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.