The Middle Fork of the Feather in Northern California is a classic whitewater expedition. Many guidebooks claim "The Feather" to be the finest multi-day kayak run in California. It has it all: high-quality rapids, unsurpassed scenery, and remoteness-induced solitude. The gorge presents a host of technical challenges. There are many class III-IV rapids with 10-15 class V rapids spread evenly throughout the run. I have seen many kayakers drool with envy over their buddies who have returned home, bringing stories and pictures from the Middle Fork of the Feather River.
The Feather flows for 32 miles through a thousand-foot deep granite-lined Sierra Canyon. I’ve always been drawn to places of vast and breathtaking landscapes. Something in these kinds of places is replenishing to my soul. Over the years I had pieced together bits of information about the run. I had a general sense of its surreal beauty, the nature of the rapids, and the mandatory portage in the final canyon. It seemed like everything about the place was measured in epic proportions. Its grandeur combined with the challenging nature of the run was particularly appealing to me. In his classic guidebook, “Western Whitewater, From the Rockies to the Pacific,” Jim Cassidy claims that the gorge of the Middle Fork of the Feather:
“Is one of the most spectacular and difficult river in the West. Only teams of expert in kayaks or self-bailing rafts should attempt this run, and then only at low and moderate water levels. They should be prepared for a long, multi-day descent through pounding Class V-and worse-rapids in a remote, steep-walled wilderness canyon. (Cassidy, 1990)”
With a description like that, who could resist? I have wished for an opportunity to experience the Feather for a long time. However, coordinating a competent group of paddlers together with unconflicting schedules and ideal water levels proved to be an initial major obstacle. However, after we received the phone call invite from Chad, Kristen and I frantically feneggled our early summer plans, rearranged our schedule, and were off.
Chad, Ben and I were the only members of our group. Three was the minimum number of people we felt comfortable with for the run. Four people would have been nice, but two would have been too few. And anyway, three was just a nice intimate number of boats for this kind of run. Chad had been planning this trip for a few months. The expedition was to be a fitting end to his “singlehood” and a last “hurrah!” before making the quantum leap into holy matrimony. I thought it fitting for Chad to spend a week climbing Mt. Shasta and then paddling the most classic class V run in Northern California with good friends. What a great culmination before finalizing the tie of marriage to a great woman. I couldn’t think of a better place for a not-so-typical bachelor party.
The Middle Fork of the Feather is also one of the most remote rivers in California. Only a few footpaths and jeep trails reach the river at isolated points. In many places rescue would be virtually impossible in the event of a mishap. In the gorge the river drops at an average rate of 75 feet per mile with a peak gradient of well over 100 feet per mile in the middle of the 32-mile run. Upon further research, I learned of the long, unportageable rapids in the final canyon. It seemed like lost or broken gear could result in a survival scenario of epic proportions due to the towering walls of granite on either side of the river. This fact, combined with the river’s Wild and Scenic designation, made access points few and far inbetween. Trails were limited to a few steep, rugged footpaths or jeep trails at the end of each canyon. The remoteness of this run demanded an above-average level of preparedness. Water purification, extra food and rainy weather gear were prerequisites we stowed in our kayaks while still trying to minimize our boats’ weight.
The night before our run we spent studying topographical maps, organizing our food and inventorying our gear. We exploded all our gear out onto the floor for easier examination. We packaged the important items first (i.e. food). A couple dinners, breakfasts, a surplus extra meal (which we ate at the last camp), gorp and snacks for lunch were all divvied up among us. “Should we bring the peanut butter?” “No, it’s too heavy!” However, it went into the stow bags at the last minute anyway. We were careful to not pack any extra stuff we wouldn’t need. There was no sense carrying two spare paddles, etc. One tarp, one sleeping bag each, one tarp, and plenty of open sky completed our lodgings. Anything we didn’t really need was too much. If we did end up doing a lot of portaging, we wanted our load to be light as possible.
The Feather is generally runnable during spring snowmelt, but it should be attempted only when flows at the put-in are low. Numerous side creeks swell the river over the course of the run, doubling or even tripling the flow between put-in and take-out. I had been watching the gauge on the internet the past few days before heading down from Oregon. Three days before our planned launch date the gauge read 1800 cubic feet per second. Two days prior to our put-in date the internet gauge read 1700. If the river held this trend we should enjoy a perfect water level of 1500 cfs, the ideal water level for kayaks.
The Feather is the northernmost of the Sierra Rivers. It drains a lush, moderate-elevation watershed with forests that rival old growth forests in Oregon. The watershed’s heavy runoff attracted the interest of dam-builders during California heyday of dam building. Oroville Dam – the world’s biggest earthfill dam and the centerpiece of the California State Water Project – blocks the Feather’s main stream and backs water up all three forks. Luckily, the Middle Fork of the Feather was one of the first rivers to gain Wild and Scenic designation by the U.S. Congress. Now, only the Middle Fork of the Feather runs free above Oroville Reservoir, thanks to its 1968 designation as a charter member of the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System (Cassidy, 1994).
Ben showed up in his rental car the night before. An automatic transmission, to Kristen’s delight, provided her with stress-free driving pleasure. After constructing a make-shift kayak rack on top with discarded 2x4’s, it became the perfect shuttle vehicle. We woke early the next morning and ate a hearty breakfast. Then, we made a last minute stop at the local quickie-mart where Chad and I purchased the best $1.99 footwear we’ve ever spent; some yellow, light-weight flip flops. They were (and still are) quite a coveted item. A quick drive north brought us to Nelson Point and our put-in. We owe Kristen, our faithful shuttle bunny, all our thanks. Without her, it would have added an seven-hour and 125 mile one-way shuttle drive to our trip. Everything about the Feather seems to be of epic proportions, including the shuttle drive. We were anxious to start our journey so we methodically packed our boats, donned our whitewater gear and were off.
Random kayak video of Brad:
Wind River: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dL3uIrrLj40
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