By Ed Gaker

The past few months were pretty tumultuous. In September, I dislocated my shoulder on the Gauley, and, after rehabbing for two months, it came out again on the Big Sandy and required surgery. In both situations, Jay Ditty quickly came to my aide and reduced my shoulder promptly and carefully. I often wonder whether grace under pressure is learned or innate – whatever the reason, Jay is the epitome of this quality.

    Six months later, I find myself Colorado. When I got into the state two weeks ago, I camped out at the Numbers section of the Arkansas River for a few days. Because of the large snowpack, it was running higher than the locals have seen it in almost a decade. Afterwards, I left for Gunnison where I am employed as a ranch-hand. Ten minutes away from my residence is the Taylor River which is comparable to the Lower Yough without the flatwater and with one Class IV rapid for good measure. It is a great after-work run.

A peak in the Colorado guidebook revealed a multitude of runs that are rarely paddled due to some conglomeration of remoteness, long hikes, and fickle water levels. Because I arrived just before peak run-off, everything was running. Sarah and I chose to attempt a rare descent of the Lower Ruby into Anthracite Creek about an hour outside of Crested Butte. The beginning of the Upper Ruby is essentially roadside and winds further away from the road into the Middle Ruby. These sections are littered with gnarly Class V+ drops and not recommended by the guidebook. This leads to a three mile hike in to the put-in for the Lower Ruby.

    The last quarter mile of the hike necessitated a complicated roping system for the boats, and the put-in was pretty sketchy. After doing some rope-work to get to a more stable put-in, we were on our way. The run consisted of five miles of continuous, flooded Class IV whitewater with a generous helping of downed foliage. We expected the strainers and scouted each section to avoid them. At the confluence with Anthracite, the river gets a bit wider and the flow doubles. A trail on river-right made scouting significantly easier, thankfully. Two portages and one quarter mile stretch of Class V whitewater later, we were elated to arrive at the take-out bridge. Although the hike in was grueling and the river condition were intense, the scenery was stunning, and the whitewater was quality. This was one day on the river I will never forget.

Last but not least, I spent a day off in Crested Butte and ran Oh-Be-Joyful and Daisy Creek. I don’t have much to say about either of these creeks that hasn’t been said before. As the Colorado guidebook states, “If you haven’t heard of OBJ, that’s weird.”

The pictures came from a fellow named Drew who was observing from the OBJ bank.