Gulf Creek | Jackson Kayak Creeking

Hey guys!

I have made it a goal to try and catch a new local run every year, and this past February I had the pleasure of checking it off the list.

On one very rainy February day, Birmingham, AL received about 3in of localized rain which is enough to prime one of the steepest creeks in North AL. Gulf creek has eluded me for several years due to its tiny watershed and the fact that it takes very large rain events for it to go. Gulf creek is the main creek that drains the eastern side of Chandler mountain, and sits next door to the world renowned Horse Pens 40. In the past years, there have been issues with landowners on this creek, but we did not have any issues on this trip and kept a low profile.

My buddy Noah and I decided at the last second to take the gamble of driving up the mountain to see if it was running that day, and we were pleasantly greeted by what we felt was a nice low to medium flow. This creek started off as what I could best describe as a “glorified drainage ditch” but turned into quality bedrock drops that were tons of fun. We did have to portage a few times due to wood. However, all of the drops that we really wanted to run we got the chance to. Fun fact, I believe that the largest un run rapid in AL perhaps the SE lies on this run (150ft tall cascading rapid full of wood), but of course I didn’t take any pictures of it 😉
Having my Nirvana was very confidence inspiring on this run. The bow rocker and speed that the Nirvana has made making difficult moves easy on this run easy.

All in all this was one of the best days kayaking of 2020, and I would be stoked to get back out there. Enjoy some of these photos of Noah!

As always SYOTR,

Matt Huddleston