Day 8 in Colorado: South Boulder Creek

Polk Our Leader On South Boulder Creek

So I think today Polk, Erik, and I had our tighty whiteys on. We went up to South Boulder Creek and Polk knew the lines. The water was a little high I guess. It was 550 cfs and that sounded good, but for some reason we didn't bring our balls with us. There was some wood around and a sign at the put in talking about wood all the way across the river.


The Sign That Had Me Thinking

Or maybe it was the sign at the put in warning about the Mountain Lions that got us all off to a scared start.


It Doesn't Look That Good To Me

We wandered around a few turns worried about wood but it all turned out fine. We got to the first drop. I think it was called the Moist Slot. It just didn't look right. We all bailed and paddled on to the next one hoping for more courage to come from there. We crawled up to take a look at the Brain but still no courage to be found. It was a mess of water piling into rocks. Not interested. I know you hardcore Coloradoans will fire that up but all I was seeing was Shane getting to close and personal with rock.



We were all getting pretty disappointed at this point. There are only 3 main rapids on this section and we had walked two of them already. Luckily the last drop looked a lot cleaner and worth the challenge when we got there. It may have also been a bit of pride that made us step up for this one. Its called Bridge Falls. Its really a three part drop. Boof, Deal with a Pile of Rocks, and Get Through The Bottom Hole.


The First Boof in Bridge Falls


Erik Landing The First Boof

This drop is called Bridge Falls and it is a very cool drop because there are several parts to it. First is the boof onto a moving slope of water that colides with a pile of rocks but pushes up and over it. Then its a couple big waves and a drop through a pretty stompy hole. This rapid pretty much brought us back from feeling completely inadequate. Its funny how one very cool rapid can make a river run worth it. I have to say this is one of the more fun rapids that I have run in Colorado.


Polk Approaching The Final Hole


Me Boofing the Final Hole

So we were saved by the final drop. It made us all feel a lot better.
More to come soon.
Shane