The new gauge on Upper Cherry
Creek changed everything this year. Three laps in what was California's
worst snowpack on record. The gauge is not as simple as most. Early in
the season there seems to be a 60/40 ratio of water on Upper Cherry
Creek; 60% from Cherry Creek and 40% from West Cherry. Early in the
season 300 is a nice flow. Later in the season West Cherry dries up and
the majority of water comes down Cherry Creek, perhaps 80/20 or even
90/10. When this happens 300 is a high flow. Despite technology, UCC
retains some mystery. One thing we know for sure, it's a sensitive run,
a 20cfs change is noticeable in the tight canyons, and it goes up and
down fast.
Finishing our third run of the
year it's been a waiting game. Prijon is a sponsor of the Special
Olympics in LA and we've been waiting on a container of boats. They
came in a bit late but we got them delivered on time with some hassle.
Next up is a surprise trip to Norway, flying out July 4th and back the
24th. As a paddler it looks to be incredible. I'm not sure what to
expect as a photographer. When I started in whitewater photography just
traveling with a good camera and basic knowledge was enough to produce
publishable images. Now that just about everyone is shooting photos
with a good camera it's a different story. Personally I am
constantly vacillating between ultimate image quality, convenience and
cost of equipment. Cost of equipment, it seems like every paddling trip
takes some toll. In Switzerland I picked up my unlatched pelican case
and dumped the contents on the ground. Good bye to a $100 polarizer,
and for a moment it seemed like the rather expensive Sony Zeiss 16-70mm
f4 was down, yet it was just a piece of sand in the zoom mechanism that
moved on (where?) and has not been an issue. As Norway has big slides,
and big slides are not nice on camera gear, I decided to go back to
some classics. There is more to a lens that just sharpness, so the
setup is lenses that I've owned in the path and liked their look: Nikon
16mm f/3.5, Nikon 28mm f/2, Nikon 105mm f/2.5. No mid range, which is a
big change of pace for me as I typically shoot in the mid range a lot.
This should be a fun challenge. As an added bonus all these lenses have
dropped value over the last few years and were cheaper today than when
I last sold them. Often by half, which is quite surprising. $131 for
the 28mm f/2 and $65 for the 105mm f/2.5. Let's just hope they are in
decent condition and good samples, which by my book they should be
since both have seen a lot of use. Pristine legacy lenses are often
just bad copies that didn't get used.
Rok Sribar heads into Double Pothole.
