During June and July I went on a photo mission to California. Being quite late in the season and with only little snow pack left rivers were a bit less in abundance than on previous trips, but whatever was running was high class.
Timing of the trip was perfect for the Upper Cherry Creek. This is one of California's High Sierra Classics. It requires a 12 mile hike to the put-in which sucked a bit in the extreme heat and with only little shade walking through a burned out forest. We were a team of 5 including mates Toby Robertson, Ben Brown and 2 locals, Rush Sturges and Charlie Center.

Walking up the trial to Upper Cherry Creek

The first day boating on Upper Cherry Creek is like being in a giant "amusement park for paddlers", kind of like the Tuakopai (Bay of Plenty) on steroids, with endless granite slides and a few solids drops thrown in between.

Granite slides at nearly 3000m elevation

Half an hour before camp is the infamous Cherry Bomb Gorge. With a technical entry fall and slide (Cherry Bomb Falls)that drop about 10 metres, very committing mid section, a siphon half way and no other way through and out than the river I definitely had a few anxious moments there sitting in the top eddy and thinking "what if". The fact that Rush and Charlie cruised it first didn't really take the pressure off although it was nice to know that someone will fish you out at the bottom.

View downstream into Cherry Bomb Gorge

The choice is yours between a hideous, more than 1 hour climbing/walking mission over the ridge, or 30 seconds of shitting your pants on the river. In the end, common sense prevailed (and confidence in my new, big Riot Magnum 80 that it would bail me out in case of a stuff-up) and I paddled into the gorge (not without a quick check for fish at the bottom of Cherry Bomb Falls though...).

Andi on Cherry Bomb Falls

The section following immediately after Cherry Bomb Falls was a bit of an eye opener, most drops turned out to be a little higher and a little stickier than expected but it's nice to get surprised every now and again.

Toby and Ben approaching halfway point

Immediately after the end of Cherry Bomb Gorge the river banks open up again, giving an impressive view of the next section. Over a series of perfectly shaped slides and teacups the river drops towards a big pool with camp being right beside it.

Top to bottom: Toby, Charlie, Rush

After relaxing at camp for a couple of hours we all walked up the river for 5 minutes and ran the teacup section several times in the late afternoon sun.

Charlie walking up to the top of the teacups

Ben rock sliding

The second day of paddling gets busy right away. 100 metres downstream from camp is the first rapid of the day, Groove Tube. It's a bizarre looking rapid, kind of like a siphon, and all instincts try to tell you to not go near it. But then, you trust your mates and the ones who have done it before, and huck into it...

Toby entering Groove Tube

Once through groove Tube you sit in a low canyon with the next horizon line being a clean 20 footer called Perfect 20. Just drop it, but hold on to your hat, it likes to hit you in the face on landing.

Andi on Perfect 20

Once in the pool below the 20 foot drop you are already approaching Double Pothole Falls, in fact, the biggest rapids of the second day are all within the first 2 km from camp.

Rush flying into Double Pothole

After Double Pothole Falls the river enters another low canyon with some great little waterfalls. I was a bit slow packing up my camera gear after shooting the pothole and found myself at the end of the group. Having no clue what was coming up I just followed Rush's lines over the drops, it felt like it would never end. After 200 metres of boofing blind drops we ended up at the top of Kiwi In A Pocket. Only Ben and Charlie threw themselves over. The crux is to not get stuck in a pothole at the bottom that goes back some 5 metres behind the falls. Kind of a nasty place, and requires some complicated vertical extraction if a paddler ends up in there.

View back upstream into the canyon below Double Pothole Falls

Ben on Kiwi In A Pocket

Immediately after Kiwi In A Pocket follows the last big drop of the day, Dead Bear Falls. Dead Bear Falls is probably the highest drop on the river, close to 10 metres. If you thought landing the 20 footer hurt than you may want to give this one a miss, it hurts more...

Charlie plugging Dead Bear Falls

Ben trying an alternative line

After Dead Bear Falls the fun continued for a few more hours with lots more slides and rapids, although all with a little bit less gradient and more mellow in nature. At the confluence with the West Branch of Cherry Creek the pace picked up again though. Two gorges followed with some committing rapids but all down there is a go. The second gorge just before Cherry Lake, Waterfall Gorge, has the more substantial rapids in it but in view of the lake you figure that the end is near!

Ben in Waterfall Gorge just before the lake

Upper Cherry Creek only had a window of about a week when it was paddleable this year. I think we got it pretty perfect, a bit more water means potentially more portages and a bit more gnarl at places. And a few days after our descent the slides on the first day would have become very scrapy. Pretty stoked though that we could time it so well and hope to be back next year.