Trinity River, Labor Day 2007

by Kit Hewitt



Charlie and Alice and I got off to a rough start for the labor Day weekend trip to the Trinity River.

We had decided to drive up in our van, a 1989 Chevy that Ron Pruitt sold us last fall and we have had parked in the driveway since. The battery was dead when we tested it on Thursday so we installed a new battery and it ran just fine for the shopping and other errands we ran getting ready for the trip. On Friday, planning on leaving at 2, we checked the oil at 3:30 Pm and since it was a little bit low we decided to add a quart of oil. As I poured it into the spout I heard a very disturbing gurgling and splashing under the engine and when I looked under I saw the last of the quart of oil splashing down onto the ground.

I showed this to Charlie and immediately called Keith, who was fortuitously in cell phone range. Plans were mumbled through, maybe we could go in the POST van if Keith could get a ride with John, calls jumped back and forth and the final result was that we decided that we would put some of our gear in the POST van and take our 1989 Honda up to the Trinity. In someways it was a better choice since we would have the comfort of air conditioning and really good seats in the Honda and the van doesn't have any of that.

So we got on the road in time for rush hour which was bumper to bumper from Vallejo past the confluence of 80 and 680 in Dixon. It was still something of a mess by Vacaville, but thinned out on 505. Then the biggest problem was keeping the speed down to 75 without cruise control.

We arrived at camp around 11 and put up with some twit who was playing their stereo loud enough to be bothersome. There was some confusion about the campsite reservations, too. Keith had reserved three sites up at the second level of Hayden Flat but after that a group of fundamentalists has reserved the remainder of the campground for a meeting. That's right the whole campground that was reservable was taken over by a religious meeting. The campsite issue was settled without difficulty before we arrived and thank goodness! The POST van arrived after 2 a.m. Don told me the music was still playing. I think people do that because they are afraid of the dark. Huge campfires, too.

In the morning we dragged ourselves out of tents and ate breakfast. The VerHages arrived from Arcata and after checking in with us they drove upstream from our put in so that Jake could paddle solo from Del Loma to Hayden Flat. Picture this. Jake is 9 and weighs about 60 pounds and is a boating fanatic. He is paddling a 14 foot solo canoe that weighs just about the same as he does, with no help from an adult except for instructions to follow the lead boat.

In the time it took us to get all our gear to the beach and shuttle the right vehicles Jake had soloed 2-3 miles of moving water!!!! I wouldn't even try that and I have been paddling 20 years. Then again, Jake has been paddling all his life. The parents parked the solo boat and joined us with Jake paddling tandem with Jan. While Ruthie (5) enjoyed the wild antics of her father in another solo canoe. I was paddling with Ray Cassell in my Caper, Charlie and Alice were in a POST Bluehole. It took a few turns downstream for Ray and I to fit together properly but then we surfed a wave or two and made some really elegant peelouts and ferries. I know the run is short enough that I can do some playing around without being dead tired at the end.

The high point for me was that Ray and I agreed to run Picket Fence instead of portaging it. The water was pretty low and not very pushy so we went down the right side, where I've been many times before. We missed all the rocks except the tangle at the bottom which we blasted through. Ray and I braced like mad and flushed out the bottom, just fine. Well "just fine" doesn't include all the adrenaline involved.

Yeee Haaa!

Wit brought his sweetie, Nancy, for her first trip and he offered her the opportunity to take lessons from Keith which led to them flipping twice and Nancy getting a major bruise on her hip. She wasn't very happy about the bruise but she is a game boater and she was back in a boat on Monday.

We found a beach with a tiny bit a shade for a lunch stop and after that, paddled down to the take out where we undid all the relaxation by getting off the river in 90 degree heat and a steep hill. Back at camp I tried to stay awake long enough to eat dinner and then woke up bright and cheerful as the first stars came out and everyone else was drifting off to bed.

Sunday, we were up early and after breakfast headed down to Hawkins Bar. I rode with Rich and Elaine, a couple from Oakland who know Charlie Pike. They have been paddling for many years but for some reason they have missed out on the whole POST thing. Rich came on my MFK American trip two years ago but Elaine hadn't been along yet. It was a nice visit.

Charlie and I lead the group since we were the most knowledgeable about this section. Rinse and Repeat, the first major rapid was a heart stopper at this flow (450 cfs) because the big wave that is so much fun at higher water revealed a stone heart at this flow. Charlie and I saw that and blasted to the right and successfully avoided it and the hole behind it. Many signals to folks to go right didn't seem to keep people from passing perilously close to the rock but the right was pretty shallow so all is forgiven.

Lunch Stop Rapid was really changed! The rock bar where we usually dismount to scout is now an island. The big shade rock where we usually have lunch was perched alongside a brisk flow of water and the beach where we once upon a time parked the boats was a small ledge of gravel damming up a sweet baby sized swimming hole. Karen swam the rapid at the bottom because she thought she was done and a rock had other ideas. The others tootled through nervously but without adventure. The take out came too soon, as usual, but we all had quite a few stops to swim and chat and generally enjoy ourselves.

Back at Camp Alice was babysitting Jake and Ruthie so Chuck and Jan could paddle Pigeon Point. Alice said she and Jake spent 7 hours swimming at the Hayden Flat Swimming hole.

Meanwhile the fundamentalists were also using the swimming hole for a baptism which Ruthie drifted into so she could see what was going on.

Later at dinner both of the kids had lots of questions about what was going on with the baptism.The fundamentalists had a holy rolling evening of it up on the hill above our site singing and speaking in tongues until about 10:30 or 11. Somehow, since the noise was so joyous, I didn't mind. I've been in campgrounds where the noise was from people getting so drunk that when a woman fell and broke her hip it took the rest of the group ten minutes to figure out that she was injured, they just assumed she was too drunk to get up.

Religious celebrations are fine with me.

Monday was hectic, trying to figure out where to put gear and people so they were on the runs they liked and their gear was with them when they went home. There were four solo canoes doing the Pigeon Pt run for the second time and the rest of us put in at a new access point about 1/4 mile up stream of the Big Flat Ranger Stations. Great access. There were enough fun rapids to play around and a good swimming hole.

We were on the highway headed home by 3:30. Alice, Charlie and I decided to head straight home instead of hanging with the van. We stopped at Pietro's #2 for dinner and missed everyone because they were eating at Bill and Kathy's at the 505 and 5 junction.

There was a flurry of emails yesterday and today getting people reunited with their gear and now on Wednesday, I am writing to you.

Thanks to Keith for all his hard work and Don for driving the van and handling the mish mash of gear. Thanks to the folks who provided food.