Annual pilgrimage to Deer Creek
-------------------------------
We had an "experienced" kayaker join us for the first mile, which took
several hours. Although the rapids below Ponderosa Road are steep,
they are quite easy, requiring a minimum of maneuvering for class 4.
But he was huffing and puffing after every rapid. We thought we might
have a heart attack, so we left him at a super campsite around mile 1.
He recovered and walked out along a nice trail the following morning.

There are two small logjams that developed in the "easy" section above
Sulphur Creek, in addition to the semi-permanent Treejam rapid (mile 7?)
that the http://creekin.net/deer.htm writeup should really warn about,
and which http://www.dreamflows.com/notes.html#Site132 does warn about.

Ishi Falls changed slightly again, but remains remarkably straightforward
considering how difficult it used to be, and could be if a few rocks
moved. Double Drop has changed also, making it harder, perhaps even
class 5 for pinning danger. Single Drop changed several years ago,
turning it into a simple class 3. A distance below there is a new (?)
rapid that funnels into a narrow chute in the left channel.

Cougar
------
Around mile 10, Boris was leading and spotted a large cougar that had
jumped about 12' from one bank to a large midstream rock. Boris yelled
for us to look. This frightened the cougar, who jumped about 16' to
the far bank, splashing in the creekside rocks. Cats can jump.

The remainder of the trip to camp, about 10 miles, took approximately
the same amount of time as the first mile, despite our needing to scout
Ishi Falls and Double Drop. It rained for about an hour overnight.

Boris is the guy who wrote the "Camp Boris Report Card" on 2002-10-30.
He will provide another report card for the so-called advanced kayaker
(of the old school, however) who joined us for mile 1.