Saturday, February 28, 2009

Dukes Creek

About two weeks ago I met Jeff up at Dukes Creek to put on for my first time. I had hiked and scouted this run several times previously but still didn't quite know what I was in for. The section we paddled is about 4/10 of a mile long, with nearly all the gradient at the very end where the bedrock creekbed drops nearly 200ft in 1/8th of a mile.

Looking up Dukes at low water



Today, after a night of light and steady rain I met Mac McGee at the putin for Dukes. We originally had plans for a day of lapping to score for the Southeast Gradient Showdown (SGS). Plans changed upon inspection of the gauge stick Jeff stuck in the sand a couple weeks ago, it was 1.5" higher today. 1.5" doesn't sound like much and wouldn't be much on almost any other run, but Dukes is . . . "finicky". We decided to put on and get out above the big stuff to see how it looked. After about 20 minutes of scouting and convincing ourslelves it was good to go, we dropped over the lip of the entrance, and committed to the next 5 drops.





If there is a crux move on this run, for me it's getting left at the 30 footer. There are now three ways I know of to make this happen. One option, which we did on the first lap, is to carry around the small ledges right above the drop and get in on the nearly boat-wide ledge right at the lip, with your bow hanging off the drop and seal launch. Another option, at low water, is to slide over the ledges, drop into the tiny one boat eddie at the lip and wheelchair against the left bank to line up. The third option, which we tried today for the first time, needs a little more water. After dropping into the small, boiling eddie at the lip you have two strokes to get enough momentum and get far enough left before rolling off.


The 30 footer



Alex Brantley on Dukes at lower water the day before



When we made it to the bottom we got out, walked the last big drop at the observation deck and took a breather before hiking up for another lap. We started checking out that last unrun rapid. Looking at it without much water it's obvious what has kept this drop from being run. Part of the shelf at the base pokes up into the landing zone.




We scouted from every angle we could find. From some angles it looked good, from others not so much. With the extra water we had today, that rock at the base was mostly covered up, with most of the flow landing to the right of it. We decided it looked too tight though, and to just go up for another lap.


Mac McGee running "For the Love of It"




The second lap went smoothly and before we knew it we were hiking again for a third. We checked the stick gauge one more time and saw it had risen another 1/4" or so. We boogied down and started to get things dialed in, making it to the takeout even quicker. I took another look at the last drop and had to give it a try. I told Mac, gave him my camera and walked back to my boat. I promptly peeled out and headed for the lip of my first 1st descent.



Getting a little sideways




Mac followed quickly behind me, nabbing the 2nd run and sticking one helluva boof.




Killin' it!



Like most drops with sketchy landings, the more water the better for this one. For more insight on Dukes Creek read Jeffs write-up on AW.

http://americanwhitewater.org/content/River_detail_id_5138_

That's all I got for now, Mac got a couple video clips so maybe he'll post those up somewhere. Adios.

-David Cohen

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