Lower Big Creek from the Picnic area to the confluence with the
Pigeon. Class IV. Length-2 miles. Average gradient-162 feet per
mile. I am still smiling from the run I did today! I soloed what I
am almost certain is the first riverboard descent of Lower Big
Creek. It was great, but bring full padding for this one-shin
guards, kneepads, thigh pads, elbow pads, you get the picture. You
are going to be playing pinball and you are the ball. I ran it at
about 2.8 on the new gauge located on the bridge at the intersection
driving to the picnic area. I would have liked just a tad more water
to pad some rocks, but not too much more as things were out of
control enough as it was. There is no one rapid that is significant,
it is just almost continuous all the way down. This creek is one
long rapid from start to finish. You are going to be moving fast on
this one. I was only able to stop maybe four or five times at the
most to catch a breather and to scout mainly because my forearms were
killing me from holding on so tight. There were more eddies than the
ones I stopped in, I was just moving too fast to get into them. I
only recommend this one if you are comfortable reading water and
making moves on the fly and even with that said, be able to adapt,
because there were numerous times when I wanted to go one way and the
water decided to take me the other way. Also, be in great aerobic
condition because there were times I was breathing hard and my
forearms on fire and was just wishing for an eddy, but had to keep
going a few more rapids until I could find one. Don't take this one
lightly as there are places to pin or broach, wood in a few spots,
and some metal sticking up in one spot. There are also a lot of
times when one side of the board will hit a barely submerged rock and
send you rolling sideways, so staying upright is a task on this one.
I took out at the second bridge at a small roadside park a hundred
yards above where it runs into the Pigeon. There is a concrete weir
where Big Creek runs into the Pigeon and though it has been run by
kayakers before, I chose not to mess with any hydraulics from manmade
obstacles, especially when I was alone. Also, I recommend putting in
at the footbridge over the creek. I walked about 50 yards above it
to start with and pinned the front of my board against an underwater
rock for a few seconds in the first drop. Putting in at the bridge
will prevent this from happening. This one doesn't run often, but if
anyone ever wants to do it again, I'd be glad to go along so that you
won't have to solo it like I did.