40+ miles and a C5 with Mariah

Wow! That's amazing.

Jedmo

That looks so F&$#*ing COLD!!!!!!!
Lots of fun too.

Were you supposed to hit the bottom sideways? Wow, epic shots, very cool.

I did the Cherry Creek run last year with Sierra Mac, a LOT of class V. There were a few spots we deliberately bounced and spun the raft. I'm guessing that's what was going on in those last few shots.

Surf any holes?

Truly AWESOME Pics.... The wife and I Love to raft that river ... The "Tunnel Chute" is always a Rush...!!!
And your right... rafting a river with an experienced crew makes it more fun.... Big water...No Lilly Dippers....!!!!

Gue

Dope pics. Who took 'em?

There are 3 different companies that were working to help capture the moments on the south fork and only one(Hot Shots) that has access to the middle (and that is only at the tunnel chute) due to land/mining rights. Its too bad because its the middle fork that really brings it.
On the south fork, Mariah has a photo op girl (also beautiful) in a kayak who paddles ahead and sets up on the better rapids. Then there is Hot Shots and Vitaboating that are already set up at the prime areas. You get the idea that you may have a swim in your near future when you see cameras up ahead.

That looks so F&$#*ing COLD!!!!!!!
Lots of fun too.

Fear kept me warm but I have to confess that I wore neoshorts on the middle fork and was so happy that I did.
heres another example of the great job Katie at mariah did of capturing our adventure.

That looks like so much fun! Ive always wanted to try that but was thinking more like the Salinas River!!!

Were you supposed to hit the buttom sideways?

Absolutely not. When we hit that river right wall in the chute I screamed "we're screwed!!"
I thought we were going to pinball down the rest of it and be swimming for sure but we got lucky and we are pretty good at knocking down a highside.

Surf any holes?

You betcha! One of the reasons our guide had such a blast was that we wanted to surf, bronc, and pinball whenever we could, except the T-chute of course.

There was 10 of us on this trip. The other 5 were in another boat. Not as experienced and none of them had paddled together before. Kind of evil on our part not to split the talent but I just love watching other people swim, and they did, alot.
Not 1 paddler from our boat swam, but there were many close calls. The big difference was that we were always watching out for each other. If someone was going out, he had 1 and sometimes 2 hands reaching out for the big grab. There was a moment where I was going out at the top of a rapid that would have sent me swimming between the raft and a rock wall but my buddies were there with the grip and then of course the hazing.
this moment was also captured from multiple angles.

Nice save! Talk about documentation. If someone had shot my Cherry Creek swim, I'm not sure I'd want to look at them. 

My Lap top finally loaded this Awesome tale...

 I thought maybe it was a Thread about Rescuing Mariah Cary from another drug overdose and Having to use a C5 to do parajump to get to her....


 Now that I Know,.... Wow!!!   Great Shoot!!!!  Wild Ride!!!!


 That's the place where we do our swift water rescue training.....

 I'm actually not looking forward to my re-cert....  It's Frigging Scary Stuff!!!!!!   


 That river Jams right now.....

swimming sucks! but its the best kind of fear to experience and my all time favorite to watch. Like most good friends, we are really tough on each other. We took great pleasure in picking up the other boats swimmers and paddles and letting them know about it. Whenever one of them hit the water we would start screaming "PANIC! PANIC!" but at the same time there is definately another gear engaged to get to that swimmer. very exciting and im still sore from laughing.

oh yes, spotted a brownie that was worthy of a eastern sierra tackleshop wall. this river is a trout fishing wonderland.

here are a few shots of the tunnel chute, only C5 on the middle fork.
visually impressive but personally its the sound that really puts the grip on me.

On the south fork, Mariah has a photo op girl (also beautiful) in a kayak who paddles ahead and sets up on the better rapids.

Is her name Noel????

Katie
when I tipped her she said the that entire time she has been doing this only 3 other people have ever tipped her for taking pictures. people are lame

Spectacular Terry!  Man, it must take a large pair of stones to even consider such a thing, let alone actually tackle it.

I still can't believe you came out of the "sideways" picture unscathed.  And was it you who was heals up on the 1st page, 3rd post?  Anyway, way cool post!

Michael

 The thing that is really special about a trip like this is that it doesnt take the big brass to pull it off.
So much hinges on who else is in the boat with you, but any reasonably athletic and healthy person has easy access to this kind of fun.
folks who fish from kayaks should be plug and play on the S fork and even the M fork if there is solid chemistry in the boat.

and yep,  thats me in that sequence.
If you want to experience the true power of a standing wall of water I highly recommend this. another great example of the documentation in the second shot. It captures my attitude becoming a little less cavalier when I saw the hole and my friends excitment when realizing the experience I was about to have.
fortunatly there was no shot of my expression just before impact.

our guide is scheduled to have a blind paddler this weekend.
that is courage beyond my comprehension
nuff said

okay hydrospider now we pretty much know you're nuts

I'd be wearing a full-face bell helmet on that one