As a humble RN who has been working primarily night shifts between Nakusp and New Denver for the past 6 months, I find myself having a fair amount of spare time during the day to spend exploring the many creeks in this area. One such creek has kept me coming back on numerous occasions now as there are far too many reasons why we can’t ignore the thing anymore. In my opinion, this steep creek classic hosts quite possibly the best grade 4/5 boulder garden boof fest that I have yet to see in the Slocan Lake basin. Have you guessed which creek I am referring to yet? Keep reading then...
With the cooler temps dropping water levels way off now, I have kept myself busy removing the few wood jams that plague this run. I would say wood is 75% responsible for having prevented this creek from being added to the kootenay creek boaters’ hit list, season after season. The remaining 25% can be attributed to the sheer laziness of us west kootenay paddlers who more often than not are far too complacent with the few creeks that we currently paddle - And dare I say it, of the few quality west kootenay creeks that we do frequent year after year, few exist within an hour's drive of our local paddling shop and pseudo pre-trip meeting place, Endless Adventure.
So what can I say about this new creek run that I am doing such a fine job of hyping up? Well, first off, IT IS GOING TO BE OFF THE HOOK once it returns to life this coming spring... It will by far be THE BEST run in the Slocan valley after it gets flagged and cleared, and there is so little work to do... Just a few wooden big boys remain in just the right (or wrong) places... For sheer reference, the run itself will paddle similar to the Little White Salmon "Gettin Busy" section with some hefty class V boulder drops that actually GO! There will most likely be 2 portages that I can see so far. This is due to some manky boulder fields that have neither rhyme nor reason. But from what open lines that remain (mostly above the bridge and running for about a kilometre or so) they will be absolutely SICK!!!! Sluice box slides, meatballs, monster boulder boofs tucked in with tight eddy pools and optional line staircase gorilla drops in all the right places... Still haven’t guessed what creek I am talking about yet...?
As a method of off season training and for environmental reasons, I have been choosing to cut much of the wood out with a 32" hand held bow saw. However I will soon have to resort to a power-saw running biodegradable bar/chain oil to keep things tidy out there in the ol’ woods.
If you still haven’t guessed what creek I am talking up yet, here is your first and only clue.
Before long we will “Boldly go where no man (or woman) has gone before..."
See you in 2011 suckers!
PS: I will have a beautiful new trailer for my next ECE (Endangered Creeks Expedition) inspired film up online in a week or so. LOOK FOR IT AND SPREAD THE HYPE as I want this thing to get a real buzz going before the drone of any power saws take over!
Over and out,
Carl - aka - tripper
wouldnt happen to be woolsey creek would it?
ReplyDeleteNice guess, but, no.
ReplyDelete