“The gate is open.” This phrase heralds perhaps the most anticipated news of the Colorado kayak season; access to Long Draw Road has been restored and Big South season has arrived. Following a thorough scorching by the Cameron Peak Fire in 2020, and subsequent closure during the 2021 season, paddlers have endured a particularly long and painful wait to visit one of our favorite places and survey the aftermath of the blaze. Praise be to Smokey the Bear, on July 1st of this summer our prayers were answered and word spread that the gate had swung.
With no known descents during the 2021 season, and judging by the extent of the adjacent burn area, this lap of our favorite backyard creek run posed more unknowns and greater potential for a portage fest than usual. Expecting a long day, our small crew donned our adventure vests, loaded boats with snacks and launched on the outflow of Long Draw Reservoir to see what had become of our beloved drainage.
So how is it after the burn? Not that bad (ie. still really good) would be the short answer. Along the 12 miles of river that constitutes the Big South, the fire burned in a mosaic pattern leaving much of the landscape and whitewater largely unaffected. Other areas burnt thoroughly, most notably in the pool-drop section of river surrounding Fantasy Flight. We were treated to a portage free run until Cool World, where multiple logs in the rapid sent us packing along the high and dry line. Continuing downstream, the portage count crept up as we encountered more wood issues at Bonk, the entrance rapid of Prime Time Gorge and Slideways. We were surprised to find the endless miles of boogie water class III and IV remarkably clean of wood. Several large log jams have formed in conspicuous locations. These not only provide impressive displays of the river’s ability to transport countless tons of woody debris, but they will hopefully also serve as catchers mitts for the thousands of dead and burnt trees which will fall into the river in years to come. Wood became more prevalent in the always-kinda-sketchy runout below Tubular Balls prompting a slightly earlier than usual take out/hike out.
After 7 hours of boofs, portages and fun we arrived at Highway 14, overjoyed to know that one of our favorite things about where we live was back.
