Whitewater_Adventure's Blog

Yesterday I went along with my friends at Clear Creek Rafting Company and rafted the Advanced section, a full day trip. First of all, holy EDIT! I did not know that this great of rafting was so close to Denver. That's awesome and that's totally my bad for not realizing that. Honestly, yesterday's run was one of my favorites this year. Clear Creek gave me everything I wanted in a trip; Big drops, long rapids and a great guide. What more could I ask for? And get this, Clear Creek even has a Class V section, a section that will get my adrenaline pumping far more than it was yesterday. I admit, I'm an adrenaline junkie. And I suggest any other adrenaline junkies to give this run a chance. Unfortunately, I did not get any pictures of the best stuff we rafted through, so you'll just have to take my word for it. Half of yesterday's run, I had already rafted before. It included the intermediate portion, which I had done twice already. Clear Creek was flowing at about 750-800cfs, which was a lot faster than my previous two times. And I loved it. Clear Creek is awesome at high levels.

Photo courtesy: www.rapidimagephoto.com

We put in, near Lawson. Within a few minutes of getting started, we were already rafting some Class IV rapids. They were called Meat & Beef and the Lumpies. Both had big holes and big splashes, which is exactly what I like. At that section, the creek wasn't too narrow. It was perfect. In the Lumpies, there was drop after drop. But at the same time, there was plenty of rest time between the drops. After these two sections, we were in the intermediate section, which was familiar territory for me. We went through Nomad & Fall River, which were both Class III rapids. Both of them are fairly easy with great paddlers, and very quick. You're done with it, before you even realize it. Phoenix, Deliverance & Outer Limits were pretty good rapids. Normally, Outer Limits is my favorite, but I think it was a little washed out. But going through Deliverance was pretty cool. It is great with high water, there were lots of big waves. After Outer Limits, we started making our way through Idaho Springs, and stopped for a quick lunch. Once we got back on the river, we rafted down the beginner's section. I really think this section would be great for families. It has some great views and it's pretty mellow most of the way through. There are some rapids, but nothing too big. But shortly after the beginner's section, it was time to get into the good stuff, the hardest rapids of the day. This, in fact, was the best part of my day. In this section, there are a lot of big rapids. Like I said earlier, I was totally shocked. I had no idea Clear Creek was capable of this.

Photo courtesy: www.rapidimagephoto.com

At the top of the lower advanced section, there are two big drops. They are called Upper Beaver and Lower Beaver. Upper Beaver totally kicked butt. We dropped about 9 feet or so. It was so much fun. When we hit, I even felt my butt come off the raft. The second drop was also pretty big, but nothing compared to the first one. Next, we went through Ejector. This was a pretty good rapid. But it was just getting us warmed up for what we were about to do; Double Knife, the biggest rapid of the day. It runs quickly into another big rapid, called Hell's Corner. This section is pretty intense. In fact, we were with two other rafts. Two people on one of the other rafts fell out at the top of Double Knife. Before going through this section, the guide said this is where you don't want to fall out. Thankfully, the two people did not float far, and were able to get back into the boat quickly. I loved this rapid, because it was non-stop paddling for almost a mile. This section is also pretty technical. You have to manuever the raft, to avoid some of the rocks. I am sure it is even more technical, when the water is lower. Some of the rocks that are normally showing, were under water. But this rapid is definitely what made the trip awesome. There were big holes, big drops, big waves, lots of paddling, and my adrenaline was flowing faster than the river. We made it through the toughest part of the day. But we weren't quite done just yet. We went through a couple of more Class IV rapids, but they were short and sweet. One was called Terminator and another was called Corkscrew. I got a few good splashes straight to the face during these rapids. They were a lot of fun. After corkscrew, we were pretty much finished with the hard stuff and we were only a mile or so away from our take-out point.

Photo courtesy: www.rapidimagephoto.com

What a great run and what a great day. It was better than anything I had imagined. I totally recommend this run for those who like a good challenge. I've rafted some pretty good runs this year, but as of right now, this one, along with my run on the Roaring Fork, are my favorites.

Run: Clear Creek-Advanced Full Day 

Departure Time: Call for Departure Times

Trip Length: 6 Hours (Lunch Included)

Guide: Ivan Grinbank

Company: Clear Creek Rafting

                    (800) 353-9901

                    www.clearcreekrafting.com

Price: Adults-$92.00

Fortunately, I rafted with a great group of people. In fact, I made friends with them. We had a great guide. His commands were very easy to understand, which is important when you're on a technical run like this. One wrong move, could cost you. He was great about letting us know when we should paddle hard and fast, and which direction we needed to paddle.