Rottenwood Creek

A friend and I ran Rottenwood creek 12-23-07 the level on the guage at the time was 3.5' and was a nice moderate level for our first run on this creek. Before we went to the put-in I thought it might be a good idea to scout Confederate Life rapid to get an idea of the flow and pick our route. After scouting the rapid my friend decides he would help me with the shuttle but didn't feel comfortable about making the run since his experience was limited. With that said it turned into a solo run,which for me always makes things a little more interesting .As previously mentioned this was my first time running Rottenwood, although I had scouted the entire run from the bank with help from the Bob Callan trail which goes right past Aikers Mill rapid , scouting Confederate Life and Windy Ridge rapids are not as easy but can be done by parking on private property. Ok now for the solo run details ;on my approach to Confederate Life in the back of my mind I knew river-right was my best option but from our earlier scout I knew river-left had a nice slide that ran towards an undercut rock with a decent hole at the bottom but it seemed like a runnable line at this level so off I went .On the way down the slide I found myself headed towards the undercut rock ledge so I thought I would use my paddle to brace the impact which resulted in me getting my paddle knocked from my hands which left me circling around the hole until I recovered my paddle then I continued on my way downstream to Windy Ridge rapid where things went a little smoother but not much. There was no swim but it was touch and go there for a second. I was held in the middle of the rapid for a minute, it seemed like forever. Aikers Mill rapid is probably the most technical rapid but for me on this partcular day it seemed to go easier than the other two. After Aikers Mill rapid the creek runs through a small gorge which is mostly boogie water with exception of what I refer to as Bunker rapid (view photos) for a picture of this rapid. There are also several sewer pipe crossings on this run, some actually cross at creek-bed level. They built concrete structures on top of the pipes which resemble small low-head dams the other pipes are aerial crossings which must be portaged . I am aware that solo runs are not recommended, cold weather and nasty water only complicated things but I was desperate for a run and this was my fix . ..Special thanks to Bobby Kelly for the shuttle help.