Quad Crown: Crested Butte Creeking

After 4 summers in Colorado I finally made it to Crested Butte, Colorado to do some creeking.  I only had 1 day and wanted to get on all 4 creeks so my co-workers (Josh and Liz) from RMOC and I decided to do the quadruple crown.  

When I left Salida at 7am I was wondering why people didn’t do the quad crown very often.  I thought that all the creeks are close together and they are short runs so they shouldn’t take long.  Then it hit me as I started hiking up Oh Be Joyful with my Rocker on my shoulder.  It had been 7 hours since we first put on the Upper East but we only had one creek left so I wasn’t about to back down.  At the take out of Oh Be J I checked my watch and it had taken us a full 10 hours to complete the quad crown.  Four creeks in one day is exhausting, but well worth it.  Not to mention the 2 hour morning drive and the 4 hour drive to Vail I had in front of me.

If you are thinking about the quad crown I would recommend it, but I have some advice.  First, bring a buddy with a truck with high clearance so you can make the river crossings.  Second, bring a shuttle driver is possible because it will speed up the day.  Third, know the lines and wood conditions so you don’t have to scout.  And fourth, don’t plan on driving 6 hours that day.

Photos by Josh Oberleas and Liz Block

On the way to the Upper East

Big Wood Falls

The top of Rip Your Head Off

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Avalanche

The bottom of Avalanche

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