Jefferson Creek

I was finally able to put on my big boy pants and get back on Jefferson Creek.



The run out below Island Drop. Jefferson Creek, WA.


     Darren Albright took me down Jefferson my first season of creeking (before I knew better) and I had some really good times in there, then I decided to put on during a high water event and had an interesting day. I hadn't been back into Jefferson Creek in almost two years (since February of 2010).



The biggest drop on Jefferson, Below Island Drop.
Jefferson Creek, WA.


     Jefferson Creek is a rarely run Olympic Peninsula gem of a river, it's not even in the Korb guide (our only guide for the OP's watersheds). To say that Jefferson is Ldub's slightly younger and sluttier cousin wouldn't be far from the truth... Its steep and technical but overall not a very difficult run. That being said, I had my closest call on this Creek in the winter of 2010. Lost a boat and paddle and probably came closer to losing something else much more intangible.

Bottom Two ledges in Island Drop. Jefferson Creek.

Here's a little video from the next day when the water had dropped a little bit and I hiked in to where I swam:





And here is a clip from when I went back in a couple weeks later to try and regain some pride:


     Jefferson Creek is about an hour from my house and happens to be one of the closest quality runs available to us Kitsap County residents. Sadly, it probably only sees a handful of runs a year. Due to it's lack of a river gauge, it's remote location and the general tendency of the Olympic Peninsula to throw a wrench in even the most well though out plans, not many people make the pilgrimage. A typical winter or early spring phone call trying to convince a Seattlite to come out West goes something like this:

Ring, ring...
Seattle Boater: "Hello?"
Me: "Dude! Whats up? You boating today?"
Seattle Boater: "hmmm, whats in? Whats Robe at?"
Me: "Dunno, Robe's low, so is Ernie's."
Seattle Boater: "Well. What you thinkin?"
Me: "Elkhorn is in... Jefferson might be..."
Seattle Boater: "You think it'll be in?
Me: "Sure, maybe. I think so. Darren says it's good to go I think."
Seattle Boater: " I think I'm gonna hit the Sky."
Me: "ehh."
Click-

     Sadly this is how the majority of Saturday, potential OP madness days, end before they even start. It's understandable though so I don't hold a grudge or withhold a throwbag. We are so spoiled here in the PNW that its hard to convince someone take a chance on a creek that may or may not have water in it (or too much...) when you can run out and get on the Skykomish or the Green. But... Jefferson has treats, I digress:

One of many rapids on Jefferson Creek, WA.

     A tributary to the Hamma Hamma, access is no issue. A well manicured forest service road in the Hamma Hamma recreation area takes you right to the take out and then its a 5 mile drive up to the put in. The run is only 2.1(ish) miles long, but its continuous class IV+-V for all but a couple hundred feet of those 2.1 miles. The run is roadside-ish... easy to get into, not so easy to get out of. Once you leave the put in, the creek drops off the face of the earth and a hike out of the canyon to the road could take hours, see above video.

     American Whitewater has the creek's gradient listed as 260 feet per mile. Steep, considering that there are no waterfalls or even ledges higher than 10 feet on the run. Sounds fishy right? It's riverbed is made up of big sheets of bedrock and dotted with huge smooth boulders that sometimes sport a mantle of timber from high water events. While the big boulders in the gardens are round and unassuming, the average rock in the creek bed is sharp and jagged. The pin potential on this run increases exponentially with a decrease in water level. If you can, bring a beater boat for your first couple of trips and do not forget your elbow pads!



     The scenery in this drainage is out of this world! At the put in, the river is pretty level and there isn't much gradient so it just appears to be another densely forested OP run. Then you drop in and you find yourself almost locked into this gorgeous canyon. Handhold-less vertical walls limit your view of the sky and your route of escape at times. Then, around other corners, nothing but beautiful deep emerald green trees coming all the way down the banks into the water. As on most Olympic Peninsula runs, you need to be on your toes for wood. There is always wood in this run, its just a question of how involved you have to get when you find it. There are several spots on the river where you paddle under the natural lattice work created by high water events and the trees of past.

At least you don't have to duck at these levels...

     One of the coolest things about this river is the water. First off, its cold. Bone cold, so bring your pogies and a drysuit is a must. The water is this bluish green color that looks almost carbonated. I don't know if this is due to porous rock or just the turbulence of the water, but its pretty cool to see and feel non-the-less.

Ridiculous Scenery

Goods for days and days.

     There are several diligent Olympic Peninsula residents that spend a lot of time in the summer and fall keeping runs like Jefferson free of wood that would require portaging and we all owe them. As of right now, there is only one portage and even that is debatable. I had heard about Rob running the portage on accident during a really high water run and now Darren and Rob regularly run the drop in question.

Darren mid portage.

     Describing the rapids is all but useless, its like describing Ernie's Canyon: there are just too many rapids in there to accurately describe them in any other situation or setting than the eddy above the drop in question. Or, maybe its just because it's one long rapid... I'm sure the majority of them have names and correct lines but to be totally honest, I've only scouted two drops on the run and those are pretty straight forward. This also accounts for the distinct lack of quality photos, there's no time to jump out and take shots when you're flying down the run at 90mph.

     Either way, if you like incredibly dense forest scenery, bedrock slides, technical creeking and water that looks like it came out of a Disney movie make your way out to Jefferson Creek. Snap in, get a death grip on your paddle and start smiling!




y







If the takeout looks like this, ask yourself one question: "Am I Rob McKibbon?".
If the answer is "no": Go home.



Its hard to judge level at the takeout as the river bed changes so much here, use the island in the stream bed looking upstream from the bridge as point of reference.

Another shot of Island Drop. Jefferson Creek, WA.



Chillin on the bank below Island Drop.



Big Creek in North Carolina



BIG Creek, North Crack-i-lack!

It's July 17th, 2011, and there is no water. At least not in Virginia Beach, VA.

Hunter Davis invited me back down to Asheville, NC for the weekend and of course I obliged. I thought we were just going to scrape down the Green Narrows again but mother nature had a surprise in for me.

Me @ Midnite Hole. Photo by Hunter Davis

Big Creek was in and I was going to be able to put my drytop on for the first time since March. We headed out a bit late in the morning, on account of our new ritual of drinking until the wee hours of the morning every Friday night when I roll into town. Hunter's description of Big Creek was: "You'll like it." So I had no idea what was in store.

The run starts with Midnite Hole, which is a river wide slot more than a hole. But I can see the beat-down factor involved. Hunter set up to take some photos and I ran it first. Hunter came through second and then I got a second lap in while we were there. Good times.

The goods were in store. Of all the rivers I was able to paddle over my summer in the South East, Big Creek was the most like a West Coast run. It almost felt like the NF Suak, in WA, except you could feel your hands.

Me dropping into the second ledge in Action Alley.

Photo by Hunter Davis.

Action Alley was by far the best rapid on the run. Unfortunately we opted to walk the lead in to the first ledge due to a wood hazard. It goes, but not with only two people. 

Another memorable drop on the river is Baby Gorilla. Very similar to Gorilla on the Green Narrows except its about a third the size and there is no Notch above to worry about. But there is a VERY undercut rock on river left that's hard to ignore as you're boofing into the pile.

Me dropping into the first ledge in Action Alley.

Photo by Hunter Davis.

Hunter Davis in Action Alley.

You know when you're there...

The local general store.

I wanted the "much more".

White Lightning; you were a good truck, even if you were 'Merican.

I like flowers sometimes

All in all, a great little creek. Short and fun, with a good hike to the put in. Word to the wise would be to get an earlier start and get two or three laps in on this bad boy.

Cheers. 

Ernies Gorge solo lap

It was a cold day and I had nothing to do. I was feeling a bit froggy and decided to rally out to Ernies for a solo lap. I had run Ernie's Canyon many times up to this point, but never by myself. Ben always does and I used to berate him for it but something changed. I think I just wanted to see what would happen by myself, with no one else to rely on.

Contemplating at my line through Toilet Bowl.

When I left Port Orchard it was already a little late for an Ernies run. I usually like to be at the takeout by noon at the latest so that there is plenty of time to hike in and run shuttle. There wasn't much snow on the ground in Kitsap, but by the time I pulled off of I-90 in North Bend, you could hardly see the road.

Luck was on my side and someone had left the logging gate open at the put in. So, after stashing the mountain bike at the takeout I rushed down to the put-in and dropped off my boat and gear.

Driving to the put-in bridge

In the 20 minutes or so that it took me to drive back to the other side of the logging gate and then walk back in, my boat was completely covered in snow...

Unfortunately placed wood in Double Boof

I don't know all the names of the rapids in Ernies, nobody seems to know any of them, except the big four. This rapid usually doesn't have wood in it (and its gone now 12/18/11) but I had talked to Ben the week before this trip and knew that there were some new wood hazards to watch out for.

Double Boof

After scouting I decided to walk on river left. Sad, because this is one of the more interesting rapids due to its dynamic nature. You come in hot just off the rocks on river left and boof left into a little "calm" spot, then head hard left to avoid getting stuffed into the undercut on river right that the majority of the water piles into.

Panorama of Double Boof

Another awesome drop that was, at the time, ruined by wood: Boof Left. I love Boof Left because it scares the living daylights out of me. You come down some mank, trying to stay off the right wall (where 90% of the water goes) because there are multiple strainers, hit a small funky pool and charge hard towards the ledge. You boof left, diagonally between the ledge and a huge boulder that blocks the direct path of the water. I've never missed my line and I don't want to think about what would happen if you did on this one.

Boof Left. The wood is barely visible in the left third of the photo.

Ben actually found this piece while doing a solo morning lap while Rob and I were on our way out there. Due to complacency, we usually do not scout this rapid and neither did Ben. He took the standard line and boofed, landing squarely on a piece of wood lodged in the landing zone of this awesome drop. Luckily Ben was alright, could have been a very different story, but he was able to give us some beta before our own run. So I knew ahead of time that this stick was still in play and in the way of good times. 

The lead-in to Big Nasty

Big Nasty is the psychological crux of the run for me. This rapid just plain wiggs me out. No reason, I've never been worked in it, never swam out of it or had anything bad happen. It just scares the crap out of me.

The lead-in to Big Nasty

The wood in the lead-in to Big Nasty is new as well (and gone now 12/18/11), but you could get around this log. Little Nasty has two normal lines, far left and far right. I usually opt for the far left line but the log made the decision easy and I went right. Now all that was left was Big Nasty.


Shortly after Big Nasty is Toilet Bowl. One of my favorite drops on the run. Its just fun! This rapid has the most in play sieve, I guess. After you paddle through the toilet bowl and out the chute, you are in the main current which is going straight towards a large sieve. You have to be upright and have your mind set on a course of action as soon as you come out of the toilet bowl chute as you have about 20 feet or so before you're under a rock. I hate rolling here, but it happens.

Toilet Bowl

All in all a good day. Some carnage and missed lines here and there, but a good day. Got back to my truck before dark and made it home in time for dinner with my mom, who was in town for the Holiday weekend.

Solo boating probably isn't the smartest thing in the world, but then again, on a run like Ernie's theres not much people can do for you if you get into trouble. I've seen swims in Ernie's and I've seen boats get destroyed, but I knew I wasn't going to swim. And if I did, my boat was already cracked anyway I guess.

Either way, there was something magical about being all alone out there in the middle of the woods with no one around to gum up the peace. No other sounds except the gurgling and rushing of water, the background white noise of snow falling on evergreens and the pulsing of blood through my veins. Theres no sense of time. You're not waiting to run a drop or waiting for anyone else to drop into the eddy next to you. You just go, or you don't go. Its all internal impetus. It was a learning experience. A huge learning experience.  I was able to gauge my confidence level as well as find my risk vs. reward threshold. All too often you just "go for it" because your buddies are there with throwbags and chase boats, or at least I do. But stuff can still go wrong, even with everybody there to help. This was just another way of steeping up my game and finding out where I was at mentally.

A great day.