On a warm day in June a few years ago my partner and I decided to float the Middle Fork above Bear Creek. We hadn’t done this section before and read it was pretty mellow. We were looking for an excuse to get out and practice hiking in with gear. Coming up later in the season we had a couple big packrafting trips planned so we wanted to get our gear logistics dialed in. This turned out to be a perfect day for that.
The hike in was just under five miles and quite chill. The trail was under forest canopy most of the way so we stayed cool. There wasn’t much elevation gain either so we made good time. Arriving at our launching spot we took a break to have a snack and hydrate. Then we opened our packs and began to set up for the float.
I love organizing gear. And I think I am generally a very well organized person. But on this day I felt like I couldn’t think straight. I thought I was ready to hit the water so I inflated my boat. Then I realized I forgot to put something inside the TiZip zipper. I opened the zipper and stuffed the forgotten item inside the tube. Zzzzzzip, and the boat was closed again. Pump, pump, pump and now she’s inflated. Oh crap. Of course I forgot something else. Ugh.
After similar nonsense, probably three times forgetting to put something inside the raft we were finally under way. This was early June so the water was fairly high and moving quickly. We weren’t expecting class III or IV rapids but there was a reasonable amount of class II and easy III to be had. The several mile stretch of river to Bear Creek was not particularly exciting but it was scenic and the paddling was effortless.
The next stretch, Bear Creek to Essex was fantastic! The river was cruising right along and the rapids were tossy. This is my favorite stretch of the entire Middle Fork. The scenery was unbelievable and the rapids were big enough to be fun but not so big we were worried about dumping over.
Overall, the day was a great day on the water. While it wasn’t anything epic, by any stretch, it certainly had some key takeaways; 1. I learned the importance of being very attentive to what goes into the boat, and what stays out. 2. The new section of river was worth seeing and I would definitely make the hike again. 3. Early season is a whole different river than July and August.
Sometimes it’s good just to be happy with an average day on the river. There’s always something to see and learn. Not everything has to be super dope to be worthwhile.
Packraft 406 