So, back in 91 my backpacking buddy, Scott, says to me "let's go rafting"! Of Course I say OK! We join up with a couple of guys as one has some white water experience and start preparing for the trip down the NFAR from Euchre Bar to Lake Clementine. I sent off letters asking for info about what was past Green Valley as I had no experience beyond GV.. The critical response came the day after we left for the trip and fortunately was not opened by the wife at the time.
Drove up to Auburn, had some food, dropped a car off at Lake Clementine and drove around to the Euchre Bar trailhead, shouldered our packs of food, camping gear and rafts (2 man yellow rubber duckies) and headed down the trail. Had a nice meal around the camp fire and settled down for the night. In the morning we inflated the rafts and started the float trip down river. I should note that the water flow at that time was 92 cubic feet per second so we portaged A Lot. We went into the white S curve at the end of Euchre Bar and headed into the first canyon full of rocks, rock walls, a jammed tree or two and some mighty hot sunshine. In general we made it through the first canyon OK. Going through the 8' wide entry portal to Green Valley was special to me as by that time I'd not been in GV for some years. From the entry portal to GV the Giant Gap/Lovers Leap Gorge loomed before us even though it was some distance down river. As we swung through the turns below Snake Head Point we, my buddy and I, were lucky enough to find a two man cross cut saw about 6' in length. The unlucky part was that we found it snagged into one of the rafts air bladders. After the repair and moving the saw off to the side wall about where the creek comes out of the sidewall on the Alta side of the river we continued on our way towards our evening destiny. Somewhere under Giant Gap is a 4' waterfall, we were not aware of its specific existence though we soon learned about it.
Somehow I became bow man for our raft at the start of the trip so I got to see what was coming first. This must have been exciting for me as by the time we were about to enter Giant Gap I was almost hoarse from yelling instructions or maybe just simply screaming, with pleasure and excitement of course. Our rafting companions who were following us were likely not having quite as much fun as I/we were. One of these fellows was supposed to be teaching all of us but that never worked out. So, with tepid water all around us we swept past the old cabin/mining area on the Foresthill side of the river and into the Gorge we went. Now that I'm writing this I recall a section of the Fellowship of the Ring of Hobbit lore movie where they passed by high walls with the carving of the two giant sentinels on either side, going into Giant Gap Gorge reminds me of that though only the carvings of Ma nature are there. Once in the canyon one can hear the echo's of the water as it breaks up on the rocks (other more dainty stories might call this the "babbling of the water") I will stay away from being Poetic about this trip, the water was breaking up on the rocks and I did not want to be breaking up on the rocks. At one point it is obvious that the tone of the echo's is more like a roar. The walls are 10' to 12' out to 15' in a few spots at the current level of the water and the water is relatively deep say 8' to 10' though the depth is more of a guess as I did not get out to check it.
As the sound before us grew the pucker factor also increased. Exiting a bend in the river I could see down stream there was a good sized jam-up of rocks from the canyon walls caving in. We were floating along at a comfortable rate, not to slow and not to fast, though the angle of the river through the gorge is steeper than the river angle at either end of the gorge so we are moving faster than we were going through Green Valley. As we approach the rocks I can see there is a good sized irregular gap between the rocks and a falls at that gap, the raft starts to turn sideways, I jam my oar into the water performing a breaking action on the left side, the nose straightens out and over we go. The nose of the raft bends with my weight dumping me into the water, I feel the current energy of the falls drag me down(this is called a reversal where the energy of the water pulls the river in front of the falls back into the dropping water) and down I go spinning, holding onto my paddle. As I reach the point at which my buoyancy is greater than the force of the reversal I start to go up and the river carries me forward and of course I come up underneath the raft. I come out from under it and break the surface for a nice breath of fresh air! As the other end of the raft went over the falls it dumped my partner into the river as well (I will note here that of all the rafting trips I've taken down the NFAR even knowing the falls is there I've never managed to not fall out at that spot).
We pull our raft over to one side to wait for our rafting partners. My buddy climbs the rock jam back up river and waits to guide the next raft through. I take the time to pry open the new/clean paint can that is keeping my dry land camera safe. As the second raft approaches I am ready to photograph their thrilling ride/incident. Scott guides them expertly so their raft goes nose first over the falls, bowman goes out, aft man tips over backwards BUT unfortunately all of their gear is pulled from their raft and drops to the bottom of the river. We are approximately right below the highest point of Giant Gap, the walls are nearly vertical and now we must dive to reclaim their gear and it is heading into late afternoon and we are in shadows.
After having most of their gear recovered we refill their raft and float forward. Again, this is our first trip down the NFAR and I/we are now in unknown territory nor do we really know just where we are at. A few river bends further down we come to a wide spot and decide to spend the night there. The gear of the second rafters is soaking wet including their sleeping bags. There is drift wood here and we get a fire going. My buddy and I share what we can with them including a new "Space Blanket" (remember those?). They are advised to roll up in the blanket and stay close together during the night for warmth. That did not happen. Turns out the gorge is very windy at night and under different circumstances that would not have been troublesome but fortunately it was not so windy that it blew the fire out. Rocks do not burn so we had no fear of starting a forest fire in that location as there was no forest to burn Down there. The night was uncomfortable and restless.
At first heavy light we were all up packing for the 30 to 45 minute ride to Pickering bar, if we had only known! At Pickering we stopped for the day so that equipment could be dried and some sound rest could be had. Getting to Pickering was interesting as just before the calm water there is what I call the Stair Step Falls. All one needs to do is line the nose of the raft up to the center of the chute and hold on! Falling out of the raft at this location would not be a good thing as the rocks are right there. At this level of the river the chute is narrow and ones knuckles are exposed to the rock wall on the immediate right side, but since I was in real need of holding onto the rope that went all the way around the raft I did not especially mind meeting the side wall with my knuckles. Let's take a break for some pictures -
What morning raft preparation would look like
Our raft "The Invincible", yes those are backpack frames on the tubes
"S" curve at entrance of first gorge
Waiting
Saddle up
At the 4' falls
Committed
Heading down
On the surface
Looking down the canyon
In Giant Gap Gorge 4 the night
"Stair Step Falls" about center
Just past stair step
Investigating the incoming creek
Scott on top
Our raft from the top of creek falls
Could be most anywhere on the NFAR
Mumford on the winter river bed away from the log cabin
This is likely 1982 in Alaska with a glacier in the background. Rough country! And yes we did find some gold, that is my brother and I.
I felt as if I was there with you the whole time. Only you could crash and burn and think "PHOTO OP!"
