The Gorge run has two distinct sections, the Upper and the Inner. The Upper contains 1 mile of continuous boulder-choked rapids with the crux coming a Pine Tree Falls. You can get out at the proverbial horizon line and scout every drop. The Inner has steep walls similar to Vallecito Creek near my town with 7 drops starting with a 40 footer called Zute Chute. Once you decide to drop in, your in and committed to the run. It's not long and there's some great whitewater in there. It's hard if not impossible to scout any of the lower run so it's good to know where to go.
I was so stoked to get on the run that once we began paddling, I could barely contain myself. Nothing feels better then gettin to a horizon line and launching off a sweet boof. Well...maybe dropping a 40 footer but boofs are pretty darn sweet too.
We cruised the Upper making moves, launching boofs, and catching eddies. There's several nice drops in there that require multiple boofs and cool moves and I felt in 7th heaven. The only missed line of the entire run was when my friend got stuck in the ledge hole above Pine Tree Falls. A swim there would have been tragic but he pulled his shit together, rolled and cruised the drop.
After Pine Tree, there were a few more great drops with boogie class IV until we arrived at the gates of the Inner. We got out river right, climbed up the steep rock and dirt and looked down canyon. Oh yeah baby, that's what I'm talking about!!
Looking downstream at the gorge, I couldn't wait to get in there and run that shit. We had one more drop to go and a sweet boof to a pool to put us above Zute Chute. Well...no time like the present.
The lead in drop was sweet. Nice moves into eddies and a final rush down a fluffy ride. Next came Zute Chute. Sitting in the pool with my mates, we gathered together to laugh a little and then one after the other, we cruised the left side and dropped into the 40 footer. It's pretty much an auto-boof but you gotta stomp it otherwise you land a little flat and your back gets creamed. 
The final 4 drops in the Inner require some effort and precise paddle strokes. The first of the 4 had a tricky stopped hole above a savage ledge drop that couldn't easily be boofed. Getting stuck in there meant swimming and at that level, you'd end up swimming the final 4 drops. Not really what I had in mind so I took off first, timed my strokes and launch the first of the last 4. We chased each other downstream not really eddying out but more like catching slack water here and there until we were finally in the take out eddy. What a great run.
The Crystal Gorge is well worth the trip. There are both forks of the River upstream to paddle, the Gorge run is awesome, and Yule Creek is in the neighborhood as well. What a great destination paddling spot. One that I will certainly be returning to in the future.
