Nick’s Bachelor Party in Mexico: little Alseseca gets wild
April 16, 2009
Photos
By Clay Wright
Where do you take a guy who’s under 21 for his bachelor party? How about the river!
(for you who though Alseseca was a stripper – sorry bout that, she’s just a river but a darned good one! )
EJ, Dane, Trevor Clark and I joined Nick for a pre-wedding ‘bash’ down 2 of Mexico’s finest creeks – the Alseseca and the Agua Azul. With the help of Alex, our tour guide and Rafa – our trip co- ordinator we were on the Roadside Section of the Alseseca the morning after we arrived.
And what a river! The warm, tropical gorge flows right next to the road for 3-4k and within that space there are more slides and waterfalls than you could ever imagine. Walk upstream from El Siete Ranch a few hundred yards from the put-in and you get a sweet 30′ slide and several more 5-15′ers on the first creek, or cross over a bridge for the 20′ classic we’ve all seen in H20 Films for years. . better yet, do both!
The water was LoW – making this put-in drop one of the scariest on the run. But soon people were carrying back up or flipping of the banks to enjoy the warm, clear water. This is not a pristine creek, mind you, in fact the water on the first creek is downright foul when it gets higher at mid-day (more on the ‘Derelict’ section later), but just having warm clear water after a winter in Rock Island is something to swim about. Thankfully the rock is volcanic and smooth, so the drops all go fine with little or no water in them and so many were worth a hike back up for a second round. The highlight drops are the 20′ roller (where we all practiced tucks, paddle tosses, and stomps) the ‘S-bend’ rapid which looks like an atomic piton but flows like butter, and ‘the Crack’ – which requires some paddle-clacking along the left wall in order to keep the bow left at the bottom of this 15′ crevice/falls. The first run takes awhile – scouting and setting ropes at the put-in falls, the S-bend and the Crack gets your heart racing especially if you come from the sharp, grabby rock of the Cumberland Plateau. Then you get the hang of it and we just bombed through quickly after that. Great run – would love to go back with more time and more water!

Clay

pine creek falls before the change

A random note from Scott Strausbough years ago alerted me to a tiny little gorge in a cow pasture near Smithville TN. Dutifully Gazeteering it out, I was delighted to turn on ‘Pine Creek Falls’ road and discover a 30′ waterfall and 3 class 3 and 4 rapids and a vertical walled gorge below it just waiting to be plucked out of obscurity and propelled into the Middle Tn whitewater limelight!

Couple web shots, and AW page, and 5 years later and it’s still just an obscure little gorge in a cow pasture .. visited a couple times a year by myself and very few others. The Falls access has been gated and posted, requiring a river-run instead of a park n huck, but this drop remains one of my favorite waterfalls in the Southeast – simply because it is a 30′er into deep water just 30 minutes from my house. With this morning’s Pedro and Ben appearance on the Today show for his 127′ waterfall, what better place to take Team JacksonKayak for our daily Team Week paddle?

After some logistical kitten-herding challenges, we finally reached the Falls flowing big and brown with Dane and Jesse Coombs already Huckin it up. . and to my great surprise this was NOT the the same waterfall that I’ve run for so many years – the middle had fallen in! Now instead of one straight shelf with the most water on the right, most of the water falls into the middle with 2 lines on either side. Wonder where the shelf landed? That was my main concern, however a few minutes of watching the boats plunge deep assured me the right line was still a ‘go’ at least at these high flows. The next hour was spent dragging boats up and dropping back down, as Stephen, Lauren, Nick, Owen, Jasper, Jonathan, Tommy, and I joined into the frenzy. It was the biggest waterfall ever run for 5 of our group.

The rest of the gorge was running high (1′) but we were able to make our way through the last great ”Ampitheater’ rapid and on to Center Hill Lake in no time. Just another great day of kayaking here near Rock Island

Don’t make me paddle a Duo, I’m working Mcnastys! Team week involves sacrifice so i dutifully strapped myself into a dynamic duo with Creek Freak Jessie Combs and dove into the bottom of the Caney Fork Gorge below Twin Falls. The impact wasn’t too bad, the feeling of oblivion impressive, and the re-emergence to the cheers of those on the bank and the ecstatic expression of Jesse let me know there was something more fun going on up at the surface….
Stay tuned for shots on Jacksonkayak.com.

This winter started with a bang, as December rains kept the creeks and Brave Wave flowing deep into January and we had high hopes of at least ‘average’ from then on. Skunked again! While I’m thankful for the Caney Fork and Cane Creek – some of the quickest rising runs in the SE – and for the Dynamic Duo making even our backyard runs fresh again, it’s been a winter of low-flow Rock Island releases and only occasional creeking.

Thankfully, not only do I live 2 miles from a playspot that’s still fun and flowing in these near drought conditions, I also got a Specialized Enduro SL bike to play with while the ground is dry. I’m staying in shape physically for those epic WV play-sessions to come and getting mentally sharp for downhill-like reactions of Jocassee/Cherokee/ Cali creeking despite only getting out in a big boat every few weeks. Tsali, Fall Creek Falls, Lock 4, Harrison Creek and Raccoon Mountain are my new Nantahala, Cartacay, Tellico, Caney Fork, and North Chick. I roll off hills, boof logs, bounce down step around my house just like I did in my kayak as a child. My knees – injured years ago kayaking – are feeling stronger than ever and my ’stoke’ level is high even though this winter is dry.

Learning the basics of a sport so like kayaking is a wake-up call. It’s a real-world education on how incredibly difficult KAYAKING is when you didn’t grow up with it and how tough it must be to part with the $ on products you know nothing about. The 1st big challenge – picking a bicycle – took me 2 years of off and on intense internet, shop employee, and friend questioning and has left me in a much better position to understand why kayak shoppers ask so many questions!! Then there’s pedals to choose, tube repairs, gear to tune, ad infintum. It’s all on U-tube but I’m always asking strangers in the parking lot because that is when I remember what I need to know. Just as I was telling someone how simple KAYAKING is in comparison they asked me why my Happy Seat was all crinkly instead of inflated and why my hip pads were threaded through the backband holes … This realization refreshed my enthusiasm to be a helpful voice on Boatertalk no matter how basic, repetitive, and searchable the question.

It’s raining now – and I’m just as happy as always. Though my bike might stay parked for days I’m still a paddler at heart and have that thirst for rain that makes even the cold drizzle wet my appetite for more in a good way. If it rains – I’m set for boating. If it stops, I’ll get back to biking after my daily playboating sessions and put a huge smile on my face instead of letting a scowl set in on this full-time boater living through a long winter’s drought. Let the deluge begin! If not, there’s a down-hill powerline cut I saw the other day not too far …

Clay