Pirate, Rafting, South Fork American River
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    • « Caffe Santoro Grand Opening | Home | Running Lumsden Falls »

    Cherry Creek Run - Upper Tuolumne River

    By Trevor | July 22, 2008

    Last Tuesday we packed up and headed out to the Tuolumne River near Yosemite, our goal the Cherry Creek Run. Cherry Creek is considered the most difficult commercially rafted stretch of river in the nation, and the Creek live up to that claim! We camped the night before and on Wednesday morning we set out on our journey down the Tuolumne. I have personally never run the Tuolumne, however one of our guides had been running Cherry Creek for the previous two days.

    Cherry Creek Canyon

    Put in alone was unbelievable, it was a 30 foot drop down a rocky hillside.

    Cherry Creek Put In

    The day started off with an intense rapid called “Entrance Exam”, this rapid literally started right at put in. This rapid really set the stage for the character of the entire run. It was solid Class V all the way, and the spots that we were able to rest were as intense as the most difficult sections of the South Fork of the American river, I never thought that the middle of a Class III rapid would be an appropriate place to take a break.

    These are just two of the rapids we ran Mushroom and Toadstool. These rapids were incredibly intense, the pictures definitely do not do these beasts justice.

    Mushroom Toadstool

    Cherry Creek was definitely the biggest adrenaline rush that I have ever experienced in my life. This river is one of the top rivers on my favorite list. We are currently putting together an amazing video about the most intimidating rapid on the run called Lumsden Falls.

    Lumsden Entrance Decision Rock Lumsden Undercut

    Additionally We took the opportunity to run the remainder of the Tuolumne all in one day, which all totaled came out to be a 26 mile run. The Lower Tuolumne was just as breathtakingly beautiful as Cherry Creek. The water was so clean and clear that no matter how deep it got you could still see to the bottom of the river. The canyon was absolutely spectacular as well, this run one easily one of the most beautiful rivers. The South Fork of the American definitely comes close to this spectacular stretch of river and is an excellent warm up to polish your rafting skills on before challenging other rivers.

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