Tuesday, June 06, 2006

a BIG day on BIG T

Saturday, June 3. We looked over the Big Timber creek bridge to see a very low flow down in the plains where the creek runs into the Yellowstone river. Still wanting a good day of creeking this weekend we met Jon and Cam in Big Timber and drove to the campground. The flow looked good in the runout zone of the canyon but we were still
not sure. When we got to the falls we knew right away that it was HIGH!! After the 3 mile hike in the 90 degree weather I was ready to get it on. I roashed Ian and won, I was droppin in first. It starts off fast with a 25 foot dobble drop in to a 50 foot slide after a few boofs.

It slows up for a few hundred meters then takes off under the first bridge with a few long fast slides. Ian and I both had good lines in the first section with Jon and Cam taking pics and vid. The next section starts off with a portage around some logs and the enterence to Fine Line. I opted to go first and stuck the huge drop without a scout. It's very crazy dropping in to such a big drop without seeing it for a year, it's always bigger than you remember.
After I watched Ian go we rallied the rest of the steep boulder section and met our friends above the Pinch. We decided to run the 20 foot drop right above the Pinch so I set our boats up for the sea launch while Ian went down to look at the monster slide. Ian went first launching a strange looking boof off the 20 footer, I couldn't tell what it did to him but it looked like he go some air. I could just see him disapear in to the Pinch when I got in my boat. With the high water the 20 footer was very misleading. I took a righty off of it and bounced off the kicker lip. I got the most air I have ever gotten off a boof in my life, I rotated a full 90 degrees in the air and landed on my side. After shaking it off I was already in the Pinch.That baby is off the hook, especialy at high H2O. You go through the first pinch, fly over kickers, speed up, and explode through the air after hitting the ture Pinch. 10 meters after you exit the slide you drop in to Z. A tering slide that starts off with a 10 foot drop and ends in a huge hole. The Gambler looked like too much of a gamble so we quickly walked and ran the run out to the second bridge. This section is one of my favorites, you run quality slides and boulder gardens in the most beautiful setting you can imagine, The Crazy Mountains. The day was absolutly epic both of us stuck all our lines and run all the big drops, but there was one more drop to run. Big Timber falls, the biggest and hardest drop on the run. The short walk down to the falls is all down hill and easy, but once your there reality kicks in and you see the monster your going to run. With high water the one of the hardest parts is fairying in to the slot the way you want to be. Ian fired it up first had a little troble with the fairy but stuck the line. He got a black eye and recieved quite a beating at the base of the falls. I did not see the bit of carnage so I committed to running it. I didn't want to waste my energy with the fairy so I charged out hard and dropped in on my first try. I came in to the kicker that is usally the front of the island, but at this levle is a 10 foot fish tale, I hit it stright on, flew in the air doing half a berrel roll and landed upside down on the slide. I drug my body about a hundred feet on the rocks rolled up and flew off the main drop backwards. When I resurfaced I rolled up and started to paddle out of the boily undercut room when I started to sink in my boat. My skirt had imploded on impact with the pool. I quickly got out of my boat a grabbed my brother, he pulled me up on to the cliff and got me up to the flats. Jon and Cam were already gone and ended up getting my boat and paddle in less than 10 minutes. We walked out to the car and I was still so adenilized I didn't know if I had really hurt myself. By the time I was at the car I thought I broke my arm. But later I found out my arm, hand, and shoulder were just banged up. I committed to running the falls and I messed the line, shit happens, just stick the line next time. This is still one of my favorite runs in the world, just get ready for a day of steepness and speed. later hommies E.G.

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