Put in
Take baker springs church road south from highway 4- 278. Park on the pull out after the bridge. This land belongs to mr. Tidwell, and he has allowed us to park there, so be respectful!! He also owns most of the property that the creek runs through.
Take out
Is at gillham lake, following CR 251 all the way to a small peninsula at the lake. There are no gates!!!!
Gauge
There is a bobwire fence on the down stream side of the bridge!!!! Do not put in up stream!!!!!
During our run the water was at the first strand on the south side of the bridge. This was low but doable. I would say second strand med/high and above that high.
The run itself is class 2-3 with consistent gradient 50-60ft per mile for 3.5-4 miles Looks like a .5-.75 section at 75ft.
I remember 4 rapids that would be solid 3s. 2 of these could get really interesting with more water, as they will turn into one long 3+ rapid.
The creek is kinda unique in character, all of the bigger rapids have a rock wall from water level up on the river right side. Many waterfalls flow into the creek with one almost vertical 25-30ft ( not big enough to run)! But still very pretty
The last 2-300 yards will vary depending on lake level. For us it was flat with decent current.
At the time of this report there was 3 main hazards with the run. There is a T post left of center in the first small rapid!!
I plan to talk with mr. Tidwell about removing it. Then there were 2 strainers that were across the creek, both easy to avoid/ portage.
While the creek does not have the ledge drops of baker, and not quite as technical as the first 3/4 mile of baker, it is a great alternative, for when the rains hit a bit further south and west, than what we typically look for.
Its a short easy shuttle, and if its running high, there could be some bonus runs in the area as well
