Sailing upstream into South Fork Gorge
by John Sutter on 07/24/10
And now for something totally different.
On July 23rd Matt, myself and Alex (my 12 year-old son) sailed our inflatable pontoon craft six tenths of a mile up the Smith River’s South Fork gorge. We actually put-in on the middle fork then oared up the South until we got to the big pool below the bridge. Once in the pool, we attached the sail kits amid numerous sun bathing onlookers and with a light breeze at our backs headed under the beautiful half-circle bridge and up stream.
The gorge has been cut into solid metamorphic rock. The further up the gorge, the more organic and sculptural the rock becomes. Winter run-off laden with gravel and sand has sculpted the rock over eons. We stopped for lunch at a cobble island with liquid serpentine totally surrounding us. Alex found numerous rocks to jump off of. Our sailing ended at an enormous rapid. We were barely able to squeeze through some boulders at this pool and had to “come about” to get the sails through some boulders. This run is so fantastic we may have to make it part of our Smith River tour.
