Austin Creek // March 7th 2024

Cazadero to Duncan Grade Rd Bridge // 7 miles // 5 hrs // 600 cfs

We put in just above Cazadero at the cross roads of Old Cazadero Rd and Cazadero Hwy. This was by far the most advanced flow of water we had paddled. The water was running pretty fast and with a lot of obstacles to portage around it made for an exciting ride.

Ryan took a spill pretty early so I had to find a spot to pull off and find him. It wasn't long before we were back in our boats moving quickly. The creek is much more narrow than any of the river spots we'd been on and while moving that fast hazards would come up quickly. I'd say we portaged about 5 times. The largest was around two fallen Redwoods that crossed the creek.

Towards the end I risked a section that Ryan walked around and got caught in a fallen tree. My boat filled up with water and was taken from me as I hung on for a minute before swimming to shore. I ran down the river and caught up with my kayak and had to swim pretty hard to catch it. My paddle wasn't so lucky and I had to find a small log to paddle the last hour of the trip.

This was by far the most exciting paddle I've done and I look forward to hitting it again in spring. It also makes me nervous and excited to keep progressing and moving on to more challenging sections of river.