When we hit the Green it had climbed to 4460 cfs and had been raining all morning which had inflows on the tributaries at large volumes. The Green was chocolate brown, with very few and quite small eddies. The water was big, powerful and flowing through the brush and trees. The quarter mile section between Mercury, Nozzle and Lets Make a Deal earned a respectable Class V at those flows. Two Trip reports are available by Hans chambers and Chuck Morgan. What an exceptional adventure!
Hans has also provided a great write up about "Carnage on the Selway in 1999".
Saturday we floated the Skykomish river from Index to Goldbar. There were 8-10 catboaters and 2 kayakers who collected at the putin. With the river rising we hit it at 8,000 CFS. This is a great level for this river. All the class III rapids were fun. Boulder Drop a class IV was a challenge. About 1/2 of the group took the sneak route down the right hand side. The others followed the Needle route. 1 boat did a back flip and the operator swam to the side. The boat and boater were recovered and the group reassembled for a safe float the rest of the way. Personally my boat seemed very sticky in the big water. I went over the right side of the tongue in the needle and stalled out in the reversal below the drop. A few pushes got me moving toward the lateral wave peeling off of little house rock. I crashed it successfully and went over the edge into ledge drop. I bounced from the seat, high sided and flushed on through to safe water.
Sunday was a personal first descent of the Green River gorge. The river was high at 4,460 CFS. At 4,000 CFS this river is rated a class IV+. The rater’s are right.
Hans Chambers and John Meialowski had both ran the river at that level and higher. Vince is a solid class V boater, I am a class IV boater. Kevin ____ met us at the putin but opted not to run. No other boaters came to the river.
After a lost shuttle driver and a flat trailer tire we reassembled at the putin. I had some hesitant thoughts like "Accident reports don't happen if you go home". The four of us agreed to run with the option of pulling out before the gorge.
The upper section was tough but all was going well so we proceeded into the canyon with no exit options left. Above the hardest section we stopped in an eddy to discuss the route. Three boaters had a clean run in very big water.
Mine was not as pretty. I was the third boat behind John and Hans. I entered Mercury and followed the main flow down river left. Hans moved to river center to ride the spout through the Nozzle.. I followed and as I reached the crest I saw the seam of water between 2 very large holes. I put my boat on line and expected to enjoy the ride. When I hit the bottom the boat stalled and I ejected over the front. My first class V whitewater swim. The river was recirculating me and I had no up, down forward or back movement. I saw Vince above me and considered him a possible rescue. The river pulled me below the surface and Vince could see the top of my helmet at river level for 6 or 7 seconds. I broke loose and swam for my boat. Out of breath I was just happy to grab hold of it. Hans yelled to get on top. With my feet on one tube and my back against the other I bridged out of the water and rolled on to the floor. Jumping into my seat I faced a pour over with a 10 foot drop in Lets Make a Deal rapid. You exit the rapid through Doors 1. 2 or 3. I was headed for the rock between Door 2 and 3. I backed stroked furiously as I rode up the pillow of water on the rock’s upstream face. At the last minute I slid off the rock through Door 2 and passed safely down stream into calmer water. The rest of the trip was uneventful as I chose the most conservative route possible.
Hans asked if this was the toughest water I had rafted. After some thought I believe it is. I was pushed to the edge of my skills and am glad I made the trip. Next time I maybe more conservative and not do a new river at the high end of its floatable range.
Chuck Morgan 12/15/99 -----------------------------------------------------------
The group consisted of Scott Sills and Mandy in their kayaks. I know Scott from the Lochsa and Selway trips last year and he is now living in Seattle attending school. Scott is an expert yakker and Mandy is very solid. Dave Hagmeier came all the way from Portland to boat the Sky Saturday. Dave is an expert rafter and he was on his 13’ Wing catboat. Dave is one of those people that you always want around if anything goes wrong.
We had 3 local expert cat boaters, Chuck, Paul and Erik and John Maesaloski running his Puma. John is the best Puma driver in the world. I’m sure of that. We also had another Erik, who was new to boating serious water. He was taking a borrowed Maravia 14’ big-tubed catboat for the first time. Vince Thompson from Idaho was in my Sotar 15.5 yellow cat. Kevin Held was running solo in his custom Sotar 12-1/2 raft and I was running my Puma. That was the group, 2 yaks, 2 Pumas, 1 raft and 6 cats. All experienced except for Erik on the big Maravia cat.
I almost flipped on the first little class 3 rapid just below the putin. It had been a while since I had run my Puma and I wasn’t bracing with the oars the way I should. I got the kinks worked out on the way down to Boulder Drop.
We stopped to scout Boulder Drop. We pulled over and walked down to the big rocks at the drop. John and Paul would wait for our signal and then run the drop to show us all how to run it. We had several people that had never run it before. We climbed on the rocks and gave John and Paul the signal to run.
Paul took a right-side route in his Maravia cat and did fine until the bottom when he had to high side after getting stuck in a hole. John had a beautiful run through the drop until he came to Ledge Wave at the bottom of the rapid. We were all standing there straining to see John at the lower end of Boulder Drop, about 80 yards from where we were standing. All of a sudden John’s Puma shot about 10 feet into the air. Oops, it seems that John had hit Ledge Wave instead of getting to the left of it. John swam to his boat and re-flipped it and climbed in, none the worse for the swim. If you are going to drive a Puma in big water, you’d better be ready and able to swim, often and well.
We all scrambled down off the rocks and walked back to the boats. I pulled out first and ran right, taking the drops and then resting in eddies and looking over the next section of water. I did fine until the bottom where I had to drop down through a narrow slot between rocks and I got stuck in a hole. I high-sided until I was able to work my way out and down to the eddy at the bottom of Boulder Drop.
Now Kevin was coming through in his raft. He had to slow down above the first drop at the entrance so he was not going fast enough to punch through the holes at the top. He got stopped and surfed right at the entrance and then he was thrown out of his boat. Kevin had swum at Boulder Drop only a week or two before so he knew what to do. He grabbed his boat and climbed back in, got his oars squared away and started rowing. He had no more problems the rest of the rapid and eddied out next to me at the bottom.
Dave Hagmeier had no problems except getting surfed at Ledge Wave and he eddied out across the river from Kevin and myself. Next came Erik followed by inexperienced Erik. Erik had no problems but inexperienced Erik got surfed in Ledge Wave and didn’t push our hard enough. His big Maravia cat bounced up in the fron and came back down twice and then it bounced even higher and just kept going right on up to a vertical tail-stand and then over backwards in a perfect back flip. Dave Hagmeier said it was the most perfect flip he’d ever seen. About half the people chased down Erik’s boat while the rest of us waited for the kayakers to come through.
Scott and Mandy came through just fine, sneaking down the right side from eddy to eddy. We all headed out down river to join up with our group. Vince was the last to come downstream. Just after Vince pulled out, he heard Erik shouting from shore where he had climbed out of the river. Vince gave Erik a tube ride down to his cat boat. The guys had corralled it in and re-flipped it for him. Erik was grinning from ear to ear. Dave and I swapped boats so he could try the Puma. We came to Surf Wave and everybody took a shot at surfing. Dave put the Puma on the wave and it immediately bucked him off into the water. We collected Dave and put him back in the Puma.
The rest of the trip was uneventful and fast. At 8000 cfs the 8 mile Sky run only takes about an hour and a half of float time plus your time for scouting. We ended the day at a restaurant in Sultan eating Mexican food and talking about rafting different Rivers of the West. Everybody new to the Sky agreed that the Sky is a great whitewater river at 8000 cfs.
The next day we would run the Green.
Sunday on the Green
The Green was running pretty high at 4500 cfs. Vince and I had planned to meet Chuck and Kevin from yesterday and also Julie from Tacoma was going to join us for the Green run. Julie and Kevin decided not to run but we were joined by John in his Puma so we had 4 boaters to run the Green. We put my 12’ Sotar cat together for Vince to take and I took the 15.5 cat. Chuck had his 14’ cat and John was in his Puma.
Kevin ran shuttle for us so we had all the rigs at the take out, quite a luxury to not have to shuttle someone back to the put-in after boating. The river was chocolate brown in color. The Green River is only green below about 3000 cfs. Above that level it turns progressively darker until about 4200 or so it turns completely chocolate in color. There didn’t seem to be much wood floating in the river which is always nice.
We took off with John and I leading. The water was super pushy but we all made it down to Ledge Drop 1 with out any problems. We eddied out below the "Dangerous River Conditions Ahead" sign and everyone said they were willing to run so off into the gorge we went. We ran the first part of the 6 mile long gorge with huge waves stacked on top of monstrous waves accompanied by holes that I don’t even want to think about. Even floating past some of the monstrous holes was enough to scare me. We all had great runs and everyone made it down to the start of Mercury without flipping. Everybody had to highside or Flintstone but we all made it.
We eddied out above Mercury and went over how to run it and the Nozzle and Let’s Make A Deal. All within 400 yards of where we were eddied out. After going over the instructions 4 or 5 times. I told everybody to pull out their "A" game for the next 400 yards. John led off with me right on his tail for support. We ran Mercury without any problems. It wasn’t as big as we were expecting. We dropped down through the Nozzle and John and I immediately eddied out to wait for Chuck and Vince. Chuck came through and hit the slot at the Nozzle but he wasn’t exactly lined up right. When he hit the bottom of the drop, he flew over his left tube. John and I were only about 20 yards away and could see Chuck under the water, stuck on the seam of a hole. He worked his way to the surface and started swimming after his boat. We yelled at him to climb back on. He did a great "Bridge" move he remembered from high school wrestling and got back on his boat. Vince came through without mishap. It is hard to describe to people, running the gorge for the first, just how powerful the river is at high water. There were places where we were moving maybe 15 miles an hour. You had to be braced firmly every second during the big rapids.
We floated down towards Lets Make a Deal and all tried for Door #1. None of us made it. The water just would slam you into the rock and hold you there. We all spun off and headed for Door #2. The rock guarding Door #2 was piled high with water actually lapping over the top. I turned right for the door and was pushed up onto the rock until I was sitting level pointed left and thinking how much it was going to hurt going over the other side of the rock. It would be about a 12’ straight drop and I was sideways to it. Ouch! Vince rode up on the pillow on the same rock vertically and we were both on the same rock briefly. My right oar only caught air but my left oar caught something, maybe Vince’s cat, definitely not Vince’s tooth, and I was able to slide off the left side of the rock into Door #3. I fell and I grabbed the frame as I slammed into another rock. Then I was able to get back in my seat and grab the oars. Another successful run of the Nozzle section.
We had a great lower run. Big waves were surfed and big holes were avoided. We stopped for lunch at Surf Wave and had a great time yelling at each other from 2 feet away because of all the adrenalin going through us.
I recommend the gorge run at 4500 for anyone that finds the Sky at 8000 not tough enough.
Hans Chambers 12-14-99
We got on the water at about 2pm after the long shuttle over 7,800' Deadwood Pass. Paddler Magazine called this one of the 10 worst shuttles in the country. Although I think their info was outdated 2 years ago when they printed that. The road is ok but it's quite a climb and caused the tailpipe to brake off the back off my muffler. The put in is at the road bridge below Deadwood Dam. The road follows the river on the left for about a mile. The next road is 19 miles downstream. The river starts off with 3-4 miles of class II-III water which is quite fast.
At mile 4, the class V Logjam Rapid looms below the horizon line. Eddy right to scout. We took a good look at the rapid from below the entire right side of the rapid is clogged with logs and all the water flows left. Boicatr decided he could squeeze his 14' cat between the huge bolder and the nasty protruding log in the middle of the flow. I set up safety on a midstream bolder below. He hugged the rock, narrowly missed the log with his tube and dropped the 10-12' down the pour over for a clean run. (notice the cataract oar bend as it pushes against the log in the photo). Jerry decided try his luck in his 15.5' cat. Same entry but the bigger boat didn't have as much room to maneuver the tight squeeze and he caught his left tube tip on the log. The right tube of the boat drooped straight down and Jerry was dumped from the vertical, sideways cat in an instant. The boat dropped down ans d somehow managed to stay upright. I was 20 yards downstream ready with the rope. Jerry quickly grabbed the boat by the outside safety line, then grabbed the oar stand and in a move that would have made spider man proud, climbed the tube and mounted the seat before the boat traveled the 20 yards to my station. The water is quite swift here and after the midstream bolder I was on is another class IV rapid. Not a good place to swim.
more to come...
The week before I was on the Selway between 4.2 and 5' see the report above. Also got in runs on the SF Payette at 8,000 and Main at 13,200 cfs that week. The SF Payette had the whale rock under water and some huge waves in Staircase and Slalom. The Big hole in Slalom was washed out at that flow. AMF rapid on the main about ate my lunch. a raft bumped me from behind so I moved over and let them pass and hit the hole on the left. I was looking straight up, climbing up my frame before the Sotar eased forward again. Then we hit a day on the Lochsa at 6'. Lochsa Falls was a huge wall of water at that flow but managed to get through it ok after watching my fellow cater Hans get thoroughly trashed in the hole for about a minute.
Lets see, hit the Murtaugh between 12,300 and 17,000. Actually it was more fun at 12k then 17k. But you got to love the wall of water behind door number 3 at 17,000 cfs. The boicatr got loosened from his seat a bit going through which got my adrenaline pumping enough to push through ok.
Launched on Marsh creek May 22rd for 5 days on the Middle Fork. Flow was 5.2' at put in and 7.4' when we took off. See the photo above of my run through Dagger Falls. It was not the usual pristine MF Salmon most folks recognize. It was a chocolate torrent full of lumber and with few places to stop and rest. Pistol Creek was my nemesis but a quick move and backwards exit kept me off the wall. We made the last 7-8 miles from lower cliff side to the confluence in 40 minutes. Both Haystack and House rock were under water. Most people agree that the new gauge is reading about a half a foot lower then the old gauge.
It was my 8th new run of ’99, just two months before my 46th birthday when I made my 1st AND second runs down the North Fork Payette. The North Fork "Lower 7" was the only real goal I had for ’99. I’d done a lot to mentally and physically prepare myself for rapids the likes of "Screaming Left, Jaws, Hounds Tooth, Juicer and Crunch". I’d recently run the South Fork Salmon, Dagger Falls on the Middle Fork, the Upper EFSF Salmon "Fright Stimulator" and a cataraft first descent down the Goat Creek run of the South Salmon. I joined Jerry Kiser and the Boicatr who have over 140 North Fork runs (various stretches) between them in catarafts. Good company to be in, yet I was nervous as a cat about the North Fork. It’s one heart pounding, thumping river.
The flow was 1550 cfs (7’ on the Otter Gauge), the lower end of the fun scale by expert standards. Just right for a first run by my standards. We scouted on the way up to the put in 7 miles north of Banks. Within a few hundred yards you enter "Screaming Left". The trick is to enter center right and continue to drift to the outside before cutting left of the rock on river right at the turn. Just avoiding this rock will hopefully put you right and out of harms way of the log that crosses the left side of the river, and just to the left of the ugly fan rock. Up next was Jaws.
I came over Jaws 1 a little sideways and had to do a quick highside as the boat rocketed up and out of the hole. The river continued its constant pounding through Jaws 2 & 3. Two miles downstream from the put in you encounter Hounds Tooth (or Bunny ears as Ryan Hoek calls it). Two big bicuspids divide the river into thirds. The move is to enter center close to the right rock with your boat at about eleven o’clock hitting the lateral below square. But alas, I was at about ten o clock… again a quick highside as the boat rocketed upward and out of the hole. Dang, I was making a habit out of that move. The boat was still upright and I was settled back in the seat. My right oar had suffered a North Fork shark attack and had a piece of the blade missing.
Next is 2 miles of class IV water with a few good surf holes, then a pause as the river bends right under the road. There you will see the otter gauge on river right. Otters Slide follows with more fun class IV water. A mile or less down river is Juicer. The line is right of center but not too far right. The river is quite narrow here and it is easy to get into the right bank. I had a great run through the long wave train and avoided the large center left hole at the bottom. Sweet!
I was feeling more comfortable about my run now! Just Crunch to go and I was home free. Again, the entry was right of center at top, then right between the two tight boulders 20 yards below. OK I had it, then shoot! another rock 20 yards below. Pull as I might I couldn’t get left fast enough. The right tube caught the rock and spun me. Over the drop sideways again. Bang, thump! I slid sideways out of the seat, hurriedly climbed up the other side and top of the cat for a highside and I was through. I quickly grabbed the oars for more hard pulls to avoid the next series of rocks and crunch, crunch! Both oars were loose from the pins (pushed inward) and my knuckles were crunching against each other and the oar handles. I got the oars back in place and completed the run out to the nearest eddy for a rest. There are some outstanding surfing holes below Crunch. Although, I was in no mood to surf at the time not knowing where the next rock lingered awaiting my swift passage. We got to the take out, contemplated our next move, and decided on another North Fork run but the "Lower 5" this time.
We put in right above Hounds Tooth. Three or four strokes to the bicuspid. I was much more comfortable this time and had a good entry. Exactly 11 O’Clock! A Slide up the lateral then an airplane move around the rock and I was sitting pretty for the next drop. Nice! I was more familiar with the river now and much more comfortable surfing. I pulled back in a couple holes and could have surfed in each all day. I had another good run through Juicer avoiding the hole at the bottom. Again, some more really awesome surfing.
This time I was ready for my nemesis, "Crunch". Knowing where those rocks were and how rapidly they approach was a huge advantage. I got through clean, er, better. Below crunch is more great surfing. Could have been there all day too!
As we were preparing to leave the Banks parking a raft on a trailer came loose from the van that was towing it on the SF road, crossed the highway without the van and crashed down the bank toward the river just north of the bridge. The trailer came to rest against an evergreen tree with the rear of the boat sticking skyward along the edge of the road. The two guides in the van were so shook up they just drove into the parking lot, turned around and headed down the highway to get the boss without getting out of the van. So that’s how the outfitters launch and avoid the user fee. Hmmm…
Barry flipped in the runout of elk creek (after the cliff face). then tom flipped just minutes later trying to surf a wave. nick also did a front ender at the 'ender' ledge, which was pretty sticky at that level. the compression wave that starts out fall creek was really hammering back on itself. four boats ran the gut, all of them stalled, but only tammy got sucked back in and got big air but no flip. i pushed hard (very hard!) throught the right side lateral coming off the cliff and actually snuck by the hole to its right. it was a theory w/ very questionable result, but worked great. the rest snuck down the left side bank route (barely there at that flow.) I took on a big single hole on the main w/ the expected result...nice back ender. was already on the up side of my frame by the time the boat landed.:)
then it was off to the nf payette on thursday to get the 'boys' warmed up to it w/ a lower 5 and lower 7 run. then on friday it was top to bottom time with monte, tom, nick, and myself (ryan put in at lower 5). 3 out of 4 got turned around at the 'pencil sharpener' (lead in to jakes), but got it cranked back around for great runs. Flow was a bit thumpy at ~1800 cfs on otter slide gage. Repeated the run on saturday, with mark cramer joining us for the entire run, and jerry for everything but jakes. He got a bit banged up by an oar in nutcracker, plus lost an oar. monte snapped off a cataract oar in nutcracker as well. after going 0 for 2 last year, i finally had it dialed in at the nut this time. everyone had stellar runs at jacobs on day 2, although nick went for the spin move again. really hard to stay off the right wall on the lead in at that flow.
what a great week of boating. got to do a stretch i've always wanted to (goat creek run), hit the sf overnighter at a most excellent flow (4.2), got some top to bottom nf's in, and boated/camped with a great bunch of people. I wish we could've fit a couple more flight simulator runs in, but oh well.
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Jerry Schwantes from Seattle drew a Selway permit for June 23. Several Seattle area boaters would join Jerry’s trip. Bill Smith would help decipher river flows and do the leading once on the river. The other Seattle boaters were Bill Gibson, Eric Landen, Jeff Cline, Mark Gould and myself. Ken Scott from Cashmere and Vince Thompson and Ken Wiesmore from Idaho rounded out the trip. The melt was late in coming to Idaho this year. The Selway trip was in danger of being cancelled because of high water. Anything over 6’ on the Paradise gauge is considered pretty dangerous. The outfitters had just flown a group off the river when it spiked at over 6' so Bill Smith and Jerry were watching the flows closely. Lochsa I decided to stick to the original plan and run the Lochsa on the way to the Selway. I arrived at 3 Rivers Resort on Sunday, June 20. I drove up to Selway falls and was really impressed with the volume of water coming through there. It was huge. The gauge at Paradise was running about 6’ at the time. Vince Thompson and Ken Wiesmore joined me at 3 Rivers to run the Lochsa. Vince drives a bright orange Sotar cat and Ken paddles an open canoe. Ken has a reputation in Idaho for running tough water with his canoe and he had run the Selway 3 times before. Vince had run the Selway the year before and was looking for a higher water run this year. The next day, Monday, the three of us scouted the Lochsa and talked to commercial guides at 3 Rivers that were running the river that day. Vince and I really couldn’t spot a line at Lochsa Falls. The gauge at the bridge said 6’ and the back-curler at the bottom of Lochsa Falls looked like an automatic flip. The commercials were running a sneak route on the left but Vince and I weren’t sure we could pick out landmarks to hit the sneak route. While scouting we met Scott, a kayaker from Wyoming waiting for some buds to show up to run with him. Scott was taking the Summer off to Kayak the West before starting a PHD program at the University of Washington. He was still waiting when we came back to run so he decided to run with us. Scott was so solid on the river that we invited him to join us on the Selway. He was a great addition. The four of us started down the Lochsa. We ran the lower section only because the commercials said the upper was too tough at 6’. We didn’t have any trouble. After a few minutes of settling in and seeing how the others ran, we ran like we’d been boating together for years. When you have an open canoe in class 4 at high water it needs to be bailed after every rapid. This gave Vince and myself a little practice hitting eddies and was a welcome break. When we got to Lochsa Falls we eddied out and talked about how to run it. We still hadn’t made up our minds and since we’d be in it in 30 seconds, it was probably time to make up our minds. Vince was for running it right down the tongue into the back curler. There was a nice place to re-flip below the rapid so why not. Scott the kayaker said I might get surfed in there. I agreed with him. I left the eddy with Vince right behind me. Since we had decided to run it down the gut there wasn't much to do except look at the falls coming up. The back curler that had looked like a flipper from the road was HUGE when looked at from the water. I drive a 15-1/2 Sotar cat that has stumbled through some amazing spots but I didn’t know if I could get through the wave or not. I pushed like crazy as I slid down the tongue toward it. Just as I started to rise up on the wave it broke and absolutely douched me. It started to surf and I headed for the footbar. Then the boat turned and side-surfed a bit and then turned again and I was on the footbar, front surfing. This was not good. Poor Vince was heading right into this on a smaller boat. Quite a gut check. The wave released me and reformed. Vince pushed hard sliding down the tongue and made it over the wave with no problem at all. Why didn’t it break on him? It was time for congratulations and letting the Adrenaline burn itself out. We rehashed that rapid 50 times in the next few days. Mark Gould and Ken Scott joined us at 3 Rivers for dinner. Scott the kayaker decided to join us for the Selway. Now we were a team of 6. The others coming from Seattle would be meeting us at the Selway putin. Selway putin We threw my boat and gear in Vince’s rig for the 6 or 7 hour drive to the Selway putin. The four of us and our equipment pretty well filled Vince’s Surburban and trailer. The weather was miserable with rain off and on and very threatening clouds in all directions. It looked like we would get dumped on for our four days on the Selway. We stopped at the store in Darby for some last minute shopping and headed for the West Fork Ranger station to add Scott to the permit and drop off some flowers to thank Linda and Nancy for answering our dozens of questions about the flow for past week or two. We got to the putin and set up camp about 4 pm. The weather was starting to look better. The others from Seattle arrived later that night. The next morning we checked the gauge and it said 4.7’. Our shuttle was handled by Marvin Smith from Darby and went off without a hitch. We launched under beautiful sunny skies about noon and headed for our first camp. The river was tight and rocky but pretty comfortable for small river boaters from Washington. We had two days of easy boating before the Moose Creek section. Moose Creek Thursday afternoon we camped at Tony Point at the head of Moose Creek Canyon. We hiked the trail past "Double Drop" and "Ladle" and "Little Niagara". The water level had been steadily dropping since we put on and was probably about 4’ now. We went back to camp after seeing a few rattle snakes and with routes through "Ladle" burned into our brains. Back at camp it started raining and continued to pour all night. Some of the people on the trip were hoping for a higher water run and it looked like they were getting their wish. Remember your mother telling you to be careful what you wished for because you might get it? Mom was right. Friday morning it was still raining and the river was up a foot or so and rising. I was surprised when the group decided to run instead of laying over a day. Moose Juice We headed down river with Bill Smith leading and Vince and me trailing the others. Vince had run the river before and I was going to follow his line, unless he flipped of course. At "Double Drop" I saw Mark Gould’s cat barrel roll on the lateral wave and we started chasing it. Ken Scott, Vince and myself were chasing down Mark’s raft. We came past the rest of the group eddied out above "Ladle" but we were in full chase mode and just blasted on through. After all this still is just class 4 water, right. We headed into "Ladle" and Ken immediately flipped. Now Vince and I were chasing two boats but only one person because Mark had gotten himself to an eddy and climbed out of the river. We kept chasing Ken and his upside down cat. We chased through "Ladle" and "Little Niagara" where Ken went right over the center pourover and Mark’s cat went over the left side and got stuck in the hole at the base of the falls. We finally got Ken’s cat into an eddy after running some epic holes and waves. In one hole my cat did a tail stand for about 3 seconds, 3 very long seconds. As we are sitting in the eddy we notice Eric’s raft floating by upside down with Bill smith chasing it. Vince pulls out to help chase the raft I stayed with Ken and his cat. Jerry joined us shortly and we re-flipped his cat. We then were joined by Eric Landen who walked up to us from the hillside. It was Eric’s raft that had floated by. After a group discussion, we all headed downstream to join Vince and Bill. None of us knew what had happened to the others but there wasn’t anything we were going to do to help them from downstream. We just had to have faith in their abilities and not do anything to split the group further. After the chase Bill and Vince caught the raft and tried several times to get it stopped but they couldn’t get it to stay put. Finally they gave up. A heavily loaded and upside down raft travels faster than a catboat. We caught up with Bill and Vince on an island in the river. Now there were 6 of us on the island and 5 guys upstream somewhere. Eric wanted to take off hiking after his raft but we convinced him to stay with us. His raft was traveling a lot faster than Eric could walk. We knew there was a guided group downstream from us but we didn’t think they would be likely to even see the raft, let alone pull it over. We expected the raft to do a run of Selway Falls and maybe get all the way to the Clearwater or even the Snake. We had lots of thoughts on what would happen to Eric’s raft but Eric wasn’t enjoying the discussion. I think the favorite thought was that his raft was going to get caught in a turbine in a dam on the Snake causing a blackout of Oregon, Washington and Idaho. This would result in Eric being sued for a few billion dollars and possibly prosecuted as an eco-terrorist for cleverly destroying the turbine with his boat. Like I said, Eric wasn’t enjoying the discussion. We were getting comfortable on the island, setting up chairs and eating lunch when the rest of our group showed up. We were all really glad to be reunited. Everyone was fine after their adventures at "Ladle". Ken Wiesmore, the canoeist had recovered Mark’s cat from below "Little Niagara", re-flipped it and ferried it across the river. This was Ken’s first time rowing. The group then lined 2 boats through the top of "Ladle" and then, to hurry the process up, Ken rowed one of the rafts through the bottom of "Ladle" and delivered it below the tough section. This was Ken’s second time rowing. Ken is a handy guy to have on a trip. Mark had climbed into Eric’s raft after his flip at "Double Drop". He was with Eric when they flipped in "Ladle". Mark had an interesting morning. He swam twice in 20 minutes. Last Camp We continued downstream and camped for the night. We had just finished a really exciting day on the water and with the exception of the lost raft, everything had worked out fine. We had video cameras going for a lot of the trip and spent Friday night looking at the two flips that we got on video. Eric headed off downstream on the trail to see if he could find his boat or at least call the shuttle people and have his keys locked in another car. Eric’s spare keys were on the raft. The next morning we broke camp and headed for the takeout. We had only gone about a mile when we saw Eric with his raft. The outfitters from Three Rivers Resort had corralled his boat. Eric had walked into their camp the night before to find his boat with most of his gear intact. We stopped to scout "Wolf creek" but after Friday, riding the flush through Moose Creek Canyon, the river seemed pretty tame. Vince and I took a run right down the center and actually it was pretty boring. It was a great trip with a good bunch of boaters. I want to get back to the Selway as often as I can. I’d like to see "The Moose" at a little higher water. Not a lot higher, just a little higher.
The melt was late in coming to Idaho this year. The Selway trip was in danger of being cancelled because of high water. Anything over 6’ on the Paradise gauge is considered pretty dangerous. The outfitters had just flown a group off the river when it spiked at over 6' so Bill Smith and Jerry were watching the flows closely.
Vince Thompson and Ken Wiesmore joined me at 3 Rivers to run the Lochsa. Vince drives a bright orange Sotar cat and Ken paddles an open canoe. Ken has a reputation in Idaho for running tough water with his canoe and he had run the Selway 3 times before. Vince had run the Selway the year before and was looking for a higher water run this year.
The next day, Monday, the three of us scouted the Lochsa and talked to commercial guides at 3 Rivers that were running the river that day. Vince and I really couldn’t spot a line at Lochsa Falls. The gauge at the bridge said 6’ and the back-curler at the bottom of Lochsa Falls looked like an automatic flip. The commercials were running a sneak route on the left but Vince and I weren’t sure we could pick out landmarks to hit the sneak route.
While scouting we met Scott, a kayaker from Wyoming waiting for some buds to show up to run with him. Scott was taking the Summer off to Kayak the West before starting a PHD program at the University of Washington. He was still waiting when we came back to run so he decided to run with us. Scott was so solid on the river that we invited him to join us on the Selway. He was a great addition.
The four of us started down the Lochsa. We ran the lower section only because the commercials said the upper was too tough at 6’. We didn’t have any trouble. After a few minutes of settling in and seeing how the others ran, we ran like we’d been boating together for years. When you have an open canoe in class 4 at high water it needs to be bailed after every rapid. This gave Vince and myself a little practice hitting eddies and was a welcome break.
When we got to Lochsa Falls we eddied out and talked about how to run it. We still hadn’t made up our minds and since we’d be in it in 30 seconds, it was probably time to make up our minds. Vince was for running it right down the tongue into the back curler. There was a nice place to re-flip below the rapid so why not. Scott the kayaker said I might get surfed in there. I agreed with him.
I left the eddy with Vince right behind me. Since we had decided to run it down the gut there wasn't much to do except look at the falls coming up. The back curler that had looked like a flipper from the road was HUGE when looked at from the water. I drive a 15-1/2 Sotar cat that has stumbled through some amazing spots but I didn’t know if I could get through the wave or not. I pushed like crazy as I slid down the tongue toward it. Just as I started to rise up on the wave it broke and absolutely douched me. It started to surf and I headed for the footbar. Then the boat turned and side-surfed a bit and then turned again and I was on the footbar, front surfing. This was not good. Poor Vince was heading right into this on a smaller boat. Quite a gut check. The wave released me and reformed. Vince pushed hard sliding down the tongue and made it over the wave with no problem at all. Why didn’t it break on him?
It was time for congratulations and letting the Adrenaline burn itself out. We rehashed that rapid 50 times in the next few days. Mark Gould and Ken Scott joined us at 3 Rivers for dinner. Scott the kayaker decided to join us for the Selway. Now we were a team of 6. The others coming from Seattle would be meeting us at the Selway putin.
We stopped at the store in Darby for some last minute shopping and headed for the West Fork Ranger station to add Scott to the permit and drop off some flowers to thank Linda and Nancy for answering our dozens of questions about the flow for past week or two. We got to the putin and set up camp about 4 pm. The weather was starting to look better. The others from Seattle arrived later that night. The next morning we checked the gauge and it said 4.7’. Our shuttle was handled by Marvin Smith from Darby and went off without a hitch. We launched under beautiful sunny skies about noon and headed for our first camp. The river was tight and rocky but pretty comfortable for small river boaters from Washington.
We had two days of easy boating before the Moose Creek section.
Back at camp it started raining and continued to pour all night. Some of the people on the trip were hoping for a higher water run and it looked like they were getting their wish. Remember your mother telling you to be careful what you wished for because you might get it? Mom was right.
Friday morning it was still raining and the river was up a foot or so and rising. I was surprised when the group decided to run instead of laying over a day.
At "Double Drop" I saw Mark Gould’s cat barrel roll on the lateral wave and we started chasing it. Ken Scott, Vince and myself were chasing down Mark’s raft. We came past the rest of the group eddied out above "Ladle" but we were in full chase mode and just blasted on through. After all this still is just class 4 water, right. We headed into "Ladle" and Ken immediately flipped. Now Vince and I were chasing two boats but only one person because Mark had gotten himself to an eddy and climbed out of the river. We kept chasing Ken and his upside down cat. We chased through "Ladle" and "Little Niagara" where Ken went right over the center pourover and Mark’s cat went over the left side and got stuck in the hole at the base of the falls. We finally got Ken’s cat into an eddy after running some epic holes and waves. In one hole my cat did a tail stand for about 3 seconds, 3 very long seconds.
As we are sitting in the eddy we notice Eric’s raft floating by upside down with Bill smith chasing it. Vince pulls out to help chase the raft
I stayed with Ken and his cat. Jerry joined us shortly and we re-flipped his cat. We then were joined by Eric Landen who walked up to us from the hillside. It was Eric’s raft that had floated by. After a group discussion, we all headed downstream to join Vince and Bill. None of us knew what had happened to the others but there wasn’t anything we were going to do to help them from downstream. We just had to have faith in their abilities and not do anything to split the group further.
We caught up with Bill and Vince on an island in the river. Now there were 6 of us on the island and 5 guys upstream somewhere. Eric wanted to take off hiking after his raft but we convinced him to stay with us. His raft was traveling a lot faster than Eric could walk. We knew there was a guided group downstream from us but we didn’t think they would be likely to even see the raft, let alone pull it over. We expected the raft to do a run of Selway Falls and maybe get all the way to the Clearwater or even the Snake. We had lots of thoughts on what would happen to Eric’s raft but Eric wasn’t enjoying the discussion. I think the favorite thought was that his raft was going to get caught in a turbine in a dam on the Snake causing a blackout of Oregon, Washington and Idaho. This would result in Eric being sued for a few billion dollars and possibly prosecuted as an eco-terrorist for cleverly destroying the turbine with his boat. Like I said, Eric wasn’t enjoying the discussion.
We were getting comfortable on the island, setting up chairs and eating lunch when the rest of our group showed up. We were all really glad to be reunited. Everyone was fine after their adventures at "Ladle".
Ken Wiesmore, the canoeist had recovered Mark’s cat from below "Little Niagara", re-flipped it and ferried it across the river. This was Ken’s first time rowing. The group then lined 2 boats through the top of "Ladle" and then, to hurry the process up, Ken rowed one of the rafts through the bottom of "Ladle" and delivered it below the tough section. This was Ken’s second time rowing. Ken is a handy guy to have on a trip.
Mark had climbed into Eric’s raft after his flip at "Double Drop". He was with Eric when they flipped in "Ladle". Mark had an interesting morning. He swam twice in 20 minutes.
The next morning we broke camp and headed for the takeout. We had only gone about a mile when we saw Eric with his raft. The outfitters from Three Rivers Resort had corralled his boat. Eric had walked into their camp the night before to find his boat with most of his gear intact. We stopped to scout "Wolf creek" but after Friday, riding the flush through Moose Creek Canyon, the river seemed pretty tame. Vince and I took a run right down the center and actually it was pretty boring.
It was a great trip with a good bunch of boaters. I want to get back to the Selway as often as I can. I’d like to see "The Moose" at a little higher water. Not a lot higher, just a little higher.
This permit was the culmination of many telephone calls for cancellations.Water flow, road closure, and work schedules made it difficult to nail down a date with enough notice. In the space of two weeks, we got a date for June 24 on the Middlefork of the Salmon and June 29 for the Main Salmon. A difficult feat to pull off! The Middlefork is 100 miles long and flows into the Main Salmon river. The Main Salmon put-in is a few miles below and we planned to float to the Corn Creek put-in and check in with the ranger and run another 85 miles to Carey Creek. Pete and I got a group of ten boaters together on very short notice and our trip was set. Our group consisted of the Constantine family (Ken, Cindy, Katie [14], and Kirsten[14]), Chris Canady, Jack Schneider and Wendy Rombold, Pete and Christina King, and Ed Tucker (Christina's dad). The King?s are veterans of the Middlefork and Main Salmon rivers, and Jack had run the Middlefork once many years before. Ed was a veteran Grand Canyon and Main Salmon ?bow monkey? but had never run the Middlefork.
Pete and I got to the put-in first and started rigging our boats after checking in with the river ranger. The river was running 5.78 feet on the gauge. Officially considered high water but manageable. The ramp that is used to slide the boats down to the river has to be seen to be believed. Boater?s load their boats fully rigged and slide them down to the river. Campsites on the Middlefork are assigned by the ranger. Each group is allowed to camp at one hotsprings campsite during their trip and (of course) allowed to visit all of the hotsprings. There were lots of commercial and private boaters rigging to launch the next day (7 permits/groups). We were the smallest group by far. The average group size seemed to be in the twenties. This large group size turned out to be a trend for our entire run through the Middlefork corridor. Much different than our typical previous early season runs. Usually we considered ourselves lucky to see others on the river for safety sake.
Day 1 Fire Island The first ten miles of the Middlefork keep your attention. I rowed constantly. The first rapid is a few yards from the launch ramp. Murphy?s Hole (high water rapid only) was manageable but at very high levels it is very hard to pull away from. Chris was running a flat-bottom bucket raft with no passengers. Chris spent the next 185 miles bailing on a consistent basis. Velvet Falls rapid was coming up at mile 6 and Chris was running out of control (full of water). Pete, Jack and I pulled left and missed the falls. Ken ran the left side of the falls and Chris went right down the middle. Chris described it as submerging his raft through a wall of water. We all were glad Velvet was behind us and our boats were upright. We floated by the Trail Flat hotsprings but they are located near the rivers edge and were underwater. The other rapids we ran during the day seemed to blend into each other one after another. After some confusion about where the actual Fire Island campsite was located we finally pulled over to the correct place and set up camp. During dinner, a moose ambled by camp and stayed within close view for several hours. What a treat! After dinner we made a short hike upriver to Sheepeater hotsprings and soaked our adventurous first day away. Deer ambled by while we soaked and were totally unconcerned by our presence. Many animals congregate near the Middlefork?s numerous natural hotsprings and use them as mineral licks. The weather during the day was extraordinarily warm.
Day 2 Pungo Creek Day 2 dawned very cold (you could see our breath) after a wild evening thunderstorm. We were glad to be safely tucked into our tents during the storm. As the day progressed we warmed up nicely. Pistol Creek rapid (sharp s-bend) with boiling eddies and holes was our biggest rapid today. Everyone did fine. We stopped at the Indian Creek ranger station and checked out the dirt airstrip. Camp was at Pungo Creek where we poked around the remains of an old gold mine. No nuggets were found except for the scenery. Dipsticks made their first appearance and the weather was perfect for water fighting. Dad experienced his first Smore for dessert tonight. He ate 4 but did not have the patience to slowly melt the marshmellows. Kirsten was horrified by Dad?s method of turning the marshmellow into a flaming black carbon cinder and then eating it. Some people are sleeping with their dipsticks because of stealing.
Day 3 Big Loon Sunflower Flat hotsprings was our destination first thing in the morning but we had to get through a rapid called Ski Jump. Ken ran the hole but we all floated upright into Sunflower ready to stand under the hot shower and soak in the hotspring pools making sure to dodge the abundant poison ivy. We stopped for lunch at Jackass and watched another group run the hole in Jackass rapid. One boat looked very tippy but stayed upright. Saw several river otters that looked like logs. My dad waved to one of them and he swam toward us quite curious then swam away. Whitey Cox hotsprings provided more than soaking entertainment. Whitey?s grave stone was decorated with piles of elk antlers. The group camping at Whitey captured several gopher snakes and looked like human snakecharmers. Camp was at our assigned hotsprings camp called Big Loon Hotsprings. We ate dinner and walked a mile up the path that runs along Big Loon creek to the hotsprings. After listening to the men in our group talk about the millenium (Year of the Men), the women formed their own millienium group. We called ourselves the Chic club. Katie and Kirsten were dubbed the Chic-lets. We took turns dunking in the cold creek running next to the hotsprings. Ed and Christina set the record for the longest cold water dunks (4 minutes). Turns out we were practicing for future unintentional river dunkings. (See Day 4) Today was a full day of hotsprings.
Day 4 Driftwood Hospital Bar, our last hotsprings on the Middlefork, was underwater. We ran Tappan Falls (easy at this water level) with no mishaps. We stopped to have lunch at the Flying B outfitter ranch. Haystack rapids was right around the corner. I noticed lots of landslides from storms in the last year. I ran lead and chose a left route through Haystack. Very poor decision, I have always run it on the right but thought I saw a slot on the left that looked better this time. I dropped into a huge hole, surfed, and flipped sideways, as the hole shot my boat skyward. Dad and I were in the water, running almost the entire rapid in our lifejackets. We rescued ourselves at the end on river left. My dad later said he did not have much energy left. My first flip was in Lava Falls in the Grand Canyon and this (my fifth) flip was harder according to Dad. This comes from the mouth of an AARP-let (67). I agreed.
Right after we got out of the river, I saw Chris go by us chasing my boat. Ken was way behind and never saw my flip. My dad and I were gasping for breath after dumping over many rocks and drinking lots of water. We saw Ken as he waved to us and kept floating. We were too shocked to react. Turns out, he never recognized that it was us and thought we were kayakers going to the bathroom at the river?s edge. When they rounded the corner they still did not realize that we were upriver and the upside down boat was mine. They eventually figured it out. Jack and Wendy stopped to pick us up and Pete (running sweep) chased after my boat. Chris finally corralled my boat after a mile or so and they had it flipped back upright by the time we got downriver. My dad lost his Teva and I lost some self-confidence but no equipment was lost or damaged. Otherwise we were tired but safe. I did not feel confident again until the Main Salmon. I was glad we camped at Driftwood with no more rapids to run today.
Day 5 Otter Bar Today brings a fresh perspective. Ultra-Conservativism. I re-lived the flip all night. Rattlesnake cave with pictographs is our first stop. This hidden cave shelters colorful pictographs of elk and stick figures. We pull into the Waterfall Creek eddy to gaze up at the thunderous whitewater pouring vertically down the tumbling rocks. A pack bridge crosses the thundering creek. Some of the more energetic in our group hike up to Veil Falls to stand under the light mist but miss seeing the pictographs (forgot to look up). We stopped for lunch and had a large group (15) of big horn sheep and lambs cavort across the river from us. The lambs were so cute. Big waves signal unnamed rapids above Porcupine, Redside and Weber rapids. All were run uneventfully. We looked for the trail near Papoose camp and the rainbow cliff wall that signals a path to more pictographs but miss it. We hug the left wall at Lower Cliffside rapids and run it well. Stopping at Stoddard was tricky because of the lack eddies but we all made it. Stoddard Creek is the site of more great pictographs. Even found a dead hawk at the base of the cliff. Looks like the hawk misjudged the cliff. Camp for the evening was Otter Bar. Otter?s lovely sandbar was just coming back after the high water. Saw more river otters at Otter bar, how appropriate! Swam in the eddy and dip-sticked each other mercilessly.
Day 7 Yellow Pine Barth hotsprings was today?s highlight. We spent an hour soaking in the hotsprings and turned into prunes. Barth has been cemented in by the local outfitters and fitted with scrubbing brushes to clean the sides. It has a drain plug that is supposed to be pulled when each river party is done using the hotsprings (to minimize algae growth and clean out the tub). This is our most deluxe hotsprings yet. We scrubbed and emptied the tub when we were done. Most of the rapids are washed out including Salmon Falls, but Split Rock rapid still had big waves. Camp was a spacious timbered beach called Yellow Pine.
Day 8 Rabbit Bar Big Mallard and Elkhorn rapids are very big. Ken runs numerous holes in Elkhorn. It turns out to be a long day with lots of flat water and wind. We camp at a nice sandy beach, swim, and (of course) water fight.
Day 9 Takeout at Carey Creek We only have Dried Meat and Chittam rapids today. Chittam is huge. At this water level it is the most difficult rapid on the Main Salmon. Pete, Jack and I run right breaking through a BIG lateral to get away from the wall and holes on the left. Chris and Ken elect to run left all the way. Interesting and scary but all runs were okay. Carey Creek is our takeout and we are glad to reach it safe and sound. What a fun trip with a great group! Everyone pitched in and worked well together. The Chic-lets (Katie and Kirsten) made the Chic Club proud. Both the Millenium and Chic clubs will have many more recruits before Jan 1 arrives. Pete and I leave the take-out to make our way to Westwater Canyon (Loma to Cisco) for yet another river trip. So many rivers, so little time!
Day 1: Sunday, July 4 Our group consisted of 14 boaters from Winter Park, Colorado Springs, and Woodland Park. The day dawned with high winds (not a good sign). The fires had grown in size and the high winds did not help the forecast. Our plan was to run Loma to Cisco because our Westwater Canyon permit was not until July 5. As we rigged at Loma, the BLM ranger informed us that camping was not allowed at Black Rocks or anywhere in Colorado's Ruby or Horsethief canyons. We would have to camp below the Utah stateline. That meant at least a 23 mile day in very windy conditions. We struggled against the wind all afternoon and longingly looked at the nice empty campsites at Black Rocks. We saw several fires high along the mesa rims with flames and lots of smoke (snap and crackle). We took a nice shade break at the railroad trestle trailhead to the Anasazi petroglyphs. Karen saw a nice Big Horn ram parading for her camera at the amphitheater. We camped at the first place below the Colorado stateline (Pebble Beach). The theme for the day was WIND and FIRE.
Day 2: Monday July 5 Monday morning we floated down to the Westwater Canyon ranger station and checked in with the ranger. We were assigned Big Horn as our camp. The ranger told us the level was 13,000 cfs and called it a 'snappy' level. Some boaters call the levels between 13,000 and 19,000 cfs the 'Terrible Teens'. 13,000 cfs flow is actually considered a medium level. How prophetic that description was to become! We ate lunch in the shade at Little Dee and made last minutes adjustments before the big rapids.
Funnel Falls was the first major rapid. Pete ran lead and Ralph was close behind. Ralph missed the safe drop and went left over the huge collapsing wave/hole. His boat stood up on end and fell sideways with Ralph almost falling in the river on the 'lowside'. Davida saved the day by high-siding and his boat fell back down (right side up). Irene Cooke made the same mistake and flipped immediately in front of me. Irene popped up right away next to her boat. I did not follow the crowd and stayed safely away from that wave. I followed Irene and her cataraft into an aggressive (boiling) eddy on the right to pick her up. Meanwhile out of the corner of my eye, I saw Rich and Jenny float by in the current. As I was hauling Irene into my boat, Rich had flipped in the same left run. In the space of 3 minutes we had two flipped boats and three people swimming the first major rapid. With my hands full, I figured the rest of the group would catch Rich and Jenny. The eddy we were in was not a place to flip Irene's boat. Bill Cooke and Karen Hodge decided to take a break from their in-depth comparison of PERA retirement plans and helped push Irene's cat into the current and the chase was on. Thanks Bill and Karen (so glad you put those PERA files away)!
Skull rapid was approaching quickly. We saw no one ahead of us. We presumed they were chasing people and boats. As I rowed backwards into the Skull lateral wave (on the left) to avoid the hole on the right, I was worried. The lateral wave was big. I actually did not break the lateral as intended and had to run the left side of the hole, but came through okay. The only boat we saw at this point was Ralph?s. Ralph had done another 'lowside' and fallen in again. Ralph told us Jay had flipped in the lateral wave at Skull and he and his daughter had swum the Skull hole. Luckily, Rich and Jenny had gotten picked up before Skull rapid (by Pete and Jeff). They had a long swim and drank a lot of river water. Jeff had also fallen victim to the 'lowside' phenomenon and swam in Skull. Three boats were now upside-down with two more people in the water. We heard a whistle and looked up on the cliff and there was Jay. Hugging the wall like Spiderman. Ralph told Jay to jump in the river and Davida hauled him in. Jeff had picked up Angie. Angie told us that the bottom of the Skull hole is very dark and faded to black as she saw Skull from the inside out.
All of the boats were caught in the flat water below the final rapid appropriately called Last Chance. We rolled them right side up. The final tally of losses included; misc beer and soda, 3 oars, 1 wet ruined camera, 1 chair, 1 pair of glasses, 1 hat, 1 oarlock, and a fair amount of self-confidence. (100% more men flipped than women). It could have been much worse. At least everyone was safe and sound. It took a fair amount of camp discussion to document this story. Thanks to everyone. This river trip was definitely a snap, crackle, pop, and roll adventure in more ways than one. Can?t wait to go back next 4th of July!
Just discovered your page. Very nice! Lots of good info and interesting links.
Don't know if you or anyone else would be interested but here's another report on the Jarbidge/Bruneau. Our group consisted of 10 guys R2ing 5 Spiders. These, and AIRE Puma's, are the BEST boats for the Jarbidge. Nice and narrow but with no oars to get in the way at 'The Maze' and 'The Jollies'. These are III+/IV (depending on flow) rock gardens above Jarbidge Falls and require QUICK manuevering to avoid pins and wraps. This year the flows (Bruneau gage) when we started were 1400 and came up to 1600 at the takeout. Higher flows are desireable but not necessary.
Anyway, like everyone says, the first few miles are undefined swiftwater with small II-III boulder dodges. Sevy Falls is the first rapid of any consequence. Two routes are available. A relatively easy portage, no unpacking necessary, on the left bank over the logjam, a few boulders and back into the water below the main drop. If the water is below 1500 cfs the bottom of the rapid is rocky. The second choice is to run the rapid which isn't as bad as it looks. River right chute that bends left below the logjam. Do a good scout to verify there are no logs jutting out of the bottom of the logjam into the main current and that the run-out is log free. Following Sevy is Wally's Wallow. Another rapid that is easier than it looks. It starts with some rock dodging prior to the first drop into a slack area above the main drop. Two choices follow. If the center chute between two house rocks is clear of logs you can go that way. I've never seen it clear enough to use. The right chute along the bank and around the right side house rock is always clear and straightforward. Careful of the logs choking the center chute that usually protrude out the bottom. This year the center chute was clear except for on large log sticking up from downstream directly into the middle of the chute. A little disconcerting as you drop of into the slack water but easily avoided (at that level) as you go around the house rock and on down the right chute. The run-out is rocky at this flow.
Next challenge is The Maze followed by The Jollies. These come close together and about a mile above Jarbidge Falls. Having read one report of a group spending the night on the portage trail at Jarbidge Falls I'd like to point out a pretty good campsite on river right on the right bend immediately below The Maze. If it's mid-afternoon or later I suggest using it as it's the last camp before Jarbidge falls. The Maze is 200 yards of bank to bank ferries (not all that bad as the river is pretty narrow), narrow chutes and fast spins. By the time you're done the heart rate is up. I pinned and nearly wrapped on a boulder near the bottom of this rapid. Bad feeling when you're running sweep. The Jollies are more of the same with more room to move around in and a couple of small drops thrown in for fun.
Jarbidge Falls is next and much has been written about it. Make sure you make the left eddy above the rapid. It's easy to see as the river appears to disappear around a HUGE boulder. There is a class III boulder garden immediately above it but the current slows dramatically as it goes around the HUGE boulder to the left. Pretty easy to get into in all but the highest flows. I'd stop on river left above the boulder garden in really high water (above 2500 cfs on the Bruneau gage) and take a look at it. There's room in the eddy for all but the largest parties but float down to it one at a time to prevent a cluster foxtrot from occuring above a REALLY nasty looking rapid. Parts of it are runnable but parts are definitely not. Specifically, one ugly undercut on the right near the top. One pair of crazies on this trip tried to run the lower 2/3 and ended up swimming after a pin/flip at an innocuous looking pillow on the right bank that should've been no problem. This rapid does not do what you'd think it should. We ended up lining the other four boats down the left bank fully loaded. Only attempt a loaded lining if you've got extra hands. We had 6-8 big, hairy studs directly involved in each boat's progress and needed them all. Also, if you're considering lining boats, get your commands and communications down before pushing boats away from the bank. You'll be glad you did. Last year with only two boats and four paddlers we opted for the full-blown portage for safety's sake. The year before I discovered why boats with bottoms have an advantage here. While lining my 14' cat we almost had it ripped out of our hands a couple of times when pushing it out from the bank, around a boulder and down a chute was required. As the current caught the exposed, angled tubes it tried to pull it out of your hands. That same current tends to exert less force on a raft as it flows under the floor and doesn't see a jutting tube face. Also, 1/2" Pro line (two 75 footers is nice) is recommended as it's easier on the hands. 1/4" or 3/8" throw bags are not quite enough. One boat (mine) on this trip got flipped while lining and wedged between a house rock and log on the right side about halfway down the rapid. It initially looked BAD but a few hard pulls on a lining rope across the current got it out and wedged in another chute. At least this one was on the left bank where my 'buddies' could flip it back over on top of me while I pulled from downstream. My pals. I think I'll shoot 'em. Everybody ran the lower 1/3 of the rapid and we went on down to the Bruneau.
The Bruneau was as it always is. Beautiful and lots of fun. The character of the trip changes at the Bruneau. The swift, eddyless, narrow stream where you're constantly on the lookout for Mr. Log is replaced with a great pool/drop river through a fabulous hoodoo laced canyon. The rapids are fun but risk free. Campsites are harder to come by mainly due to the higher traffic. Take what you can get and avoid the weekend run if you can. Five Mile Rapid is a gas. Low water rock gardens or high water hole avoidance. Either way, it's a blast. It's actually about a mile and a half of fairly continuous whitewater with slightly slacker water between the real rapids. After the canyon there are a couple of widely separated class II-III wavetrains followed by the last rapid on this river system, Wild Burro. At higher water the left side is runnable but rocky at the lower flows. The right side chute against a left bending cliff is generally open and fun followed by 200 yards of busy water. Check for logs if the river's been up. Great camp immediately below the busy water on the inside of a right bend in the river.
Don't let the Jarbidge intimidate you because of the mandatory portage/lining or presumed difficulty. If you can do the Middle Fork, have a small, narrow raft and like a challenge it's worth the extra work. I've also had friends with intermediate skills run this system in inflatable kayaks, at this and higher flows, and they had a blast. Do be prepared for equipment failures or injuries. Updated CPR and 1st Aid skills are just plain common sense and nice to have when you don't really need them but might. There's not a lot of traffic on the Jarbidge (I've NEVER seen another raft on it except in pictures) so don't depend on someone else to pull your bacon out of the pan and have FUN. Take it easy, Vince, and maybe we'll meet in a wetter place sometime soon.
Our expeditionary force included my now fairly regular river companions Ted Tomason on Cat & CanoeKen Wiesmore, along with Catr Vince Thompson (of "Vince's Idaho Whitewater Pages" fame), kayaker Gary Pool, his wife Ann as cat crew, Ted's nephew Chad running the gear boat, & myself persuaded to try tandem canoeing for a change of pace & improved photo opportunities.
The put-in moved us quickly from rolling gray-green sage grassland into the rusty-colored vertical walled canyon, and we were in the first named rapid, Kendell's Cave, within a mile. At a flow of close to 1,700 cfs (just over 7 ft.) there was plenty of water for the small boats on the far left, but when Ted ran his cat through the deeper right side he got sucked into the cave & had to come out through a narrow slot under a log, just barely clearing the top of the seats as he and Ann quickly ducked.
Once the excitement was over, I resumed my botanical focus on hanging gardens of white coral bells, delicate ferns and trailing vines along the sheer vertical walls, and on the dark green junipers dotting the river edge, their fibrous scaly bark & wet feet reminding me of bald cypress in Louisiana swamps. & I was delighted to start seeing American dippers (aka water ouzels) as soon as we entered the canyon & continued to see them throughout the entire upper stretch. The afternoon's paddling was a pleasant rhythm of drifting through the canyon and maneuvering class II-III drops. We were soothed into river time & ready to camp a short ways below the Sheep Creek confluence, on a low bench covered by grass & sage, guarded by sculpted stone sentinels, and offering enticing side canyons with hidden gardens to explore.
Sunday morning continued the rhythm of drop & pool, with rapids becoming longer, bigger, and more challenging. In one amphitheater we were treated to a canyon wren's concert performance, repeated cascades of notes echoing through the narrow canyon. Below the East Fork Confluence the canyon becomes the more familiar blocky dark gray basalt & begins widening out to look somewhat like the Murtaugh Canyon of the Snake. Because my canoe rolling skills are nonexistent, I switched over to a raft just above 5-Mile Rapid where the river starts dropping very noticeably. Being in the midst of the fray on that exciting run (on the 2nd cat) I'll quote Vince's more objective, observations of [you can check his report at www.webpak.net/~rafter/ Click on "What's New", then on "1999 Trip Reports", and look for the 2nd report, "Bruneau River 1,700-1,500 cfs, 6-5&6-99"]:
"Five mile rapid caused some carnage on Sunday. Near the bottom of the first rapid 2 rocks created 3 "doors" to choose. I took the tight left shoot but the SB raft choose the middle which had a couple of hidden rocks slowing him down and causing the other cat to go right and over a rock pour-over.... stick the tubes and flip. The water was extremely fast and with very small eddies. Once the crew was rescued from a top the upside down boat it took a few hundred yards to get the boat under control."
Mostly what I remember is finding myself underwater between the tubes, & thinking the frame looked like a stairway to heaven which I promptly took. Ann was also on that cat & had a somewhat long rocky swim which she handled with calm focus, a challenge for any river runner much less a beginner, & we had another rope throwing rodeo before the other boats finally pushed the cat into an eddy. The cat was flipped back over fairly easily (no z-drag required), we redistributed people & gear, and ran the rest of 5-Mile without mishap though it was fairly challenging ... Vince's words are "fun, tight and technical." Gary's kayak had been tied on the back & the only gear loss, unfortunately, was his paddle; he spent the rest of the trip perched like a figurehead on the "prow" of the raft looking for it. & Chad had to put up with my front-end back-seat driving until Ken finally rescued him by letting me back in the canoe (the only boat I haven't swum out of).
After 5-Mile the river eases up until Wild Burro which gave us one last bucking ride before flattening out in a broader canyon, heavily lined with blooming wild roses and Russian olives wafting their soft perfume. One final stop gave us a warming soak in the Indian Bathtub (& the chance to remove the poison ivy oils we all got into while trying to right the flipped cat), and a rainbow across the river blessed our good company of wilderness adventurers and asked for a promise to return again to these enchanting remote canyons.
6-5 &6-99The Bruneau canyon proved to be a beautiful place to spend the weekend. Thurday rains slicked up the roads and made a Friday shuttle immpossible so we drove in Saturday morning. 3 other groups had the same idea. Flows for the trip were around 1,700 Saturday afternoon dropping to 1500 by late Sunday.Put on around 1pm and floated 12 miles to Sheep Creek. Cave rapid a couple miles down was getting boney. The left shoot was the place to go but rocks hung up the SB raft. A cat went left and barely made it under the log, just touching the oar stands. After a great dinner we settled in for a clear stary night. Five mile rapid caused some carnage on Sunday. Near the bottom of the first rapid 2 rocks created 3 "doors" to choose. I took the tight left shoot but the SB raft choose the middle which had a couple of hidden rocks slowing him down and causing the other cat to go right over a rock pour-over.... stick the tubes and flip. The water was extremely fast and with very small eddies. Once the crew was rescued from a top the upside down boat it took a few hundred yards to get the boat under control. The rest of Five mile was fun, tight and technical. The trip was capped off with a soak in the hot tum one mile up from the take out on river left. Great trip, wonderful group, and a beautiful piece of Idaho. Top of Page Jarbidge/Bruneau, 2,000-2,300 cfs, Memorial Day weekend - 1999 Here's a quick trip report of our memorial day bruneau/jarbridge trip. We had 4 kayakers, and me and Kathy on my 14' cat. Flows were around 2000 at the put-in, went up to 2300, and had dropped to 1800 by the time we took out. Final trip tally was 5 snakes, one broken oar blade, one cracked helmet, but no injuries. The river was *very* pushy at this level, and a swim would not have been healthy. Didn't see any other rafts on the Jarbrige, and after doing the portage at jarbridge falls I can understand why. Sevy falls was *ugly* at this level, and no one we spoke to ran it. The portage/line route on the left was pretty east. We all ran Wally's world. The kayakers all did OK, but I hit a rock on the entrance, bounced left, and ended up going through the middle log filled chute backwards, bending an oar along the way. No injuries, but it had the potential for serious carnage. We were all pretty tired by the time we hit Jarbridge falls, and 2 of the kayakers almost missed the small eddy on the left. We camped on the portage trail (marginal for a small group) and finished the portage the next day. Overall, I found the Jarbridge to be very tight, fast and pushy in a raft, with LOTS of downed trees and logs to avoid. It was almost impossible to eddy out without a kayaker on shore to grab a rope. The 2 miles above jarbridge falls were very continuous, with a number of drops approaching class IV. Things slowed a bit on the Bruneau, but it was still rare to go more than a couple of hundred yards without at least a class II riffle, with an occasional III- thrown in. The left run at cave was pretty straightforward, but there's a log at the very bottom of the right run. We made about 25 miles that day. We didn't scout anything in 5 mile; the first couple of drops were pretty straightforward, but the third (?) had some big holes that we couldn't avoid. I got turned sideways in one, lost momentum, then hit a couple more. Only agressive highsiding kept us upright. There was still a fair amount of flatwater between the drops at this flow. There was enough water (barely) to run the left side at 65 mile, which was a good thing because there was lots of force piling up on the wall on the right. Even the kayakers who ran right said that had to paddle pretty hard to stay off the wall. Steve S. Top of Page Main Salmon & Lochsa 6-27-99 By Jerry Kiser The Main was HUGE BUT FOR THE MOST PART TROUBLE FREE. ELK CREEK COULD HAVE BEEN RUN DOWN THE MIDDLE BUT I WAS IN THE lead and by the time I saw the center hole was washed out it was to late to send Ted. I flipped on the lower part below chittam on a lone giant standing wave. Ted hit it and it surfed him out sideways. I hit it dead center and surfed back in and surged back out to a straight over flip. Was told I had most all of the boat out of the water! Darn near flipped it back over by myself in the wave train below . Had to get Teds help though. The Lochsa was the most unreal. The waves were even bigger than the m.f. or the Main. The falls was basically unrunable down the middle but Ted gave it a try on Sunday and had a violent thrashing flip. I've got that one one video. The Dagger falls video looks pretty good too!Jerry k. 4-17-99Vince- how was camas creek? Murtaugh was the usual hoot. Almost flipped in paradise- the same way Ted did on your spotlight photo I.e. the high speed downstream splat. Managed to hug a pin and it didn't go all the way. Ronnie saw me almost eat it and opted for the left side run. Scott also ran the center with much coaching from the island.Jerry K. Hi! My name is Chip. My wife, Callie, and friend John ran the Upper South Fork of the Payette River on 4/18/99. The flow was a moderate 1,200 cfs. There were several deadfall in the river. No obstructions, but at higher flows many of these logs and trees will dislodge and float free. The bottom line is scout everything before running it. Everything is scoutable from the road. We floated from the Hilende camp ground to the USFS camp ground up stream from Lowman. Lots of flat water towards the end. For kayakers a good take-out is at Kirkam hot springs. Pin-ball, Emma Creek, an Kirkam rapids are all a blast! Please be safe and smart out there! Chip & Callie 5-3-99: We did the SF Payette May 3rd, had a flippin good time. Lets just say they haven't designed a boat that you can't get the tubes up in the air! It was so quick and violent!! We all decided to go for it in the big hole in slalom, and its at its MEAN level. Ron on his baby 13' slid back in, caught major air, but luckily is spun sideways before it could flip, and exited in a tube stand. I was next, and that boat didn't even pierce an inch thru the wave face. Those blunt front ends just slammed to a stop like hitting brick wall, and it was up and over in a perfect no rotation back flip, about as quick as a boat can flip. I basically rode it over still in the seat, no flintstone was getting me out of that one! The priority was staying with the boat and avoiding a brutal swim. Only bent a pin, luckily didn't rip deb's pretty yellow seat. Jerry still decided to go for it, and heard he caught mucho air as well.Boicatr Top of Page Main Trip Report Page Vince's Idaho Whitewater Page You are visitor
Things slowed a bit on the Bruneau, but it was still rare to go more than a couple of hundred yards without at least a class II riffle, with an occasional III- thrown in. The left run at cave was pretty straightforward, but there's a log at the very bottom of the right run. We made about 25 miles that day. We didn't scout anything in 5 mile; the first couple of drops were pretty straightforward, but the third (?) had some big holes that we couldn't avoid. I got turned sideways in one, lost momentum, then hit a couple more. Only agressive highsiding kept us upright. There was still a fair amount of flatwater between the drops at this flow. There was enough water (barely) to run the left side at 65 mile, which was a good thing because there was lots of force piling up on the wall on the right. Even the kayakers who ran right said that had to paddle pretty hard to stay off the wall.
Steve S.
The Main was HUGE BUT FOR THE MOST PART TROUBLE FREE. ELK CREEK COULD HAVE BEEN RUN DOWN THE MIDDLE BUT I WAS IN THE lead and by the time I saw the center hole was washed out it was to late to send Ted. I flipped on the lower part below chittam on a lone giant standing wave. Ted hit it and it surfed him out sideways. I hit it dead center and surfed back in and surged back out to a straight over flip. Was told I had most all of the boat out of the water! Darn near flipped it back over by myself in the wave train below . Had to get Teds help though. The Lochsa was the most unreal. The waves were even bigger than the m.f. or the Main. The falls was basically unrunable down the middle but Ted gave it a try on Sunday and had a violent thrashing flip. I've got that one one video. The Dagger falls video looks pretty good too!Jerry k.
Jerry k.
Boicatr
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