One New One and The Ravens Fork

shanebenedict · 10-24-2006

Earning Our Turns on the Raven's Fork

All the photos are from the Raven's Fork by Raphael Thiebaut.

After the Moose Fest we didn't have a solid plan. We were thinking of going to the coast and doing some ocean surfing only problem was that there were no waves. None of the other rivers in New York or the surrounding area were running so that wasn't gonna work. We were thinking the New river in West Virginia but it was at an uninspiring level. The Gauley wasn't running so the options were getting thin. We finally decided to head down to Washington D.C. and mess around on the Potomac maybe run some new lines on Great Falls but as we were pulling into D.C. we got the news that North Carolina might have some rain on the way so the loose plan that we had started to change yet again. We stopped off at the Potomac to paddle a little bit, grab some dinner, and wait for rush hour traffic to die down then we started driving south.
Shane

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RiverWrangler · 10-24-2006

Jeebus Man! If the Ravens Fork isn't the sickest fall creek run I've ever seen I don know what is. I think I would fly out from CO for just one day to NC if I knew I was going to get on that one and then turn right around and fly home. Holy Mackerel! I waaannnnnt it sooooooooo bad. Maybe next spring. Please next spring.

Very nice post Shane. Some of the best footage that I've seen of that run. Really gives you a feel for how steep and back to back it must be. Just looks so amazing, especially with the fall colors. Golden leaves floating around with you in the eddys above monster horizon line after monster horizon line. Whoa. Double whoa.

Evan

GAtoCSU · 10-24-2006

yo Evan.. That run is the shit. Soooo many good rapids and Soooo much gradient. Some awesome boofs too! Kicks BSF's ass for sure! It's the real deal from the put-in to the take-out

Scott

shanebenedict · 10-24-2006

But I have had a couple of awesome magic days on the BSF.
Shane

ACC · 10-25-2006

That is great footage Shane! The Raven Fork looks incredible. Do you guys that have boated it or boat it when it runs think it is harder than anything in CO? I know it is a different style of boating, but it seems to have a rep as pretty much the hardest regularly run creek in the SE. What do you think? Sorry for the boatertalkesque question, but inquiring minds want to know.

GAtoCSU · 10-25-2006

I have limited experience out here but I would say that it is more demanding than Crystal (portaged the inner that day) and Big South (I have ran all the drops but Cool World). On the Raven, it's quite a walk to even get to the put-in and it just drops off from there. There are so many quality rapids that are long and scouted from the top. There are wall checks, big holes, and must-make eddies to portage drops.

It's just a really, really long demanding day. BSF has 4-6 rapids... Raven seems to have about 15.

Scott

PS. I've only been on the Raven around 18 inches.

ACC · 10-25-2006

Thanks for the info, Scott. My question was a bit vague because stuff like Yule may not compare because of the pucker factor. But I would definitely be interested on hearing more comparisons of Raven w/ Inner Crystal, Cross, d-go stuff like Valle. In any case, it sounds like a very committing day out on Raven, hopefully I will get a chance to see it sometime. Cheers.

shanebenedict · 10-25-2006

It is fantastic and I haven't run anything harder in Colorado but I am sure there are some awesome tough runs in Colorado. My point of BSF is that it is an amazing place just as the Raven's is. For out and out paddling of course the Raven's is incredible. The bang for the buck factor is very very high. There are very few rivers in the world that are that steep continuous, yet boatable, with very few protages.

Like I said in the blog at 8" on Ravens its a much mellower thing to deal with. There is time between the drops and not near the push. As it gets above 12" it starts to take on a more serious feel.

Well worth the trip up the hill.
Shane

RiverWrangler · 10-25-2006

Don't talk that way about the BSF Peaches. Seems like an entirely different style run and just because something is harder does not make it better (well maybe sometimes, but only under certain circumstances). Regardless, it does look STEEP and beautiful. I guess I'll have to run it before I can make my call, and I do want to run it, as noted before, badly. Wilderness runs are where it is at for me where ever you're paddling. And since we arn't really paddling much in CO right now... The Ravens Fork looks real darn good to say the least.

Lucky.

Shane can you check your PMs.

ACC · 10-25-2006

Thanks, Shane. Looks great, now we just need some rain . . .

Alex