Phil Boyer sends in this story about his Upper Cherry Creek run…

August 3, 2006

By Phil Boyer

See Phil on South Silver and Cherry Creek: Photos courtesy of Cameron Lawson Photography, LLC www.cameronlawson.com

August 2, 2006

Hey there E.J.

I wish you could have been boating through this Granite Paradise with us.
Hopefully next year.

When boaters talk about rivers in California, they always talk about the
river being either a Sierra Classic or just another California river. Well,
Upper Cherry Creek is definitely a Classic.

Upper Cherry Creek has a short window for water and is not easy to
access. The run begins with a twelve mile hike which passes through the
western edge of Yosemite. For this hike you use your kayak as your backpack
(which is very comfortable I might add). The hike usually takes between five and ten hours depending on the time of day, heat, and the back pack system
used by each boater. The trail head for Kibbie lake/Styx pass starts at an
elevation of about 5900 feet in the pine and cedar trees before maxing out
2000 feet later at 7900 feet on top of the Granite slabs one came to boat
through. At this point you begin to descend down to the river finishing your journey at an elevation of 7100 feet above sea level surrounded by sloping
Granite domes and a river to run.

Two friends joined me for this trip. My paddling partner was Justin
Patt. Justin was my paddling partner on Fantasy Falls this year and I truly
enjoy boating with him. He is seventeen years old and he fires it up on
these runs as well as being there if the need arises. I would boat with
Justin anywhere. Also joining us for the trip was a friend of mine Cameron
Lawson. Cameron is a photographer from Bozeman Mt. and made a special trip
to Ca. to hike into Upper Cherry with us to shoot photographs of the run.

We started our hike at six thirty in the morning and got to the river
in about seven hours which included a nice lunch stop along the way. After a much needed rest and swim in the river we began to head downstream to the
first slide rapid which is only a few hundred yards down from put in. This
rapid is very indicative of the first four miles of the run, nice long
slides with a sudden drop at the end for boofing. Justin and I would boat
our way down stream while Cameron was cruising down the river left shore
taking photos at many of the slide rapids. We went about four miles down
from put in before camping just upstream of the first mini gorge. Our camp
was on a beautifully flat rock in the middle of this Granite paradise with
clear skies, warm sun and stars which were sure to shine upon us for the
whole trip.

As we awoke on the morning of day two we new that this would be the big day for running rapids and shooting photos. Just down stream of us was the
mini gorge with West Coast Gorilla, Upper and Lower Cherry Bomb gorge,
Double Drop gorge, Water Fall Alley, Kiwi in the Pocket and Dead Bear Falls.

All of this in just a four mile stretch.

Cameron took off hiking to get down to Cherry Bomb gorge while Justin
and I ran the mini gorge and Gorilla. Gorilla is a nice drop sliding in off
of the left into the crack and the speed trap at the bottom. Both of us had
no problem and we continued to head down to Cherry Bomb gorge where we met
Cameron and began shooting the upper gorge. Upper and Lower Cherry Bomb
gorge are nestled in the bottom of two several hundred foot high sloping
granite domes and are only separated by a small pool in the middle of the
gorge. Cherry Bomb Falls begins with a small boof into a steep sloping
thirty foot slide which then kicks you out off of a fifteen foot drop into
the heart of Cherry Bomb gorge. With no way out but down stream through the
remaining five foot to fifteen foot drops it can be very daunting. After
rounding the corner and seeing the walls becoming smaller and smaller you
are now on top of the superslide which leads directly into the tea cups and
finally the pool at the end of Cherry Bomb gorge.

We had some lunch at the pool before entering into the Double Drop
gorge. Again once in this gorge there really is no easy way out. We began by running the California Groove Tube which led us to the top of a very nice
twenty footer which can be run anywhere into a nice pool below. The crux of
this gorge is a small manky rapid which has an undercut on the left that you rub up against before being sent to the fanning spray of the Double Drop
itself. The first of the two drops is about twenty five feet being run to
the left of the fan landing in a small granite cauldron which feeds you out
off of the second fifteen footer and home free. It happens very quickly and
is a super rush. (I have been swimming around in the cauldron when I lost my boat on a previous trip while trying to portage the manky rapid a lower
water and I do not recommend swimming in this spot, but that is another
story.) After the Double drop gorge we ran the Water Fall Alley without a
hitch and then scouted Kiwi in the Pocket.

Kiwi in the Pocket is a drop of about thirty feet and has a very nasty
pocket on the right hand side at the bottom of the falls. Paddling out of
the pocket has been done but is nearly impossible. On at least one occasion
a paddler has had to be vertically extracted with ropes and pulleys. If you
are planning to run Kiwi you should be prepared to run Dead Bear Falls.
Otherwise, be ready to have a much more difficult portage. Dead Bear Falls
is an amazing rapid and the photos of people running it only show the final
thirtyfive foot waterfall, not the entire lead-in which is a long tight and
technical piece of whitewater that has very little room for error. The final approach for the falls is on river left and is a very tight three foot
pour-over which then sends you down the slide next to a big boulder in the
middle of the river and off of Dead Bear Falls itself. Be prepared for a
fairly hard landing as you will be potentially landing in some green water.

Early in the morning of our final day Justin and I began to head down
stream for the final few miles of white water. One of the best parts of this run is that the rapids do not end until you finish dropping over the last
water fall which puts you almost directly into Cherry Lake-take out is just
a fifteen minute paddle across the lake to the point on the left.

Justin and I recognize how lucky we were to have been able to kayak in
this magical granite wonderland known as Upper Cherry Creek.

Phil B.