Friday 10:30 a.m. and the young grom is late, but what great trip has
ever started off perfect! Now it's just after 4:00 and we are headed west " oh yes " it's on!!! Somewhere around
2:00a.m. on Saturday i had to pull over, just a quick nap, alarm set, it's all good, during that time the rest of RCRE went
rollin right on by as we were out cold, so we roll into wal-mart parking lot to find the boys passed out cold, sleep or shop
hmmm SHOP!!! Somehow we managed to get stuck there forever, it was like FEAR & LOATHING at wal-mart, nothing seemed to
really be real! Just a few more hours of driving and we find reality at the take-out UPPER MIDDLE CONSUMNES what time is it?
First time here for our crew of 5 and it's after 3p.m. couple of miles, no guide, no sweat it gets dark around 8 8:30 we got
this! Just a quick hike down to river and it's all about to pay off. Everyone is smiling ear to ear, it's just that good in
CALI right off the back UMC has no true warm up, so it's on and everyone is charging. There is a few BIG size slides and boulder
gardens to start things off till you come up to the 1st portage, wood on the river right and 425+cfs going left. Maybe next
year we will get in there with more day light and get pic's of everything, sometimes you just have to keep moving. So we roll
up to the 2nd portage and have to do some wall scaling on the river right, crazy fun stuff i think, so we roll up to SKATE
PARK a double drop with some juice " 425+cfs " i probe 1st and go deep on the entry and keep it plastic side down
for the 2nd part. Kevin Fisher follows suit with a great line as some of the boys do some walking. Right around the corner
UMC has more goods, drop after slide to drop to slide it doesn't get to much better, maybe next year i can remember every
drops name! As we make good time down UMC the sun has started to drop out on us and some of the boys start with " how
far you think we are " at that point it didn't matter to me cause i was on par, but yes the day light was in the back
of my head, next came a quick scout and that's half the fun your in CALI. Once in the UMC you will say to yourself damm i
can't wait to get back, it's that GOOD!!! Another horizon line comes up quickly and disappears around another bend as it is
getting darker, this is starting to get sketchy and i start to ask how much longer? We had used JEFFERSON STATE CREEKING which
is pretty spot on for beta, but the dark was starting to play with us and our minds. So we come to the last BIG drop before
dark and get our bearing of where we where are, just a little further down there's another BIG drop " time to rethink
this again " but hay i didn't mind, fire that up too!! Now it's pretty much dark out and we are bush wacking our way
through the river bed, the float out must be a real pain if you don't have 300cfs or more , so back at the truck we start
to load up 5 people 5 boats and gear for our 10 day trip, talk start's of camping right there on the spot, but some of our
stuff is at the put-in = NO WAY !! We start looking for a camping spot which we found quick, beer started to go down like
water as the grill fired up, never skimp on the food part! Talk started again of a double overnighter on the FEATHER this
one is considered a true CALI CLASSIC we checked beta while eating and drinking like kings, it's a go. Sunday morning came
to fast, but it was day # 2 time to get after it! Enroute to the Feather we came across some bad info RAIN,SNOW and everything
was already juiced!!!! Time to head south, that's the last thing on my mind, the only thing on mine is the SOUTH BRANCH OF
MIDDLE FORK, FEATHER you wanna go where??? Next thing you know were in KERNVILLE a little more south than i wanted, but BRUSH
was @ 3feet not bad.
So we take over the parking lot RCRE style. It was perfect
bluebird day " no rain " laps just start happening at a rapid pace til' lunch time! Fire up that grill, a nice
relaxing day after a almost night mission from the day before, each time we lap BRUSH it's getting better/higher by my 6 or
7th lap it was BEER time, i would really like to see 4 to 5 feet on the gauge next year, it has to be a beast in there @ that
level. That night we eat & drink like kings again and talk start's about where to go next, one by one we start to pass
out like little baby's. The next morning i am up early from that sun of another bluebird day ready to get after something!
some of the boys head back to town for some internet and beta for what's next, meanwhile marty and me did another lap "
hell why not " as we come up to the take-out MR.ERIC GIDDENS is there waiting for us with good news and a partner in
crime GENO.
They start out how we are going for UPPER BRUSH CREEK has not
been done in 3-4 years, but promise some GOODS!!! I am in, let's get it !! Next thing you know were at a gate that MR.GIDDENS
say's he has the combo, new lock i guess. We find ourselves hiking an extra 20 mins. not bad for CALI standards, then we drop
into all the burned area which is sad to see. Finally after about 1 hour plus of hiking were there, oh wait were not there
yet!
Soon as we get in, we are getting out! Just a bit of wood, we were told
there would be "some" slides, pool drops all start to appear from no where, it's on!!!! 7 people in this small creek
bed was interesting and fun. The boy's in KERNVILLE need to clean this up, this would be world class run if cleaned up, i
can't remember how many times we got out for wood? This run is sik regardless of the wood factor, it has everything you would
want in a full day trip. It took us about 5 hours or so and was worth every minute. The black poly tubbing that runs the river
right helps you find the best route for scouting some of the big ones in there, we were glad to see no farmer's in there as
this area is famous for there GROWING operation's! There has to be more than 15+ rapids in there that are class 5 and the
rest was 5 minus. I was happy not to portage anything, but strainer's and having MR. GIDDENS as a guide doesn't get much better,
our crew was spot on for this jem and we were out before dark, things were getting better as each day started to pass! That
night we ate @ KERN RIVER BREWERY to tired to fire up the grill that night !!!! That night was a late drunk fest thanks
to KRB and one goodnight rest! So we hear that north is starting to clear up, time to head north again!!!!!!!! Part 2 soon!!!
ERIC
