Indian Creek

Robert Farmer---Well, I happened to catch this with about 2 feet more water than the last time (see below), and it sure felt a lot different! This time, the level was 3.5 at Route 653 (2.8/1500 at Ursina), and it was rather pushy! In fact, at the top, it was kind of intimidating, seeing as how the water was too fast and shallow to get control from the put-in launch spot. Later, there were whirlpools that appeared and disappeared suddenly but which were not deep enough to really do anything bad; they just wanted to mess with us. As the creek got going at the first steep section, the waves were big and pushy. As the creek bends to the right, the first 6-foot ledge appeared after a somewhat flat pooling spot. At 1.8, it had seemed inconsequential, but at 3.5, it seemed quite consequential, you bet! Scout on the right (easy walk). From here down to the pool below Terminator, there are no pools (several miles). Some sections don't even have eddies, or at least not good ones, so in addition to bringing your bombproof roll, just don't flip; there are few hazards, other than long wave trains and the occasional hole and maybe a few logs, but the water is so fast that swimming to shore with your gear will really tire you out. Our group had a few swimmers, and, trust me, it's a whole lot better not to swim. At the second 6-foot ledge, the left side was Class 5-ish, but the popular route (other than portaging, which was fairly popular) was a chute on the far, tight right. Farther downstream, the 3 horsemen of the apocalypse were under water, but there is an island to the right of that undercut left-side bend. I think that this is the only island on the creek, and Terminator is right downstream. At this level, taking out on the right above T. was perfectly easy because the water pools above a ledge; although, with much more water, there might be a tendency to be washed over this ledge. Some people went left, but, for the life of me, I can't understand why. Also, there is an old road about 50 feet from the shore on river right, which makes scouting and portaging Terminator just so-freakin'-easy, even your grandmother could do it. The Indian was quite popular on this day, as about 3 groups converged at Terminator. 4 or 5 people out of about 15+ ran it, including one who, I'm told, swam from very near the top (emphatically not recommended!). We ran 2 different lines: semi-center, and the left sneak (very bumpy-looking). It was a delightful day on a terrific creek. I'd say it was all continuous Class 3 with occasional bits of 4 thrown in sporadically. Remember that there are basically no pools, but, even though there are constant threatening horizon lines, it basically stays pretty much the same difficulty all of the way down, except for Terminator, which is intimidating and potentially hazardous, but not exceptionally technically difficult. This creek should definitely be on your list!!! Scrumptious!