24 Miles, Two Days
Put-in: 2,450’ Take-out: 1,050’ For a total gradient of 1,400’according to Google Earth.

McCloud River scenery.

Flowing south from Mount Shasta, the McCloud River is renowned for both scenery and fishing. With a natural base flow of over 700cfs, the McCloud could be the only year round multi-day run in California. The upper McCloud flows for seven miles until it is impounded in the McCloud Reservoir, where the majority of water is piped into the Iron Canyon Reservoir, which is a fore bay for the PG&E Pit 5 powerhouse on the Pit River.

Because of this diversion, the lower McCloud rarely has enough water to kayak, even in the spring. Curious of what the run contained, Dan Thurber, James Mitchell and myself decided to put in for two days on a “minimum” flow of 600cfs above Lake Shasta.

To shorten the shuttle and keep things interesting, we hoped to put-in on Squaw Valley Creek, which through word of mouth was a good class IV run with two smaller waterfalls. Unfortunately the creek looked too low, and taking the second shortest shuttle option we went for the Ash Creek put in. Normally PG&E maintains the road to the McCloud Reservoir Dam, but not this year.

And I thought I was done shoveling snow for the season….Dan and James get started.

Prospects of getting through the snow bank was looking bleak when we a local fisherman drove up in a Jeep, and after little begging, agreed to drive us to the put-in. Not wanting to waste his time, Dan and I got dropped off directly below the dam. Feeling sick, James wisely opted out of our adventure.

I sure hope we have everything we need….

Our initial flow was “30%”

Already getting into the afternoon, we set off with warm weather and cold water. They sure do release the water in style.

The first thing we noticed outside of the scenery was low flows. Most groups put-in lower down so tributaries raise the levels, but we didn’t have that option. Thankfully the boulder gardens all had routes, but we did do our fair share of gorilla boating. As tributaries trickled in, the water level slowly came up, although it was still low water at best.

Dan in a typical lower McCloud boulder bar drop, there are miles of these.

Ash Creek helped flows a bit more, but due to the nature of the river it wasn’t what I would call quality.

The boulder gardens would have been epic with flows of 800cfs, but we had far less then that, and it had less to do rock dodging, and too much to do with rock bouncing. Eventually we worked out way past Ah-di-na campground, the normal put-in. The gradient mellowed out, and character changed to class II for many miles. We hoped to push past the confluence with Squaw Valley Creek the first day, but wanted to camp in the last bit of sunlight too. Assuming we had not noticed the confluence, we choose a campsite and setup for the evening.

Looking upstream, the McCloud contains miles and miles of rapids like this above the Squaw Valley Creek confluence.

Dan gets into the zone.

Squaw Valley Creek is a major tributary of the McCloud River, and to our delight at the confluence the flow bumped up by a third. The riverbed also starts to get occasional sections of bedrock, and a few beautiful mini gorges reminiscent of the South Fork Smith.

Dan enjoys one of the better rapids on the lower McCloud.

The scenery on the lower McCloud is really what it’s all about.

This is a typical rapid in the lower section of the McCloud.

The wildlife is abundant too, we saw eagles, osprey, and one bear drinking out of the river.

Further into the run, rapids space out a lot more with one larger IV+ thrown into the mix, well described in California Creeks.

Eventually rapids peter out into the occasional class II with long sections of flatwater between rapids.

Dan having fun on one of the last good rapids.

The McCloud would be an epic run with flows around 1,500cfs, but at 600 we were both disappointed with the run. We hit rocks in every rapid minus two or three of the better ones. Without the diversion, the McCloud would be the perfect late summer two day event, but as it is, water comes into the run too late to justify slogging down to the Squaw Valley Creek confluence. There are really just a handful of good rapids in the twenty plus miles on the river, although I am sure it would pick up at high flows. For class III-IV boaters looking for an overnight to get started on, I’d recommend this run if flows are above 800cfs. California Creeks does a great job describing the long shuttle too.

Klamath River on a winter morning.

The majority of water in the South Fork Salmon comes from a glacier high in the Trinity Alps Wilderness. The rest of the water flows out of the Russian Wilderness, guaranteeing first rate water quality on the South Fork Salmon, even when it’s flooding.

All pictures from this trip with the Salmon gauge at 4’

Overlooked by guidebooks the Methodist Creek run on the South Fork is one of California’s best intermediate kayaking runs. It sees regular use by Otter Bar’s classes, and many people say that it is the best run to learn on because it has distinct moves, well defined features and strong eddy lines. At higher flows the South Fork Salmon also has tons of play, making it a good run for mixed abilities. The scenery is great even though the run is roadside, the road is out of view the majority of the time.

Great scenery combined with friendly rapids.

Good pool drop rapids continue for many miles.

You can take out at Forks of the Salmon, or continue downstream through class I-II for several miles to Nordheimer River Access.

There is parking and a trail to the river at Methodist Creek for immediate class III fulfillment, or you can put in further upstream at plentiful access spots for a class II warm up.

Look for 700-2,000cfs on Chris Shackelton’s Dreamflows Estimate for the South Fork Salmon.

The McCloud River flows off the southern side of Mt Shasta, and after dropping over two large waterfalls it flows through a beautiful class II-III (IV) run before being impounded in McCloud Reservoir. Springs supply year round flows in the McCloud, and the water is crystal clear and just above freezing.

Early morning fog at the McCloud Reservoir.

I had done the McCloud years ago as a beginning boater, and swore never to return due to boulder bar rapids and the cold water. I always knew I would have to go back and get photographs at some time though, and as December arrived without any precipitation, I started motivating to get on the McCloud.

I really enjoyed the run this time, I think having a drysuit and pogies made a large difference over my previous wetsuit experience. The first time we put on at Fowler Falls, and scraped down over a mile of rocky rapids before Little Springs came into the river. This time we drove as far downstream as possible and hiked another half mile or so to right above Little Springs, an ideal put in for base flows that eliminates all the scraping endured on our previous trip. The class IV rapid is above Little Springs, so even when water is up a class III boater could put in here and enjoy the McCloud.

Flows are still a little low but acceptable for another half mile, until Big Springs pours in doubling the flow in good fashion.

Nick runs the rapid at the base of Big Springs.

Normally this run is done mid summer, so the heat offsets the cold water. December wasn’t the same story, but it gave us scenery bonuses.

Right below Big Springs is one of the best rapids on the run, a long II+ rapid that stacks up to class III because it’s about two hundred yards long and fun. The general character of the run is very continuous class II with moving water in between. Nothing in particular stood out to me, but the river keeps you moving at a good pace downstream, dodging rocks and hopefully taking time to look up and enjoy the scenery.

James Mitchell splashing it up on the McCloud River.

Eventually after many miles of twists and turns the McCloud goes under a bridge and mellows out, flowing through the Hearst Estate, my largest motivation to return and get some pictures. Paddling through this fairy tale scenery has to be done at least once. Usually any sign of civilization on the river is a detraction from the scenery, but they know how to do it right.

This little one is my personal favorite.

Paddling three miles of flat water isn’t my idea of fun, but thanks to low lake levels the length of flat water paddling was significantly shortened.

The McCloud really is a scenic wonderland, and while the rapids aren’t particularly challenging, the current keeps you moving downstream and the views make it worthwhile as a novelty that I would recommend as a “must do once” kind of run. Bill Tuthill’s CaCreeks also has a great write-up with shuttle directions. While in the area, the rarely run Upper and Middle McCloud Falls are worth checking out for viewing pleasure.

Middle McCloud Falls

Had we finally been defeated after a month of bushwhacking, cold weather and minimal flows? During our time in Newfoundland we put for the effort, driving over 5,000 kilometers, including a trip to Labrador and Quebec in pursuit of water. While checking the flight schedule in Deer Lake we found we had several hours to kill before Ben flew out.

Going to a local eatery to capture Chris’s footage, we were able to check the weather and email. Our local contact, Chris Buchanan, had sent an email about rain on the west coast of the island. Chris and I had a flight out of St Johns and several errands to run in town, so we dropped Ben off for his flight and embarked on the all day drive to St Johns.

It was nearly midnight when we arrived, tired but energetic from the lack of exercise. Lacking a phone and not wanting to wake our locals, we camped out in town and waited to see what our last two days would bring.

While cleaning out borrowed gear and our car we got in contact with Chris, who had the afternoon off and thought flows might still be up a little. We ran just out of town for a quick run down Bay Bulls Brook.

Chris Korbulic having a great run down the largest drop of Bay Bulls.

Chris Buchanan on the same.

Our appetites were awakened by this bit paddling, and when an un-run waterfall within two hours of town was mentioned, we were in. Joined by KNL member Dave MacDonald we set off for what was promised to be a “fifty minute” hike on a “trail” accessing Little Harbor River. We all knew Chris was blowing sunshine up our skirts on this one, and soon enough the trail disappeared into bogs and tuckamore.

Darin McQuoid, photo courtesy Dave MacDonald

Where did the trail go? Dave MacDonald enjoying the view.

It wasn’t too bad at first, but in the last half kilometer it turned into a full on mission through thick blowdown.

Darin McQuoid, photo courtesy Dave MacDonald

We could hear it long before we got there. Chris and Dave thought it would go but weren’t completely sure. What a beautiful sight after the hike.

Typical to Newfoundland this drop had many ill placed flakes and ledges, but we knew there had to be a line in it somewhere. After some fairly extensive scouting we found a good looking line about three feet wide, dropping over a green tongue between two flakes and melting a fold and freefalling into the hopefully deep pool.

Lining it up at the lip, Darin McQuoid, photo courtesy Dave MacDonald

Following a perfect eddy line as a line up marker, I dropped over the lip expected to bump a flake a little on the way down, but accelerated over the lip with no contact and tucked halfway down, melting into the bottom and resurfacing upright with a grin miles wide. Epic photo taken by Dave MacDonald.

With the line being even cleaner than it looked, Chris Buchanan followed next, stomping a great line.

Dave MacDonald went next, and as he dropped over I slipped on the steep slope, missing the shot but still getting a bit of one as he melted into the fold.

All good to go, Chris Korbulic stomps a perfect line down the falls.

There was no better way to finish our trip that running the first descent of a proud forty footer. During the paddle down to the inlet and our cars we enjoyed gorgeous scenery and good company, dreaming of coming back to Newfoundland with better flows for more kayaking.

While driving south from the Torrent River, we caught a glimpse of a gigantic waterfall in Steady Brook, a ski mountain village only five minutes north of our destination; Corner Brook.

Scouting the waterfall, Chris Korbulic and I enjoyed the view and then wrote it off, and from the viewing platform it looked pretty flat above the falls too.

A cliché waterfall slow shutter picture was mandatory.

When we talked to Ben Stookesberry back in town, he checked the topographical map and sure enough there was plenty of gradient above the falls, and with a light overnight rain we headed back up to Steady Brook in the morning. Our access was great, we followed the road all the way up to the inlet for the town water supply and put in below it.

Right off the bat this river felt like home to me, kind of small, a bit manky and steep. Nick Troutman paddles off around a blind corner on Steady Brook.

With steep gradient and blind corners, we had already scouted several times before arriving at a decent sized slide. I got a quick verbal of “down the left channel, enter just to the left of the rock” followed by “it’s manky, just keep it upright and pointed downstream”. I came in the right spot and kept it downstream, but ¾ of the way down pitoned something and came all the way over the handle bars onto my face and chest. I distinctly remember thinking “I’m so glad I have a full face and body armor on”. It paid off on this one, I rolled up before the bottom and was ok, didn’t really even take a hit.

Ben running the mank slide on Steady Brook.

Nick went next and had no problems, skipping down the mank with ease. Chris lined up and his bow got pushed a bit left in the entrance, causing his boat to catch on the shallow rocks and tip him downstream.

To our surprise he stopped upside down, in a low volume slide pin, but using just his knuckles he pushed his way upright and out of the pin.
Chris, with a good attitude towards the most torn up knuckles I’ve ever seen.

We regrouped at the bottom of the slide and Ben hiked out due to some equipment issues, and Nick, Chris and I debated hiking out but opted to push down for this “quality first descent”.

Surprisingly enough the run started to clean up, and we ran some fun rapids and boofs before the next major horizon line.

Nick Troutman

Chris Korbulic

Chris Korbulic

Nick Troutman

Then all the sudden we were at a markedly larger horizon line. We scouted down the right and then began to debate our options. The drop was nothing too huge, a thirty foot waterfall, but it had a tricky lead in, with at the lip move and questionable depth landing. We discussed options of portaging, which looked bad, hiking out, which looked ok, and splitting up. After the slide incident we understood why Chris just wasn’t feeling it, and Nick’s back was sore from the Leg Pond Feeder incident. Beautiful rock really set this falls off, and I had a special feeling about it. However I really wanted someone else to go first because the photograph from above would have been epic.

We decided that I would probe and see how it went, if it was a soft hit Nick would follow and Chris would take video and then hike out on the left. It was exceptionally cold out, just a few degrees above freezing, so I did a bunch of jumping jacks and arm swinging to get my blood flowing again, knowing I would have to paddle a bit for this one.

The entry was a two foot boof landing on the lip of a sticky pour over hole, then the water slalomed from wall to wall and slid moving to the right off the waterfall, which had a shelf on the right. The key would be not getting stuck in the first hole, and then making a late right to left move at the lip of the falls, straightening out just at the last second.

All fired up and ready to go I eddied out above, signaled to the team and peeled out. Boofing the first hole, and melting into the second hole, I wasn’t surprised to have to power through the backwash into the slalom, which went by quicker than I expected. As the lip approached I drove to the left, and at the last second took a bit left stroke to straighten out and tuck, melting at the bottom. Resurfacing upright I was thankful that my line had worked out as well as I had imagined.

Nick Troutman gets left on the waterfall.

I quickly scouted around the blind corner that was downstream, and saw a large eddy. Nick and I paddled around the corner, and sure enough, we were at the take-out! The horizon line of Steady Brook Falls was just gigantic, so we had to get a picture of it. The house by Nick’s leg is all the way on the other side of the Humber River.

Grateful to have another fun run in the books, we headed back to Corner Brook to find a coffee shop, warm up and check the weather.

The Cloud River is one of the larger drainages in Newfoundland. We had perfect flows and it had still not rained, so we knew we had our work cut out for us to find something with water. We also had to make it back to Deer Lake to drop off some of the crew at the airport in two days.

We started the drive south with our fingers crossed, but found everything to be dismally low, and pulled into Rocky Harbor to check the weather and stay the night.

The evening was delightful and the forecast called for overnight rain.

As evening turned into night it brought minimal amounts of rain but plenty of wind, at speeds high enough to blow me around in the tent. Good thing it was tied to the car.

Water levels didn’t come up overnight, and after dropping off some of the boys and getting a new rental, we headed up to Labrador figuring that there would be water in at least the Bradore River.
The wonderful ferry to Labrador.

Once in Labrador we drove straight to the Bradore and camped out. Waking up to a cold morning we found that flows were way too low.

So we drove south all the way to the end of the road, literally.

Then we drove more heading north.

We drove all the way up to the Pinware River and found that it had a class II-III section flowing, but caught a spike from a snow machine in a tire and had to turn back south to get it fixed.

Discouraged by no water and a daytime high of one, and with a forecast for “frozen rain pellets” we got back on the ferry to Newfoundland.

Ben looks at the options.

Back on the island we decide to head south, hope for good weather, and if there wasn’t any in the forecast, fly standby home.

We had driven past the Torrent River three times already, but knowing Brandon Knapp and Johnny had already run it, we ignored it. Knowing they had a serious lack of water when they ran it prompted us to take a look, and it turned into a quick park and huck in the cold weather. We were psyched just to get on the water at this point, and the chunky waterfall looked pleasing.

Nick Troutman

Chris Korbulic

Jesse Coombs

Then we quickly packed up and headed to Corner Brook, hoping that the rain in the forecast would come through for us.

Elated by the first descent of Doctor’s Brook we checked the map and while driving to find more water, ran into some local hunters. Full of both local color and local knowledge they pointed us towards a “Niagara” sized waterfall on a tributary high up in the mountains.

Satisfied with the beta we headed deep into the hills next morning, Chris and I struggled to keep the rental in sight as EJ flew down the pothole filled dirt roads.

Scurrying around a corner it came into view and we instantly knew we had found it, she certainly was large. View from about two kilometers away.

The falls were over a kilometer away and we were surrounded by logging roads. Wasting almost an hour of driving we were back where we had first seen the falls and commenced gearing up, using as much humor as possible to delay changing in frigid temperatures. “I’d better just stay here, the best shot is from the car”.

Eric Jackson showing off his backing up skills (they’re good).

Thirty minutes of hiking through typical Newfoundland “tuckamore” and downed trees had our highly motivated group at the base of the falls.
Jesse Coombs

We all smiled looking at the stacked up gradient.

Post drooling over the gradient a quick hike led us to the base of the largest drop. The first big drop looked quite dubious from the road, and once we gained a view of the base our suspicions were confirmed. At most three inches of water was all the padded the landing of a fifty foot freefall. We had high hopes for the thirty to forty foot waterfall downstream, which unfortunately landed on a pile of rocks. Well at least there was still plenty of gradient left.

The boys scouting up the first good drop.

The river split around an island, the right side dropping full force onto rocks, and on the left a nice juicy lead in dropped over a thirty foot sliding waterfall that everyone enjoyed.

Joel Kowalski enjoying the first sliding falls of Leg Pond Feeder.

Just downstream was a slide that during the hike looked innocuous enough, but deeper inspection revealed a slide dropping about thirty feet, landing in a big hole on the right and a rock shelf on the left.

Ben Stookesberry opted to probe the slide first, and made a strong left to right move boofing through the hole with no problems. EJ followed suit with a different but equally effective line.

Dane Jackson went next, taking a piton and having one of the scariest swims I have ever been witness too, described in detail by EJ here. All I can say is he is an absolute champion to keep up the good attitude.

Chris and Joel went next, both styling the line and making it look easy.

Chris Korbulic

Filming from the top, Nick went last and was pushed too far right and clipped shallow rocks, causing us all to have a minor heart attack as he flipped over, falling onto the barely submerged shelf on the left. Ejecting on impact, Nick floated still in the water for a second before making an attempt to swim. EJ pulled him to shore where he signaled ok, suffering a concussion and sore back. We were all relieved the injuries were so minor considering the circumstances.

A picture tells a thousand words, Nick Troutman.

After the rough treatment by Leg Pond Feeder, we started the long drive back out to the highway. Thanks to Nick’s cell phone we were able to secure a flight through Portland Creek Outfitters. A late night drive took us all the way to the small port town of Roddickton on the east side of the Northern Peninsula. Here we would paddle out from our two day descent of the reputed Cloud River.

Some bumps and bruises, but thankfully everyone was ok.

Fantasy Falls of the Mokelumne is one of California’s classic High Sierra Multi-Day runs. None in our group had done the run so we packed for four days on the water, which was a lot of weight in food. Here we are packing up the boats. I was stoked about the new bulkhead in the Rocker, it let me put a lot of my food up front and balance out the weight of gear. The seat setup also allows easy access to store bulky items in the stern.

Chris Korbulic


Fantasy Falls proper.

Following photos of me enjoying Fantasy Falls and the Rocker are from Kevin Smith.

South Silver is the run everyone thinks of when kayaking in California is mentioned, yet I had never made the trek down to get on it. A tributary of the South Fork American, South Silver has been well documented in both video and picture.

Another sunny California day found Chris Korbulic and I roaming around the state looking for the goods. Due to a serious lack of snowpack we were looking hard and moving fast. After a quick run down Love’s Falls we made some calls and found that the run we were looking at had already dropped out, but Kevin Smith thought South Silver would be at perfect to high flows. South Silver had been on both of our radars for a long time. Over the years I had also developed a vague impression that the run was over-rated and a bit played out for lack of better words. Chris had similar feelings but we were looking forward to finally getting on this classic.

We arrived the night before our run and hiked up from Ice House Reservoir to check flows, which we quickly deemed to be perfect and then we spent some time contemplating Skyscraper, an aptly named drop on South Silver.

The next morning while driving back up we met up with another boater coming down who informed us it was “way too high” which surprised us considering out scout with ideal flows the previous evening. Kevin arrived after a short wait and although it was higher than he had seen it before, he agreed it looked good to go so we were off to the put-in.

A ten minute hike found us at the top of Autobahn, and after quick verbal instructions I took off down one of the best starts to a day I have ever had.

Kevin Smith boofing the top of Autobahn.

Kevin finishing Autobahn on the right.

Next up were several more drops, many that I don’t know the name of, but they were all good fun.

Chris Korbulic running a set of ledges.

Kevin on boof, boof, slide.

Next up were the tea cups, which at these flows were really just a sweet lead in for Skyscraper. There was an eddy on the right and one last one on the left above Skyscraper.

Chris Korbulic boofing through one of the tea cups.

…and another with the big horizon line downstream.

Skyscraper is the largest and much photographed drop of South Silver, and it’s a clean slide that at these flows leads straight into Off-Ramp, another slide that has a sieve on the bottom right, necessitating left angle at the bottom.

Chris Korbulic probes away through Skyscraper and Off-Ramp.

Chris styling down through Off-Ramp.

Off-Ramp really isn’t as steep as it looks, here is the view from up above.

We took turns filming, setting safety and getting shots while Chris and I each took another lap through Skyscraper and Kevin had a good line his first time running Skyscraper. After a quick portage around the sieve below Off-Ramp we made quick time down through several more drops, not sure what this fun one is.

Chris having fun on South Silver.

We gave Plastic Surgery a good long look, because at these flows the holes get greedy and the pool above the final drop is just backwash into the hole, so speed is needed.
Chris trying to work his way into the center of the final drop on Plastic Surgery.

South Silver is an absolute classic, and I thought we had optimum flows for class V boaters. It’s pure fun with good coverage at these flows, and although some of the pools get short there are still enough eddys and the coverage is superb. South Silver is often run with a lot less water and mellows out quite a bit. It would get full on pretty quickly with much more water than we had. Dreamflows has a detailed write-up with shuttle directions and pictures.

Jefferson State Creeking