Rendezvous '97 on the East Fork South Fork Salmon

submitted by Vince Thompson

There were 14 cats in our group on the river that day. Boicatr and Ron put in 5 miles up Johnson Creek and floated down to camp on the upper EFSF in the morning. Monte, Jan, Erik , Chris and Jim and put in 1-2 miles up Johnson Creek. Mike, Janice, Jerry and Craig put in at camp on the class V upper EFSF. Mark and Larry Johnson and I put our smaller craft in 3 miles lower at Reegan Creek below the Class V "Flight Simulator" rapid.

After scouting our put in at Caton Creek, which had a gravel bar big enough to park the entire group for lunch, we headed back up to watch the others d on the nasty class five rapids. All did well.

Nine of us grouped up at Caton Creek and launched into several intense class IV+ rapids. This was about 2 miles above where I put in Friday but there were 10-12 class IV-IV+ rapids to negotiate in that short section. Huge water and large drops over around and through the boulders presented a considerable challenge in my 12’ baby cat. Many of these rapids required very technical moves to negotiate successfully through. I was punching holes much larger then my little baby cat.

Janice flipped her boat in this section.

We continued on down to a rapid called Exlax. I was able to hit it left and move swiftly over to the right at the top of the rapid then maneuver through the rocks to the bottom then back left again to exit. While I lost an oar once and boofed a couple of rocks, it was a smooth run. The day before I got caught going down the middle, lots of rocks! Popped me out of my seat and into the water between the tubes once and bam! into several rocks before a not so graceful exit at the bottom.

The continuous class IV’s continued for another 2 miles before the river mellowed slightly into class III-IV. Lots of great surf waves in the bottom 8 miles, but still some formidable rapids.

At this point it started looking more like a rodeo then a float trip. There was front surfing and rear surfing and at one spot Monte set into a side surf and walked on the tubes around his entire boat while the cat surfed. Amazing, Wild! Many times you would see 2-3 cats surfing down river and 1-2 surfing up river at the same time (lots of play holes).

There were still very few, and small eddies. While my fellow cater’s would surf the holes sometimes three in a rapid, I would be forced to plow my way through trying to avoid them where possible. Many times forcing them out of the surf. With the light weight, continuous curve Sotars and Aires they could surf for several minutes in a hole. Occasionally you could bonk a cat out of a surf and begin surfing yourself (note that I learned this from the Boicatr who used the move successfully on me a few times).

Being in a small cat I had to make several quick decisions as I plummeted over a rock into a hole: Is this a good surf wave or is it too dam big, forcing me to push through or be flipped. More times then not, I choose the push through mentality. Both Boicatr and Jan attempted to surf on one of my "push through" waves about half way down the river and both flipped. Boicatr had his boat righted in less the 45 seconds while Jan had hers righted a few seconds later. Very quick responses by both. You could tell they were practiced and experienced at this.

As we began the last two miles of the float I got to try my hand at surfing with an Aire 15’ w/20" tubes and then a 15’ Sotar with 22" tubes. The lightweight Lexitron Sotar with an ultra lightweight 37 lb. frame proved to be an excellent surf vehicle for me. Given that by that point in the trip my arms were putty from navigating continuous class IV rapids and feebly oaring to set up a surf. (a lot of work when you don’t have the finesse).

Even lacking the power I needed to push my baby cat into a surf, the Sotar easily glided itself into several great surfs. It’s amazing to stop in the river with it’s powerful current rushing by. It’s a peaceful place to be in a very exhilarating sort of way. It was a pleasant way to close out the trip!

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South Fork Salmon River 7/6-7/8/97
Flow 3.8 (Krassel)
submitted by Boicatr

The SF Salmon is always a phenomenal run, but this year's was a classic! Great level, perfect weather, and the most competent big group I've been on an overnight run with. 9 catboats total (4 Aires, 5 Sotars): the Reno crew of Monte, Jimbo, Eric, Chris, Jan; mike and Janice from Spokane, Ron 'crazy Mormon' McLay, and myself. wish the others at Rendezvous '97 could have made it. After runs at 5 ft the last couple years, it was great to hit it again at a much more playful 3.8 (where'd that monster hole at surprise go??!). Tons of surfing, and an incredible ender hole a mile or two above fall creek (see the EFSF page of pics!!). Devil Creek and Fall Creek are the 'biggies' at this flow, although plenty of big stuff everywhere else. Most of us did the 'airplane turn' at the ledge notch at Devil creek, but Ron, Monte, and Eric ran a very heroic left side route, catching a surf to move to the center right after the huge rock that backs up the ledge, thus avoiding the big holes bottom left. Fall Creek was a blast. The top hole was much stickier than I remember from my first run at 3.75. Maybe its changed, but more likely just more water this time (the Krassel gage doesn't include the other tribs, which probably had more water.) Almost punched it, but dropped back in; held the cat straight waiting to see which way it would kick sideways. when it did, i literally kissed my front valve on a huge highside to bring it back down to earth. holy sh*%!! you don't want to flip there!! Jan got side surfed there too. Ron saw a salmon flopping on a rock at the bottom of the rapid, something had been eating on it.

The biggest surprise was ALL THE NEW RAPIDS from blowouts during the Jan. flooding. I expected a few, like on the EFSF, but there must have been 10 or 15, mostly on the top half of the trip. Typically only class 3's at most (and who counts those on the SF Salmon), but two would rate class 4. The biggest is a few miles below Devil Creek; the blowout went across the river and 20 or 30 feet up the other bank, blocking the entire river for a while. Just a fun hole/rock garden at that level, but maybe some big stuff at 5+ feet. and long.

Really enjoyed the Rendezvous on the EFSF! great page, pics, and write up Vince. All that class v and surfing was a nice warm up for the SF Salmon run. Serious river, serious boating, and serious fun!