Shoal Creek runs through the north end of the Dawson Forest and there is usually not enough water to float a boat for a run. Yesterday was an exception. The wild weather that we have been having had Shoal Creek running high and for the first time it looked like we had enough water for a run.

SwampFox and I loaded up the canoe, drove to the downstream takeout point, left a vehicle, then headed back up to our put-in. We were quickly on our way, having no idea what we might discover. I have spent a lot of time walking about the area but there are places along the way where it is simply almost impossible to follow the creek bank.

The whole thing turned out to be a short but very enjoyable run. It was apparent that not many people had ever paddled this way, evidenced by the lack of trash and scrape marks on the shallow rocks. There are now a few scrape marks... but only here and there!

Dense forest and steep hillsides along either side of the creek were the norm, with little sign of anyone's having been there. The creek is clean and inviting, clear water flowing swiftly. There are a lot of riffles and minor stretches of "whitewater", but nothing to induce fear in a paddler. Very easy to concentrate on studying the big trees along the way.

Part way down the creek narrowed and there were cliffs on either side. Then ahead of us we saw the creek disappear through a narrow channel between huge boulders. There was the sound of white water! We pulled over and I got out to scout the rapid. Very impressive with fast deep water...and runnable. Minutes later we had run the chute and were bouncing along happily on the waves. It was impressive looking but in reality it was no more than a class II. Fun to run!

Now, about climbing the trees along the way. There a lot of them and difficult to choose from. There are a lot more on the hillsides above the creek. HOWEVER...we were enjoying ourselves so much that we were all the way to the end of the run before we realized that we hadn't stopped and climbed anything!

No problem! It gives us an excuse to go back and do it all over again... with a climb included.

You guys get to have waaaay too much fun!!!

-Leslie

SwampFox and I returned to Shoal Creek a couple days ago and this time, in addition to having ourselves a nice float down the creek, we stopped off and climbed ourselves a really big white pine overlooking the river at "Death'n'Destruction" rapids.

I even made video and for the first time ever I have a video to post!
http://youtu.be/kqKSew51JNo
You can thank Ron and SwampFox for the appearance of this video, because I am "digital video stupid!"

Photos below show SwampFox entering "Death'n'Destruction" rapids (D&D of course is a huge exxageration. Class II at best!). This photo is only the beginning...the rapids continue for almost a hundred yards and this was the top end and the "easy" part. Note that I have abandoned the canoe and left Jeff to "run" the rapid all by himself. The second photo is Jeff beginning his climb up "Death'n'Destruction."

A fun day in the woods!

The next time I come around I want you to show me this place. Looks like a lot of fun.

Why is there no sound in your video?

Nice job on the video, good to see moving pictures.
-AJ

Joe comes from the days of silent movies. Also notice the resolution, or definition, isn't that great. However, as Joe said that was his first. His next video was much, much improved. It's in HD and has sound! And, he is a good compositioner (is that a word ???) too!

My first vids were blurs moving in blurry trees!