Sawtooth Peak

I got a chance to tackle another Sierra summit the other day. The short version-I went with my friends Matthew and Kristi. We camped near the trail head and made a day-hike of it. We were successful, stayed safe, and had a blast. I forgot my camera but Mathew hooked me up with a few pics.

Mathew and I. Sawtooth Peak is the sawtooth-shaped peak (oddly enough) in the background above my head.

Getting closer. There were a couple of pretty lakes around this bend.

Kristi and I, almost there. The last half a mile or so was quite a scramble!

Sittin' on top of the world. Well, actually just 12,342', but it felt like it.

Chili Bar, pool rolls

Yesterday I paddled the “Chili Bar” run on the South Fork of the American River, outside of Sacramento. This is a hugely popular run (one source calls it the most popular stretch of whitewater west of the Rockies), but despite it being a holiday weekend, it really wasn’t too crowded- a few rafts, a few kayakers. It was a great chance for me to get into some more challenging water. Several rapids were class III or III+, with one IV. And the names of the rapids didn’t exactly inspire confidence- we’re talking names like Meatgrinder, Triple Threat, Troublemaker, and Satan’s Cesspool.

Here’s what my friend Larry told me in an e-mail before we went:

“You should prepare yourself, mentally, for a swim. I don't expect you to swim this weekend. The river is at a skill level that you'll be challenged, but will do well. I'm just mentioning the swim because you haven't had one yet. A swim isn't indicative of your skill level at all. "Everybody" swims. It's just a matter of when. I hate swimming. If I hadn't thought I was going to pass out last week I wouldn't have gotten out of my boat.”

“My head continued to swell up the next day to a baseball sized welt. The area around the back of my ear got swollen later too. I didn't do anything the next couple of days. Almost all of the swelling is gone and it is just a little tender now. As soon as the seizures stop I'll be good to go. Just kidding.”

Obviously Larry has a sense of humor. When we were on the Kings River last week he flipped and smacked his head hard against a rock. That’s what he was talking about in the e-mail above. Now you may think, “What’s the big deal about swimming?” I personally love to swim. But while swimming is a great sport and recreation in its own right, it’s to be avoided if at all possible when you’re paddling whitewater. Unless you like bruising your knees, tailbone, and elbows, that is. Not to mention the delightful possibilities associated with foot entrapments.

Anyway, on the river yesterday I rolled a number of times, but thankfully I didn’t have to swim. We had a fantastic day, and the 3 hour’s drive each way from Fresno was totally worth it. I think we paddled about 11 miles all told. Daniel, another experienced paddler from the kayak club, gave me some tips on how to do a “stern squirt,” and Larry loaned me a basic playboating DVD, so I’ve got plenty of material to work on in the pool.

Me right after I got flushed out of Chili Bar hole.

Trying to surf a hole. I'm leaning back to try to keep my upstream edge (bow) from getting driven under.

"Maya," a famous surf wave on this run. If you're good you can just sit there all day with very little effort.

Larry and I.

Not sure where this one was at. Looks like I'm about to go under.

Here's another kayaker getting buried in Chili Bar Hole. When we came back to the put-in to complete the shuttle, the dam release for the day was over and the water level had dropped so much that all you could see where this hole had been was a big boulder just upstream.

Dad was asking me about my “Eskimo roll.” I managed to get a clip in the pool earlier today. I also have a clip from the river yesterday but for some reason it won't upload properly.