James! Spill the Beans
Printed From: ProfessorPaddle.com
Category: General
Forum Name: Whitewater Forum
Forum Discription: Open Discussion Forum. Whitewater related subjects only
URL: http://www.professorpaddle.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=5257
Printed Date: 07 May 2025 at 6:41am
Topic: James! Spill the Beans
Posted By: tradguy2
Subject: James! Spill the Beans
Date Posted: 18 Jun 2007 at 8:26am
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You know what I'm talking about. We need a full trip report, even if you don't have any new pics. Give me a bone here. ------------- ... preparing for a river beating! |
Replies:
Posted By: huckin harms
Date Posted: 18 Jun 2007 at 8:49am
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yeah yeah
lets have it>>>
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Posted By: dave
Date Posted: 18 Jun 2007 at 9:20am
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Inquiring minds want to know! ------------- Nomad |
Posted By: James
Date Posted: 18 Jun 2007 at 9:36am
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Ok I uploaded the pics and I will write the report in just the next few minutes. It will be up soon. J ------------- |
Posted By: tradguy2
Date Posted: 18 Jun 2007 at 9:56am
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Woohoo ------------- ... preparing for a river beating! |
Posted By: dave
Date Posted: 18 Jun 2007 at 9:59am
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Weeeeeee!!! ------------- Nomad |
Posted By: James
Date Posted: 18 Jun 2007 at 11:21am
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Here you GO .... ------------- |
Posted By: James
Date Posted: 18 Jun 2007 at 11:26am
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Dude I just deleted the wrong one ... oh man what a morning... like 2 hours down the drain. Sorry folks ... I will have to write that one up again some other time. I am behind now at work. ------------- |
Posted By: tradguy2
Date Posted: 18 Jun 2007 at 11:38am
![]("http://www.professorpaddle.com/forum/smileys/smiley6.gif") ------------- ... preparing for a river beating! |
Posted By: James
Date Posted: 18 Jun 2007 at 11:43am
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In the meantime you can go check out the footage in the Gallery...
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Posted By: Courtney
Date Posted: 18 Jun 2007 at 5:19pm
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Friggin' work! Work SUCKS! We should kick all the work makers asses!
Jimmy
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Posted By: PowWrangler
Date Posted: 18 Jun 2007 at 5:40pm
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Looks like some nice ledge drops in there, looking forwared to hearing more about it. "The pile-up" vid looked sick, did anyone nut up for those drops? Looks like it just kept on going.. |
Posted By: James
Date Posted: 18 Jun 2007 at 10:26pm
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The pile up section was nasty... It was truly amazing down below. Total graident lost in that turn had to be around 60 to 75 feet spread out. No one ran it. No one nutted up for the big daddy either. The hole at the top was scary and the undercut back and sides were not too much more inviting. I was going to write up a trip report but I figure that I will watch a movie instead. Night I'll waste a little time on that in the morning. James ------------- |
Posted By: jondufay
Date Posted: 19 Jun 2007 at 10:47am
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lotsa good stuff in there. worth the hike in if you are into that sorta stuff. class V canyons with steep ass walls, big fast drops and enough blind corners and horizon lines to get you out of your boat quite a bit for a little looksie. typical north cascades water...clear and blue, very pretty. half the flows and i bet that the 25 footer goes.
peace-
jon ------------- ahh, f--- it dude, lets go boating... |
Posted By: James
Date Posted: 19 Jun 2007 at 10:53am
Lotsa Goods is right!![]("/uploads/bin/2/useruploads/29/1656tn600.jpg") ------------- |
Posted By: tradguy2
Date Posted: 19 Jun 2007 at 11:54am
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Speaking of flows, any idea of a range the run would be good at. ------------- ... preparing for a river beating! |
Posted By: tradguy2
Date Posted: 19 Jun 2007 at 11:59am
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Nevermind, I see it in the new description: http://www.professorpaddle.com/rivers/riverdetails.asp?riverid=4110
------------- ... preparing for a river beating! |
Posted By: James
Date Posted: 19 Jun 2007 at 11:59am
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------------- |
Posted By: James
Date Posted: 19 Jun 2007 at 10:35pm
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So I am thinking of heading back out here in a month or so to go check it out with more day light and more time less portaging etc.. If you interested keep this Creek on the burner. Shes worth it. J ------------- |
Posted By: tradguy2
Date Posted: 19 Jun 2007 at 10:57pm
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Maybe ------------- ... preparing for a river beating! |
Posted By: James
Date Posted: 20 Jun 2007 at 12:46pm
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Ok the Latest is up and posted. As a trip Report. here it is . ------------- |
Posted By: Erik
Date Posted: 20 Jun 2007 at 1:03pm
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Nice TR James. Thunder Creek is legit! Props to Tom Bath as well, for help making this happen. Sometimes foiled scouting missions are as important as actually paddling the river. I'd love to get back in there and finish off that last gorge. For now, the knee won't even let me in my boat. ![]("smileys/smiley7.gif") ![]("smileys/smiley18.gif") (that's an angry/ouch emoticon combo).We need Tert to put together a little vid for us, eh? |
Posted By: tradguy2
Date Posted: 20 Jun 2007 at 1:35pm
Thanks for the props Eric, but it is not neccessary. I just need to keep working on my boating skills so they are good enough to keep up with my ambitions. ![]("http://www.professorpaddle.com/forum/smileys/smiley9.gif")
Nice work guys. After I do a little scouting later this summer I'll let you in on my next project. ![]("http://www.professorpaddle.com/forum/smileys/smiley2.gif") ------------- ... preparing for a river beating! |
Posted By: huckin harms
Date Posted: 20 Jun 2007 at 2:14pm
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Mmmm... So could this be described as a new NW classic? Oh, and how is that portage around the Big Daddy. What would you say the level was? And how low/high do you think it goes? Sounded like there were no wood portages below the Big Daddy... true?
Given the logistics involved, how long did this take (hike incl.)?
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Posted By: James
Date Posted: 20 Jun 2007 at 2:28pm
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The flow was 850 cfs. I would say this is on the high side still for what you want. The Big Daddy is a snap of a portage you really just walk right around it. Below the Cross River Boof is another ledge that you might want to portage. It is a tricky little shimmy if you portage it but you can run it as log Boof / Slide but their is a very narrow window for error and if you messed up the entry and ran the meat ... well it could get ugly. So for flows go 600 cfs to 1000cfs... 1000 would be stompin high and I would not go in there at that level with out a few more runs at 850 under my belt and more knowledge of what the run does at the higher levels. 600 would be the lowest I would go in due to the fact that things could start being too low under that if it does not channel up really well. Logistics: The Hike can be done in an hour if you bust ass. The run could be done in an hour or so if you knew it but most groups should plan on 4 - 5 hours of boating if they are doing personal First D's without people that have done it before and run into portages. Is this a new NW Classic? I would like to think so, and not because I was able to be one of the pioneers on this puppy. I would call it a classic because of the number of clean drops, fun moves and continuous nature of the run. It was a blast and even considering the hike everyone in our group admitted that we would be back within the year to learn it better. So that speaks for it self. We had a nasty portage filled day and did not need to do half of them but we all still loved the run and river as a whole. The water is amazing the gorges are stunning, the drops are clean, the boofs are many so why not say its a classic. J ------------- |
Posted By: jondufay
Date Posted: 20 Jun 2007 at 7:35pm
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nice TR dude, but you still need a new alarm clock... ------------- ahh, f--- it dude, lets go boating... |
Posted By: jalmquist
Date Posted: 20 Jun 2007 at 9:36pm
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Great run, guys, killer pics, and most likely an all-time high level. In the mid 1990's, Shawn Wickstrom and crew (I believe John Whaley and maybe even Scott Matthews) hiked in via Easy Creek / Easy Pass into the headwaters of Fisher Creek, then boated Fisher Creek into Thunder and onto the lake. And I'd bet even that wasn't a first descent. In all likelyhood, some portion of the crew of Sprague Ackley, Eric Vok, Scott Matthews, and maybe Jorden Van Vost paddled it before Shawn and crew. If it was in either NC or Olympic NP, they were all over it, including including Stetattle, Goodell, Big Beaver, and Lightning up around Ross Lake.
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Posted By: tradguy2
Date Posted: 20 Jun 2007 at 9:57pm
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Jon, any idea how low it is good?
As far as the 1st D, it does not matter too much. The important thing is there is now some beta on a run that has a summer season when everything else is dry. ------------- ... preparing for a river beating! |
Posted By: dylan
Date Posted: 20 Jun 2007 at 10:25pm
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Wow, that is some interesting trivia. Fisher Creek into Thunder! I woulda needed lots of peanut butter goo balls to get through that journey. ------------- |
Posted By: James
Date Posted: 20 Jun 2007 at 10:46pm
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I can't wait to talk to them because I can not imagine fisher creek being runnable at lower flows than when we were there. I would think you would want it even higher so it would be great to hear back. I wrote to john and called also I hope to hear back soon. It would also be nice to hear what they ran and did not run on this creek. J ------------- |
Posted By: jalmquist
Date Posted: 21 Jun 2007 at 7:19am
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If Sprague and crew ran it, you can bet it was on the lower side - that was their nature when doing exploritory boating. I'm not sure of the level Shawn's crew had. Their comments were that Fisher wasn't worth the effort, the "swamp" was hiddeous, but Thunder was great - and good to go. My guess is they had lower water. And I'd bet they portaged a bit, especially considering they had loaded boats. You guys probably checked off a few drops they didn't consider...
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Posted By: Erik
Date Posted: 21 Jun 2007 at 11:20am
Boy...leave it to Almquist to burst your bubble ![]("smileys/smiley1.gif") I know there's been rumblings of Thunder Creek in the past, as just scouring topos, it seems to stand out as a good possibility. During last week's mission, I was thinking it would be strange if it was actually a 1st D, based on how obvious and good it was. One thing I've learned over these years of boating, is that there isn't much around that hasn't at least been attempted. There was just less ability to permenantly log these missions (i.e. the "internets" for one). I don't ever claim 1st's for that reason. I think a good idea is to spraypaint your name on the canyon wall so people know someone's been through there. Like a neon orange color or something. Then there's all that stuff that runs into Lake Chelan ![]("smileys/smiley20.gif") ~L8rZ p.s. Tom, during our mission, I was saying that I think that run would even go down to prolly 400 cfs. I don't think we were anywhere near the low end when we were on there. 600 cfs would maybe be ideal, as all the drops we ran would still prolly go fine, and a few we portaged due to high-water, might be possible (Big Daddy for one). Big Daddy doesn't look as ominous in the pics (big drops never do), but that thing had major beat-down written all over it. If I go in there again, I'd like to see something between 500 & 700 in hopes of at least running Big Poppa. |
Posted By: tradguy2
Date Posted: 21 Jun 2007 at 11:24am
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Thanks Eric. There are a few things flowing into Lake Chelan I have been eying. The logistics however make THhnder Creek look easy. Let me know if you want to do a little recon some time. ------------- ... preparing for a river beating! |
Posted By: Yotes
Date Posted: 21 Jun 2007 at 11:31am
| Let me know if you're headed up to do some chelan recon, I'd like to get up to that area sometime. |
Posted By: jalmquist
Date Posted: 21 Jun 2007 at 12:41pm
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Not to continue bursting bubbles, but some of that Chelan stuff has been run as well, including Agnes and Railroad. Of course, I'm sure Rex creek (across from RR) is ripe and waiting for a FD.
This day and age you need to step up the logistics or mank to find an honest FD. But that said, there's one only 30 minutes from Seattle just ripe and waiting. I'll give you a clue.
If the drops in the canyon don't hurt you, the firing range might...
J
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Posted By: tradguy2
Date Posted: 21 Jun 2007 at 12:50pm
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Damn you Jon, by bubble is most definitely burst. For those of you who don't know, Jon and I now work together and in a 2 minute conversation he just shot down every idea I had.
-Bridge Creek to Stehekin
-Agnes Creek
-Little Beaver Creek
-Railroad Creek
If those are not stepping up the logistics I don't know what is.
On another note, Jon said Railroad Creek (west side of Chelan) is a great run. It is over 300 fpm is sections and it all goes at IV/V. Sounds like a worthwhile trip.
James. We need to add these to the rivers page and document them. It sounds like there are quite a few multiday trips in Washington for those willing to work for it.
------------- ... preparing for a river beating! |
Posted By: Yotes
Date Posted: 21 Jun 2007 at 1:02pm
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Check this story out. That's stepping up the logistics
http://www.oregonkayaking.net/tales/my_everest.html |
Posted By: Erik
Date Posted: 21 Jun 2007 at 1:14pm
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I've scouted said local creek Jon. Lots of mank & wood lurking around, but I did see a couple nice drops. One really sweet double drop at the end of the canyon. It seems like it really wants to be a creek someday. I'll give another hint...it rhymes with "yokul". Someone else can definitely have that one. Seems like my boat breaks just by looking at it wrong these days. I threw that Chelan stuff out there, 'cause I know lots of people look at that stuff and think "1st"...but I know it's mostly all been run. I had the same ambitions myself unitl the likes of Almquist, Zderic & Robinson were already on it. My personal opinion is that there isn't much left in WA for 1st's. However, cross the border in Canadistan, and I think there are numerous opportunities. I've had my eye on one in particular for a few years now, after I stumbled across it by accident. My only hint...it's in BC, and I know it hasn't been run. We 1st D'd Big Silver this spring, and that is destined to be a classic unless the friggin hydro people get at it (yes there's a license app on that river). We also 1st D'd Upper Canyon Creek a few weeks ago (trib of NF Nooksack). We definitely stepped up the mank factor for that 1st. We dubbed it the "bloody anus" section of Upper Canyon Creek. Do yourselves a favor, and never run that. |
Posted By: PowWrangler
Date Posted: 21 Jun 2007 at 1:30pm
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Upper CC sounds like a tush hurter. Kind of reminds me of the Bozeman boys naming a slide in Norway "Prison Love". That one gave me a good laugh. |
Posted By: tradguy2
Date Posted: 21 Jun 2007 at 1:33pm
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Personally, I don't care to much about getting a 1st D. The alpinist in me however does love to explore. Nothing beats a good adventure into the unknown! I love the entire process, staring at maps, daydreaming, figuring out the logistics, the first glimpse of the pbjective, good times. Unfortunately things are often not worth the effort (sounds like the blood anus fits into this group). It reminds me of a phrase I once heard: Don't go looking for adventure and complain when you find it. ------------- ... preparing for a river beating! |
Posted By: Erik
Date Posted: 21 Jun 2007 at 2:00pm
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I totally agree Tom. But there is something just a little more special about finding something that hasn't been done, especially if it's good. Not for the ego, but for the fact that there's good stuff out there still yet to be discoverd...or re-discoverd. Whatever. That said, sometimes it's nice to just ride the lifts and scoop midweek pow. Currently my creeker has more hiking miles than river miles on it. It's only been on Thunder. I need to change that asap. Funny re: Upper CC. Someone actually suggested "Prison Love" Creek, but then the fact that it's already been used, and that "Bloody Anus" seemed more apporpriate made that our choice. A little birdie told me that someone was thinking about setting up guided trips into that Chelan stuff, that included boat logistics, food, and mules, etc. I thought that was a GREAT idea, and if that person reads this, I whole-heartedly support that venture, and would throw down dinero in a heart beat. |
Posted By: cronar
Date Posted: 21 Jun 2007 at 3:23pm
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Jon's good at letting the air out of your ballon, but in a good way that you walk away knowing a little more than before. Not a bad idea to listen or ask around to those that have been boating awhile. With that said I've got another river that has runnable stuff on it that hasn't been run, and it's a fun logistical challenge too and is in the local area.... -N |
Posted By: tradguy2
Date Posted: 21 Jun 2007 at 3:38pm
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Well there Cronar, I'm a relative newbie and poser, but I'm also a glutton for punishment so let me know if you need a partner. What I lack in boating skills I make up for in rope handling/climbing skills and plain old time spent in the wilderness.
Anyone out there have a powerboat we can use to explore the Chelan area, there are so many little creeks running into it I bet you could spend a week during the meltoff exploring all the creeks that drain into it. ------------- ... preparing for a river beating! |
Posted By: jalmquist
Date Posted: 21 Jun 2007 at 4:39pm
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Erik,
We weren't even that "on it". In no way were we the first, and all we paddled was the Bridge / Stehekin run. We scouted RR, which like the entire trip, was a humorous adventure unto itself (not much actaul scouting got done). Hopefully we'll get back to run Agnes and RR to complete the trifecta. I've heard great things about RR, and that the entry falls into the Agnes gorge makes you pucker. In the end, what counts is the incredibly rewarding experience of time spent with friends paddling a lonely wilderness stream that seldom sees polyethylene.
Speaking of lonely wilderness settings, I don't hear anyone stepping forward to dismember themselves on "yokul". I love your comment "it seems like it really wants to be a creek someday". Maybe in another thirty thousand years following a good scouring from the next ice age.
And Cronar - the Raging above Hwy 18 has been run. Just not successfully. Oh, wait - that's probably not the run you're talking about. Or is it?
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