The Stanley/Holbeck guide gives only the vaguest information about this run, saying (quote): "The gifted Kern Brothers ran it and though I
haven't talked to them I decipher from gossip they found it very challenging, high quality, and difficult."
Ok, so up to that point the description sounds pretty good, but then the guidebook goes on to say: "This run is not for most people.
It is extremely steep, narrow, clogged with rock, wood, and blindness. If it is for you, you know what to do and no amount
of chatter from anyone is going to change anything. Be careful and live!"
Heck, even the most aggressive class V type might start to sweat a little after reading those words, especially since the author did the first descent of Bald Rock Canyon and many other extremely hard runs that are still on the bleeding edge of gnar and to this day inspire fear and loosen the bowels of most boaters..
Of course, Dan Coyle is not your average class five boater; in fact, Dan often ends up paddling solo because he runs stuff that is so hard most people can't handle it. That said, a run like Loves Falls is the kind of river he lives for.
Therefore, it came as no surprise on the morning of Day Three when Dan announced he wouldn't be joining us. We had decided to paddle the Sierra City section of the NF Yuba, a IV-V run described as 'classic' in the guidebook, but Dan had other plans. So, as we were putting in on the lower section, Dan headed upstream to take on the Loves Falls section, by himself.
The rest of us paddled the Sierra City section, and had a great day. Josh was going off as usual and ran everything, including burly crux drop in Ladies Canyon, which drops into the 'murderous hole' described in the guidebook. (photos and full trip report to follow).
But we were all a little worried.
All day long, in the back of our minds, we were wondering about Dan, hoping he was ok, hoping he was going to show up at the take-out at the end of the day.. Hoping that Loves Falls wasn't too hard even for 'Dan the Man'.
Once we finished up on the Sierra City section, we loaded the boats and headed upstream. It was starting to get dusky, and we were hoping that Dan hadn't decided to continue downstream onto the Sierra City run, in which case we might miss him in the dark. We reached the turn-off that leads down to the bridge and as we crested the hill we were relieved to see Dan, walking up the road. He piled into the truck with us, looking very, very tired.
"Sooo. How was it?" Gabe asked.
"It was hard." Dan said. "I broke my boat, my paddle, and took the worst swim of my life."
Silence.
"Did you hike out?" Gabe asked.
"No, I finished the run. It is definitely one of the best rivers I've paddled, I was just so tired from scouting everything that when I got stuck in the hole I had no energy left to fight it; I'll do it again tomorrow if anyone wants to go..."
Now who could resist a description like that?!? Certainly not this group of yahoos!
Anyway, suffice it to say that the next day we trooped upstream and discovered that this run is a total classic, and the photos that follow should make any hardcore creekers blood boil...
Pete Giordano runs a falls just below the put-in for Loves Falls. The section upstream has a portage, (the huge boulder-jumble visible at the top of the photo) so the best put-in is just above this falls on river-left. (see the end of the report for details).
ACCESS: Is astonishingly easy for a Northern Sierras run of this
calibre. Drive upstream a little over a mile until the road levels off
slightly and you can see a deep gorge on the right. Get out here and
locate the Pacific Crest Trail Bridge. There is a large gravel pull-off to
park in just downstream of the bridge. About 50 feet into the woodline
from this parking spot is the Pacific Crest Trail; follow this downhill to
the bridge, which allows a great view of the first falls upstream and an
even better view of the next falls just down from that.
Hike your boats across the bridge to the river-left side, follow the
trail up a
couple of switchbacks, then
hike about 100 yards upstream to a narrow gully that leads to the river
just upstream of
the twisting falls which Pete is pictured running at the beginning of the
report. It is possible to drag your own boat down here but you will
probably want to send someone down first then rope the boats down.
There is an extremely steep bouldery section upstream of the 'Classic' Loves Falls run. Dan ran the whole thing when he was solo and doesn't recommend it; there is a portage and the boulder gardens up there are a little trashy in places; that's the section he broke his boat on. Most of these drops are visible if you drive upstream.
The NF ..WHAT?
Many of you may be wondering where this river is located. The North Fork
of the
Yuba flows through the wild and rugged Tahoe National Forest. It is
about a 9 hour drive from Portland, depending on how good your radar
detector is.
We drove down I5 and then turned east on Highway 20, (where the 'I5' symbol is on the map) and headed east up to the river from there..