In all the excitement of the near-monsoon forecasted for last week, I preemptively weaseled my way out of work for Friday. With very little difficulty, I convinced Han and Anthony to do the same. Although we all were psyched up for the Saint’s big water class IV, it was hard to be disappointed with 30”, blue skies, and a cleared calendar.
Coming into Fredericktown, we headed East to the Castor River. None of us really expected it to be running, but we wanted to check it out nonetheless. We ate breakfast on a peninsular rock in the middle of the third drop of the pink shut-ins. The entire valley was sparkling with the first hints of spring – just shaking off the dust after a long dormancy. As Anthony later put it, “how could this not be the greatest day ever? It started with huevos rancheros at the Castor!” And I couldn’t agree more.
On to the Saint Francis. The water was just licking the bottom of the bridge when we arrived. We hiked across to see Jim and Doris, the campground hosts. They seem to have taken a liking to the river people, or at the very least our circle. We brought over a plate of brownies, and Jim brought out some the driftwood walking sticks he’s been working on. Real Saint Francis originals. They invited us in, and we stuck around for almost an hour catching up on the campground happenings. They’re very good to us.
We ran into a guy named Ken, who I’ve paddled with a couple times. He, Jim, and the three of us packed ourselves into the Buick and made for Roselle to boat the upper and lower stretches of our river. Anthony and I were so excited we nearly wore ourselves out before even reaching Entrance Rapid. Stern squirts, bow initiations, rodeo rolls, all kinds of fun.
I’d say that we caught the upper at its optimal Class II play level. The first big surf wave came a little after the progenitors of twin holes I write about at higher water. Anthony grabbed a quick surf on this one before moving down to a slightly steeper wave behind it. I edged my way onto it. The wave was wide, glassy, and smooth. I carved from one shoulder to the other – then back again, I don’t know how many times. Almost 5 minutes of smooth, quiet, front surf. A little further down, the 360 hole was also in. I was in heaven. I got a couple spins under my belt before rejoining the others.
Anthony nailed a rockspin just on the way to Kitten’s Crossing. I caught the first of two big waves just above the rapid itself. The surf was good, but narrower and less retentive than my first wave. We moved down to the hole below the rapid. This one is formed by a big submerged rock and therefore has sort of a pour-over quality to it (at least when you’re sucked right up into its seam). But it’s gentle enough for play and has a good spin corner on surfer’s left. Anthony had already dialed in his side-surf by the time Han and I had a go at it.
I had never seen Hannah boat like she did Friday afternoon. She jumped right in and just let the feature throw her around as it pleased. It would grab one end, pull it down, then spit it out giving the entire boat a twist. And she’d just ride it out, happy as could be. I had never seen her throw ends in the star (may it rest in peace), much less in a high volume creeker. Before we left she was pulling off textbook flat-spins. Very, very cool!
Land of OZ is such a great rapid. Before the main drop are two surf waves. The first is smooth, wide, and green; the one right behind it is narrower, steeper, and much more dynamic. Anthony missed the first, but it slowed him down just enough to catch the second. It was a fast, bouncy ride, and he carved the hell out of it. I love watching him surf. Once he cleared out, I nabbed the first wave. This one was a lot like my first wave of the day – a great, fluid surf. Dropping into Anthony’s wave behind it, I realized that this was another animal altogether.
Surfing the first kind of wave well requires a certain self-assured calm, and that calm needs to be transmuted the through boat and paddle. The feedback from edges and paddle is delayed, so anticipation and relaxation are paramount for good surf. You can adjust for small mistakes, and most importantly you have the time make those adjustments. The second type is nothing of the sort. If the first were something like a breathing exercise, the second is more like a bar brawl. Everything all at once. The water coming into the wave is so fast, so irregular, and so powerful that feedback is instantaneous. Honestly, it’s like trying to ride a bull: you relinquish any illusion of control and simply respond to whatever it throws your way. It’s this type that sticks in your head and keeps you coming back for more. After a wild 30 seconds, I washed off and moved once more downriver without much of a say in it.
I don’t remember much about the shut-ins above Big Drop, but the drop itself was pretty cool. I caught a funky little eddy in a pocket of the rock, river right. From there, I was able to surf across the drop to the eddy right in the middle. It wasn’t very clean, but it was fun. Cat’s Paw we ran the straight route. Ken, Han, and Anthony caught the truckstop eddy, river right. I tried for the eddy behind Shark’s Fin. I got it, but only after riding most the way up the pillow rock to get there. Messy. I peeled out of there, thinking I could make up for it with a boof down the center line. Truthfully, I was thinking that boofing was the only way to get my sinky little boat through all that mess. Sailing a boat off Cat’s Paw’s last drop is such a great feeling when you get it right. Anthony and Han both had solid runs and we found some good play below the drop, too.
Look at that wave!!!
Double Drop is the one that will stick with me most from this run. Man we had fun! The hero eddy was barely big enough for my boat. When I looked over the horizon line from there, my jaw must have dropped. The buzz wave was huge, maybe 3.5’ tall, trough to crest, and pumpin’. The primo surf level and the second bronco-kind-of-wave for sure. I haven’t caught it there since my first year of paddling and may have started drooling a little. Immediately below me though was a pretty serious pour-over hole that I didn’t want to mess with. I signaled to Hannah and Anthony before slicing across above it. Apparently I need to work on my river communication, because Anthony and Han just decided to plow right on through. Anthony got an automatic stern stall out of it. Hannah was spectacularly back-endered! I’m not kidding, for a moment I saw every inch of hull suspended above the water. She rolled up with a, “WOAH that was fun!!” I could hardly believe it. Second time she shocked me that day.
Anthony
Anthony hopped onto the buzz wave with a ride that would have made the best boaters I know jealous. He was phenomenal. I spent a good 30 minutes and way too much energy trying to match it. I got some great rides, but none like his. I’m really impressed by how far both he and Hannah have come in the past year. I'm very proud of them.
Thanks for reading,
Rory
Upper and Lower
30” and dropping
55 degrees and Sunny
April 12, 2013
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