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| Chase accepts his fate. |
After running the Poudre Narrows, Chris Wing and I headed west to Steamboat Springs. We received some beta from a local who told us about a few runs that had plenty of water, and were plenty hard enough, if we were in to that sort of thing. Our first day in Steamboat consisted of a failed mission to Slater Creek, due to the exceptionally low clearance of my car, after which we returned to town and went playboating on the Yampa. The day started poorly, but ended well.
Waking up on Tuesday, we decided the best option was Cross Mtn. Gorge of The Yampa, about 1.5 hours west of Steamboat, near Dinosaur National Monument. According to some locals, the guidebook, and the internet, this run consisted of Class V+ big water. Perfect. After Brad McMillan rolled in to town all the way from North Cackilack, we met up with Stephen Forester and Chase Simmons, and headed to the river.
Arriving at the put-in, we found approximately 12,000 cfs flowing very quickly downstream toward a massive gorge. For those who don't already know: 12,000 cfs is a lot of water. We geared up, and headed toward the vertical walls of Cross Canyon.
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| The Put-In. |
As we paddled in to the gorge, I found myself out in front amidst some pretty big waves. I eddied out on the right, above a huge horizon line, and beyond the horizon line: total chaos. Oh boy. We all hopped out to scout, climbed about 100 feet up and looked down in to the first rapid: Osterizer. The horizon line turned out to be one of the biggest holes I had ever seen in my life, and that was just the beginning. Below the big one, the river opened up and was littered with massive boulders, waves, and holes. Any doubt that this was going to be a mellow day left all of our minds, and we mentally prepared ourselves for some of the most full on whitewater any of us had ever seen. We walked around the hole, put in, took a deep breath, and ferried out in to the maelstrom.
If the first glimpse of the canyon didn't convince us completely, the feeling of peeling out in to the current certainly did. The power of the this water was unbelievable. We all made the move from river right to left, ferrying above some massive, massive ledges, through massive, massive waves, in to a massive eddy. At one point, Wing found himself barreled in one the waves (so pitted), yet somehow maintained control and composure. Well done brah. This ended up being a serious team effort, with everyone jumping out at some point and scouting for the rest of the group.
The next rapid featured a huge ledge extending from the left out to the middle of the river. Stephen gave me the go ahead, and I dropped in just to the right of the ledge, in to a massive breaking wave, which broke right on top of me. Fortunately, I stayed upright, and moved left through huge waves while avoiding a few nasty ledges in the process. I eddied out and watched everyone else run this rapid with little trouble.
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| Feeling small amidst the chaos. Photo: Stephen Forster. |
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| Hangin' on. Photo: Stephen Forster. |
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| Chris Wing. Photo: Stephen Forster. |
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| Wing being tossed by a massive wave. Photo: Stephen Forster. |
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| Brad looking in to the madness. Photo: Stephen Forster |
We moved downstream, scouted, and ran the next rapid straight down the middle, through a big wave train, and dropped in to another huge breaking wave. Stephen got some amazing shots of this rapid.
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| That's me, about to get crushed. Photo: Stephen Forster. |
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| Crushed. Photo: Stephen Forster. |
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| Chase paddling hard. Photo: Chris Wing. |
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| An amazing shot of Chase. Photo: Stephen Forster. |
We ran a few more massive rapids, made up of more of the same, with no issues. One rapid required us to hike way up to get a full view, after which I decided to run the meat. I paddled down the center, and tried to move right through the corner of a HUGE hole; however, I was unsuccessful. I got chundered for a few seconds, as visions of swimming flashed through my brain, but fortunately flushed out and rolled up just downstream. Phew! (Video to come)
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| Stephen spotting his line. Photo: Chris Wing. |
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| Photo: Chris Wing. |
As we exited the canyon, we all breathed a serious sigh of relief, stoked on our day. I honestly don't remember being that scared in a long while. It was incredible. Thanks goes to Stephen and Wing for some amazing photos, and to the rest of the crew for being solid.
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| The Take-Out. Photo: Chris Wing. |
Until next time...
Joe
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