and farther downstream until we finally came to an old logging road. Beings that this was the first sign of anything remotely resembling a trail or axis point we decided to hike out instead of paddle further.

The hike consisted of about 1 mile uphill and during which Dusty and I found a sweet cart to push our boat in. Once at the top of the climb a friendly Mexican tree farmer gave us a three mile ride back to Silver Creek campground were Chris, who had decided to hike out early, was driving around looking for us. Once back at the campground everyone enjoyed the complementary warm showers and heated bathroom that Silver Creek Campground offers!

Orion Meredith in the "Were the hell is take-out section"

It should be known that paddling Silver Creek is Illegal. We got lucky and when a ranger asked us soaked to the bone, covered in paddling gear kayakers weather we had been paddling Silver Creek, we simply replied “no” and drove away with a kayak on the roof and everyone inside without problems : )

Note: Silver Creek has several benign looking class 2 rapids that lead into either huge-ass drops or rapids that are well worth a scout. Many of these drops have wood in very un-ideal places, which results in a bit of a portage fest on the manicured trail system that stays just far enough away from the creek to make axis a real bitch at times. Still this run is worth doing once to see the massive waterfalls. Out of state Boaters should know that Liquor Stores in Oregon Close at 7 pm!

-Photos and write-up by Orion Meredith

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Sweet Creek, OR.

Martin Beldin Looking longingly at the upper falls

After Loading all our gear and 5 Kayaks onto Dustin Stoners Subaru, Crisler Torrence, Martin Beldin, Chris Shehab , and myself were on our way to huck ourselves off some of Oregon’s finest waterfalls for our 2009 spring break!

Sweet Creek was the first stop of our paddling extravaganza. Our day started out with a 65 mph I-5 accident that left our car unharmed and the other on its side adjacent to the freeway. As we left the accident unscathed all we could think about was getting off the road and into our boats.

During our drive up Sweet Creek road we noticed fields of standing water, which we all took to be a good sign since we knew that sweet creek only flowed after a significant rain event. With that being said we were in for a surprise!

As we rolled up to the put-in the team began to realize that this manageable class 4/5 creek would likely be a torrent on eddy-less class 5 whitewater.

After giving a quick look at the brown flowing mass in front of the take-out everyone suited up and walked the wonderfully built trail system that consists of metal bridges anchored to the gorge wall.

Now, usually sweet Creek is known as a short but “Sweet” chunk of steep creek with dozens of clean ledges and ample sized eddies. Not for this trip however! Due to heavy rains there wasn’t an eddy in sight and the upper gorge was completely out of the question since it would lead directly into an unfriendly ledge hole in the beginning of the bottom gorge.

This made for an easy team decision to run only the lower gorge which still had many fun fast drops. Martin in true character wanted to get every last vertical foot possible and decided on the tricky seal-launch half way down the bottom gorge. Once safety was set I let go of Martins stern and anxiously watched him pencil-in. After fighting with the wall and a funny boil for a minute, Martin made his way down through a series of holes and stout slides to arrive happily at the bottom.

Crisler went next from a lower spot and managed to get strong surf in a nasty retentive hole giving way to his first swim in close to a year!

Matin Beldin about to get the seal-launch of his life!

Martin Beldin in the Top drop of the bottom gorge

Chris Shehab in the middle drop of the bottom gorge

Once all the gear was picked up, Dusty, Chris and I decided on only running the last three drops which had plenty to offer with easier access and slightly less consequence. Because the access is so easy and the run short but action packed, we all ran the creek three times before downing a booty beer and hitting the road in search of our next waterfall destination, Silver Creek


Crisler Torrence and his first delicious booty-beer in over a year!

-Photos and write-up by Orion Meredith