Mile 976 to 991.

The river was still raging when we woke at our impromptu campsite. Still recovering from the hellish day that was yesterday, we packed up and moved on quickly. We wanted to make it to Kerrick Creek before the water had a chance to rise.

We continued the descent from Seavy Pass  and were still encountering snow patches all the way to Kerrick Creek. When we arrived, Beastie and GoPro were on the otherside. They pointed us towards a large tree laying across the river. The river was running fast and deep so the tree was the only option and it was a pretty decent one since it was large and fully above water. The sketchiest part was walking up the little trees that formed a gangplank of sorts to get on top. We all crossed successfully. There was a secondary cross right after that got us wet up to our knees, but it went smoothly as well.

With Kerrick Creek out of the way, we moved on to the next challenge of the day. Two climbs that gained 700 and 1,000 feet, respectively. I enjoyed both climbs and they went well even though the trail was often a river and in some cases a small waterfall.

I am quickly giving up on the idea that anything I wear will dry on this section. My shoes haven’t been dry since I started, my socks are constantly being submersed in rivers or snowmelt, and my pants are soaked from the knee down more often than not. Wetness and coldness are just facts of life out here.

The descent off the second climb was a challenge because there were snow patches everywhere. They are often 6 or 7 feet high and hide the trail so you have no clue if it is continuing straight or making a right or left underneath them. Not only does it slow you down, but navigation becomes a nightmare. Add in trees and steep slopes and you have yourself a real headache. I am constantly trying not to fall or loss the trail, but usually failing at one of those.

After a nice lunch break where we enjoyed not walking, we started on our way again and hit an unexpected road block in the form of Wide Creek. It caught us by surprise because it wasn’t one of the “big name” crossings that people talk about. It certainly lived up to its namesake being about 40 feet across, deep, and with a strong current. GoPro and Steale were on the otherside. Steale made it most of the way across, but hit a deep spot with the strongest current he had felt yet and had to swim the last bit because he was being pushed down stream. GoPro crossed further down, but the water came up to his collarbone. He said he was more swimming than walking. All this took place an hour ago and the water had risen a foot since then they estimated because some of the trees that were sticking out of the river were now fully submerged.

Either way we crossed, it looked like we would be swimming. I favored the crossing upstream where Steale crossed since it was less deep, but Vipr thought the second and deeper option was better for Fun Dip since the current seemed slower.

Since we would be swimming it, Vipr had the good idea to blow up her sleeping pad and use it like a floaty. There is basically no way you could swim a river like this with a 40 pound pack on your back. You would just sink like a rock.

Vipr blew up her pad and folded it over. GoPro yelled for her to start upstream and aim for him on the otherside. Bedazzled offered to go in and swim along her as she crossed. Vipr entered the water and started kicking. Her sleeping pad kept trying to escape her grasp, but she held tight.  However, she had entered with her shoes on and was having trouble kicking. The current was taking her down stream and for a second, I thought things were going to end horribly, but Bedazzled started to push Vipr from the back and together they somehow made progress across the river. GoPro ran further down river had grabbed onto the outstretched trekking pole Vipr had been holding and Vipr and Bedazzled both made it ashore.

Next up was me. After seeing Vipr cross successfully, I decided to cross at the same spot. I put my important items in a dry bag, blew up my air mattress, and took off my shoes and tied them to my pack. I decided to start further upstream to give myself more time to reach the otherside and also to try to use the current to carry myself along. The water was cold as I dipped into the river. Bedazzled, who had crossed back, was at my side. I pushed off with my mattress folded under me and my pack on my back and kick with all my might. At first I had a moment of worry because it didn’t seem like I was making any progress and was slipping down stream at an alarming rate, but I reoriented myself and started to move across the river as the current took me down stream. There was a submerged tree with the tail ends of its branches sticking out of the water and as I headed over those, Bedazzled backed off to avoid them and I lifted my legs the best I could. I was now halfway and put all my power into my legs and held on to my sleeping pad for dear life, literally. Before I knew it, I was grabbing an outstretched trekking pole and pulling myself ashore. “LAND HOE”, I yelled.

By this time, another group of three had arrived at the river and they prepared to cross in the same fashion. The first guy to go discovered that if you started from where I did, you could stand at the halfway point where the creek shallowed up and walk a bit before you had to swim the last leg. This was great information to have.

I decided to help Fun Dip swim across since she is the shortest in our group and might need the most help. I swam back across the cold river again and immediately stood in a sunny spot while she prepared. We entered the water at the same spot I did and Fun Dip yells, “kicking.” She certainly was kicking her heart out, but I was worried we weren’t getting across fast enough so I grabbed her backpack with one hand and the sleeping pad with the other and started to help push her along. We hit a spot where my feet found purchase on the river bed,  and I switched from swimming to walking (more like bouncing) along the bottom while the current pushed us down stream. “I think you can walk here,” I told Fun Dip. “My toes are barely touching,” she said. Realizing that time was of the essence and that the current was taking us further down, I walked and pushed Fun Dip along as she kicked. We made progress and soon there was an out stretched trekking pole to help pull us in!

The last up was Bedazzled. Vipr was originally going to help her across, but she wasn’t sure she could stand in the middle of the river so I substituted in for her. Bedazzled and I were on the wrong side of the river so we both had to swim back to the otherside so she could get her backpack, which had been left on the opposite bank while she assisted Vipr and me. Back into the freezing water we went.

By now, we new the plan of attack and we were prepared and knew what to expect. This would be the fifth time swimming across the river for both of us. We pushed off into the river and Bedazzled kicked and I pushed. Pretty soon we were in the middle and Bedazzled was able to stand and we bobbed across pushing off with or feet and letting the current taken us to the otherside. We made it!

We were both so chilled that we were shivering uncontrollably. I could hear my teeth chattering. GoPro grab my belongings and told me to go get in the sun and he would carry them over. Once in the sun, I put on my jacket and rain coat and shared Vipr’s sleeping bag with Bedazzled as we warmed up. We were thankful to be done with that bloody river and happy to be alive on the otherside. I can’t believe we frickin’ swam a river in the Sierra. This is turning out to be a gnarly adventure. I literally have no clue what tomorrow holds.

While we were drying out, another group of three arrived. We told them how we crossed. When we tried to point out where we crossed, we couldn’t find the tree we launched from because it was now fully submerged. That gives you an idea of how fast the water was rising. We saw them try and abort an attempt to cross on foot, but we don’t know what they did after that because we moved on. We did tell them it would be best to wait until tomorrow morning when the water level is lower.

We spent the next two hours hiking through more snow patches, flooded trail, and crossed a dozen more seasonal streams before finding GoPro and Steale, who had gone ahead, with camp set up and a fire blazing. We gladly joined them and spent the next 3 hours warming up and sharing stories.