August 10...etc: Six Mile Creek

It took me a while but I am finally starting to meet some members of the whitewater community.  A couple of weekends ago (In July) a group of local guys were nice enough to invite me on their Six-Mile Creek paddle. It was about time for me to get on some whitewater after close to three "very dry" months!! We all had a great time and fortunately I remembered how to paddle, surf and roll.

At the levels at which I have paddled it, Six Mile is a nice class IV run: a succession of three canyons increasing in narrowness, difficulty and intensity. The run is supposed to become a class V at higher flows, which makes a lot of sense as the third canyon is sometimes so narrow that higher flows must make it very intense and pushy. Overall it is a very fun run, with pretty light blue/green water running through a steep canyon and guarded by mountains.  As a bonus, bald eagles have that nice habit of coming and say hello towards the end of the run, something that seems as extraordinary to the locals as pigeons on Saint Marks Square in Venice.

The weekend of August 10 was the Six Mile Creek whitewater festival.  I could not make it to the Fest but on Sunday, I paddled with a very nice group of women.  All of us floated down the first canyon and some took out after the first or second canyon.

Seventeen Enders in the First Canyon of Six-Mile Creek

The Gang

 Before the third canyon, our group, that was down to four paddlers, blended with a large group of guys and our happy flotilla, clearly under the influence of some whitewater euphoria, proceeded down the river with cheers and hollers.

Down the Third Canyon

I had the chance to paddle Six-Miles two more times after that but somehow these must not have been meant to be documented as for one of them, I forgot my camera and for the second one I did bring the camera but forgot to put a memory card in it.  At this point I suspect I might have paddled that creek a few more times but probably forgot my brain at home.  This said (and as far as I remember) I am starting to know the river but cannot wait to paddle it at higher flows, which should fully bring out the personality of that third canyon.

So stay tuned for an update about a high(er) water Six-Mile run and hopefully more pictures!