The Annual Gaptism

The title of this post is the result of what I call Gap-sanity; the point during your Giant Gap run in which you lose grip on reality. This loose mental state generally happens post-cables on river left and pre-pinball. Cam and I then started spitballing names for this specific run, finally settling on "Gaptism," which is defined as your first Giant Gap run of the season. It soon devolved into claiming we were the 69th day Gapventists here to perform a Gaptism. 

On a more serious note though, the Gap has a special place in my heart. It all began last season. I was just about couple months into paddling when I became aware of this classically legendary 14 mile backcountry run with a 1.5 mile approach. Even better, it took out at the put in for Chamberlain Falls, so I was constantly staring upstream at the end of our Chambies days, wondering what alluring rapids could exist up there.

The blue line represents the actual gauge readings; the green line represents the forecast.

Since all the guidebooks call it IV+/V- I didn’t think I would have the opportunity to run it so early in my paddling life. However as the winter of 2024 progressed I slowly worked through my skill progression and felt somewhat ready to give it a go. Backed up and bolstered by a few mentors, I decided it was time. As we hiked in that beautiful April day, I was flabbergasted at the beauty. Though my life has existed in the California foothills for a while now, this experience felt special. 

We had about 1200 cfs on the North Fork dam gauge (I never checked the stick at Mineral Bar) and the "warm up" gorge came and went quickly. 

Once in the gap itself things heated up in intensity and were not only manageable, but extremely enjoyable. In particular, I remember Five Alive as one of the coolest rapids I’d ever run. 

All said and done I emerged haggard but grinning ear to ear. Though I flipped three times, I vowed to clean up my lines for next time. Video of that run can be seen here. Just be forewarned that the footage quality is pretty close to garbage.

Fast forward to this winter; I was fired up to return and experience this place again. All winter I’d been eagerly watching the gauge, knowing that I’d want something like 1500 cfs on the North Fork dam gauge to have adequate flow in the gap itself (mineral bar is 22 miles upstream of the gauge; a non-insignificant amount of inflow enters below the Giant Gap takeout). 

As a storm approached this past weekend, the CNFRC models started to provide good results and phones started ringing as the stoke became palpable. 

Unfortunately, as the storm made landfall the forecasts began to fall apart, showing less and less precipitation during each model run. The night before the run should have shown a flow bump of at least 400cfs but we were instead seeing only minor increases of around 100 cfs. 

Mineral bar mornings. Usually we're putting in here for Chamberlain Falls.

One of the major challenges of this run is flow prediction, especially in winter. Some sources (A Wet State) have said that a minimum of 1200 cfs on the North Fork dam gauge will yield 700 cfs in the gap itself. I'm personally skeptical of this, as we had a similar amount in the Gap as on the gauge (within 100 cfs). 

Combine flow prediction struggles with the 1.5 mile hike and 14 mile paddle with short winter days, and it slowly becomes a challenging and somewhat stressful proposition. Throw in some low end flows and the class II/III paddle out becomes long and tedious (the hard rapids in the gap only last about 6-8 miles). 

After much commitment waffling, Cam and I decided to join Carson, Brianna, and Lev for a total group size of 5 which made for smooth express gap lap. We expected to have flows around 900-1,000 cfs. 

We met at 9am at Mineral Bar and coordinated shuttle. Thankfully Lev’s mom offered to drive my truck back to near the take out so we wouldn’t have to retrieve it at the end of the day. This was a godsend. 

The 30 minute shuttle ride went by quickly with all the chatter and excitement coursing through our veins. At put in, it was a crisp 35 F and clearing to sun. We all loaded up and prepped for the hike in. I made the mistake of wearing my dry suit on my lower half last time; this time I opted for skin to the wind PFD over skirt padding as a top, and half a union suit for bottoms. 

Prepping for the hike. Everyone does it differently. 

Skin to the wind! Be bold, start cold! This setup served me well. PFD over skirt.

I shouldered my boat for all of 10 minutes then decided it wasn’t worth the effort. Connecting my tow tether to my grab handles, I yielded all downhill control to my creek boat. Somehow after about 50 minutes of hiking down 1,500 vertical feet, we arrived at the river.

Since my Code cost me grand total of $550, I don't mind a few extra scratches in it's hull.

Looking upstream at Generation Gap.

Cam utilizing the preferred skirt-padded shouldering method. 

Putting on, I could tell that the flow was a bit lower than Iast. Also, the water was pretty cold. I mean cold. Like California cold. Speaking of, I’ve been lucky to not ever really need pogies in California (and I do think they look kinda silly) but I almost wanted a pair for those first few miles. 

The warm up gorge was similar to what I remember last, just a bit less pushy. Fortunately, the iconic river left waterfall was flowing and beautiful as ever. Of course I’m a moth to the waterfall flame and can’t resist going for the waterfall face shot. 

As the first gorge ends, the river opens up to Green Valley, a picturesque meadow where the gradient eases. Here is the last place you can hike out prior to the gap. As you round the final corners of Green Valley, Giant Gap’s walls begin to rise from the valley. Two successive house sized boulders mark the beginning of Giant Gap proper. 

Grater is the first significant class IV of the run, a manky affair that requires a left start then slowly moving center then ending back left left. It’s a great wake up call.

Almost immediately following Grater is Nutcracker, a class “V” (probably closer to IV+) that runs between a right wall and a mid stream house sized boulder, consisting of three drops and a commensurate number of accompanying crashing wave holes. Last April, I ran this on my head. 

By now, you are fully gorged out with no egress. The only way out is off and downriver. At the suggestion of Carson, I jumped out here and got some photos of folks running Nutcracker. I wouldn’t say these photos were my favorite as I think I had the wrong position relative to the subjects. Oh well, live and learn. 

Carson lining the Nutcracker (IV+) entrance up.

Cam getting pitted in Nutcracker (IV+).

Locomotive soon follows, a left hand bend in the gorge consisting of a double boof. At our flows, it was quite tame. But I hear it becomes a gnarly ledge hole at 1300-1500 cfs. 

Five Alive is up next, a double drop requiring left nose aimed at the wall, moving and finishing center. I hopped out before this rapid and grabbed some sweet shots of the crew rolling on through. 

One of my new favorites. Carson after the first move on Five Alive (IV+).

Who put that rock there?!

Lev angling for the final drop.

Welp, a bit too much right movement. Lev ferrying back to center.

Ok, actually who's putting these rocks here

More read and run fun class IV leads into Dominatrix and Dominator, a successive pair of IV to V boulder garden style drops, which generally marks the end of the hard rapids within the run. The nature of the run changes here as well, seeing the claustrophobic walls departing into a more open environment (and usually a return of the sun!). 

We scouted Dominator this go around and found the usual right sneak line was out of the question low. So all of us ran the toilet bowl meltdown line, which actually went quite smooth. Again, more photos followed.

Brianna entering the crux of Dominator (V-).

Carson rounding the corner of the same.

Carson disappearing into the fold.

I like this photos. So much going on here, almost like a new-age river renaissance painting. 

I’m not sure the name of the rapid, but there’s an unnamed IV+ downstream of Dominator that is basically a river wide ledge hole boof. Twice now I’ve experienced borderline spiritual experiences skipping out of that drop. 

At this point, a typical paddler (read: me) is pretty worn out from being on point and alert for a few hours. Luckily the rapids start to taper in difficulty, and the class II/III paddle out begins. 

We broke it up with a short break in the glorious January sun which was a welcome relief. By now we were at around 3 hours into the run, a respectably quick time given the lower flows and photo breaks. 

Sun?! In January?! Welcome to Cali, folks.

As the fatigue continues to set in, a pair of cables appears at around mile 10 on river left. Last April Cam said it was an indication that we “had just 20 minutes left.” He was wildly wrong that day and I vowed to never be lied to like that again. Maybe he actually meant an hour and 20 minutes...

Pinball (IV) is the cherry on top and is more characteristic of the downstream Chamberlain Falls. Last April I didn’t remember the rapid being anything above IV- so I cruised into it this time relaxed and soon found myself upside down and struggling to get purchase to roll. Thankfully I fired off a roll just above a sieve. Un thankfully, my GoPro died and I didn’t capture the legendary beatering. I’ll never forget Carson’s wide eye stare as I rolled up and boofed over the final ledge. 

All in all, another wonderful gap run under the belt. This place still holds a special place in my heart, more so now as I get to know it better. Not only that but it’s just 30 minutes from my doorstep. 

Video

Miscellaneous Thoughts

• Be bold and start cold for the hike. It’s hard work lugging creek boats, even downhill.

• Bring ALL of your emergency equipment. Food, lighters, space blankets, etc. Now is not the time to have an epic.

• There are actually quite a few places to scout/photograph inside of the gap itself. I've got a handful of new photo angles for next time.

• Take the time to get into position for photos. It's worth the extra couple of minutes. On that note, be sure your settings are correct and at baseline! Nothing worse than taking action shots with a slow shutter speed.

• Photoboating is hard! There are so many things to manage: delicate equipment in a hostile environment, nervous energy, often running rapids last, and not to mention getting the focus and exposure right. Plus there’s often just one opportunity to get the perfect photo of your friends. Despite all the struggle, in the end it’s extremely gratifying to hold the shot of the day in your hands.

That's about it, thanks for listening.