What a place it is good old west fork.We got up and had a nice early start to our day. We were having a great run down collecting all sorts of cool pictures and new angles. The big ramp slide was excelente...
Sammy S. doing what he knows best.The big boof section was still oneofthebests...
Bonning it out off the top boof you can see how shallow it is in the shot.The rally alley was still fast and fun. Then we arrived at the big pot hole waterfall! I had been thinking about this one since the last time we were here and wanted it. The water was a bit lower from the time before so that was a plus, and we were feeling the fire to go big. We scouted it for a while and decided how to set safety on it before Sam was ready and willing. He walked up to the top and looked at al the moves in the enterence rapid. That is truly the most difficult part about this rapid, the lead in is big, fast, and blinding, you are at the lip of the falls before you know it. Sam ran the exact line we were talking about and came in to the falls left moving right but not too far right. He stuck the hell out of it and was pumped to be away from the pot hole and the rapid. I felt that the drop was also good to go so I ran up sattled up in my boat and took off into the drop. There was abit of hesitation at the top but that is normal for a drop like this. I came perfectly through the enterence and started moving right. I dropped off the lip and reflected off the right wall just enough to send my bow with a little left angle. Plugged in deep and rolled up in the terrible pot hole. I was very scared in there but stayed cool and talked with my saftey crew as I clipped my self and boat to ropes. At first I tried to paddle out of the caved out room but there was no chance in hell. If I would have imploded my skirt I would die swimming back there. I waited for the team to get ready and they started extracting me vertically out of the pot hole. I was clipped on to a rope getting pulled up towards the sky from the depths and darkness of the scaryest place on the river. Glad to be out of there I hugged my Kiwi compadres and thanked them for the rescue.
You can see the river left eddy pocket I was stuck in and had to be pulled out of.Lessons are learned the hard way some times but this was one I would not forget. Lucky for the good safety set on this type of drop. I was laxed for the day I was going to just make it down stream and chill the rest of the day until the next drop where more shit went down.
That nasty looking tiering slide that we ran off the flake in the middle last time was a bit lower and much more dangerous. I was in a meelow mood but still figured that it was good to go. I sat in the eddy and swept the group other than taylor who was walking. Right before I went Taylor told me to fall a bit to the left because they were having funny looking lines in the middle. When I got to the bottom there were people everywhere in pain. Sean pitoned and hurt his knee and feet. Josh pitoned and broken his nose and gave himself a concussion.
Josh with a broken nose spiting non-sense at us.Sam, Taylor, and I talked about what to do because Sean couldn't carry a boat but could walk and Josh needed to get off the river. Sam and I continued down stream to Cherry Lake to get our other car and met them in Sanora. The rest of them hiked back upstream and out of the canyon back to the car at Bourland mountain. It worked out well because we got the car and met them back near the trailhead. This adventure was not done yet we had to go back in there and get their boats out.
The next day Sam, Brendan, and Nik Boise went back in and paddled their boats out to Cherry lake where we waited with food. We needed rest and some relaxing days befor Upper Cherry so we chilled at the lake for a day before our next mission into cali's pride cherry creek. Later EG
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