Saturday easy whitewater
 

Tough year for mountain biking. The rain makes the trails too soft to ride. Driving me absolutely nuts.

But on the bright side there should be some water in the creeks, and I'm thinking of getting out Saturday and doing an easy trip.

Lower Slippery Rock Creek is a lot of fun at lower levels. There are about a zillion eddies to catch, a bunch of small surf waves, and some decent class II rapids. I'm kind of hoping for a level between 300 and 550 cfs on the Wurtemburg gauge.

But the weather forecasts call for a chance of rain each day between now and then. If there gets to be more than 550 cfs in the Slip I'm out. If East Sandy comes up that would be a good alternative. If it REALLY rains there might be a chance for something else (Bear? Deer?)

All else fails we could always check Beaver Creek and do the upstream section from Lusk Lock to Fred'town.

Just gonna watch the weather and the gauges, and be ready to hit whatever is appropriate on Saturday. Post up if you're in so the shuttle can be figured out.

Steve Z

With the gauges looking the way they are it looks like it'll be a lower Slip run, probably at about 300 cfs. This is a low but fun level.

I'm thinking sometime after lunch, maybe 1:00. If anyone is interested post up and we'll set up a time to meet to run the shuttle. Otherwise I'll just park at Harris bridge and hike back up the trail for the shuttle.

Steve Z

Though I was hopeful for something unusual the lower Slip is some fine water. I would like to join you, 1:00 is fine. I'll look for a post if you have reason for a change.

Boy was that fun! That was a great level for playing your way down the creek. I haven't surfed that much, or made that many eddy cuts in years.

If any of you out there are interested in making the move to whitewater, hitting the lower Slip at between 175 & 300 cfs is an excellent training ground, with tons of eddies and waves, and a couple of real rapids.

Steve Z

Here's some video from that trip.

http://youtu.be/5aMQGyamc94

Steve Z

Great Video, :4:
Mike

Sweet looking trip! What are your thoughts on how well an Old Town Tripper could handle the run at that level?

I paddled the lower Slip years ago with an older couple of experienced paddlers in a canoe. They made it look easy. Not saying I could do it (not that great of a canoeist) but a competent paddler shouldn't have much trouble.

There aren't a lot of pushy places at that level, but lots of rocks to dodge - so picking and holding a line is key.

There are only two real rapids, Pillow & Pinultimate. I could see how Pillow wouldn't be too hard, but the other might be tricky. The portage wouldn't be that bad though, and it's an easy scout.

If the water keeps at these friendly levels I am definitely going to try and get in some more weekend runs. I'll make sure to post up if I do.

Steve Z

Thanks for the comments. I'd like to catch it some day, although it's often difficult for me to arrange last minute trips.