We awoke to disturbing weather conditions. Thick clouds hid the sun, and it threatened to rain. Eating leisurely breakfasts, we looked at the sky constantly. Eventually the clouds started breaking up a bit, and we pressed on downstream. The canyon walls rose higher and closer as we approached Alder Creek. Sespe Creek cuts across the grain of the geology as it heads south, and we started hitting some good rapids here. The level of commitment also increases dramatically at this point; only a few foot trails descend the steep canyon walls in the lower half of the run.

Just below Alder Creek a side canyon dumps a selection of truck sized purple boulders into Sespe Creek, creating a significant rapid. The source of the boulders, the Sespe Formation, is visi ble up the canyon and perhaps 1500 vertical feet above the river level. We would soon become very intimate with these boulders.