overcast, rainy and chilly. It really doesn't get much better than that. We took off on saturday morning with a little confusion and sort of just started driving. Larry called from up in skowhegan and thought some creeks would be going off so we decided to head that direction. We didnt get on the river till late in that day, sometime after 12:00, but it was well worth it. Chris, who lives up in Skowhegan and apparently is a bit of a name around that state, took us over to Carrying Place stream. It was a great little creek the runs into Wyman lake, halfway between Skowhegan and The Forks. The first mile or so was pretty low and rocky, but towards the middle of the run things deepened a bit. The rapids were all pretty tight and required quite a bit of twisting and turning. Some highlights.... skip over a submerged log to get to a teeny slot on the river left, scramble back all the way to river right to run the next corner blind and see chris in an eddy hollering something (apparently center, boof), finally get shot out over a perfect 8 ft auto boof... also there was the 30 ft slide in the middle of the river that looked A LOT bigger from the cockpit than the shore. The last little bit was a sort of low and tight for my liking, and Anna actually had a solid, but quick pin and swim. All in all its was a beautiful river, pretty close to home, and on the way to the Kennebec and Dead. If they ever put the play park in Skowhegan that area will make for some good summer trips.
Sunday morning we headed out early for NH and tried again to catch the Cold Brook. We got there and once agan the place was just flooding. Greg Hanlons book lists 7 inches on the abutment a "high but fun" level, and Miah, who pulled up while we were getting dressed said his ride at 8 inches was "very exciting." Well after a lot of scouting, a lot of deliberation, and a lot of frustration from driving all that way Mark and I fired it up at a meaty 10+ inches. From the put-in down to the bottom of Particle Accelerator took all of about 15 seconds, even with the few eddies along the way. In retrospect it was definitely at the edge of control and I dont suspect any of us will ride that thing again so high. We both got back endered in entrance exam and had soem solid downtime at the base of backbreaker. Mark got caught just shy of straight on in the hole at the bottom of particle accelerator. A few nasty window shades and rock bumps later he lost his paddle and swam. I fished him out, and we all cruised down stream to find his boat pinned in a rock pile below NO2 chute. The recovery was pretty easy and everyone was okay, but Mark is now short a all black carbon werner... paddles should all be bright neon orange and lime green.
Dane opted out of running it after watching Mark, and all the better because I was not very exited about getting back in the water for another go. Instead we trekked over to Beede falls, close to Sandwich, and found some nice big slides. After a quick scout Dane didnt waste any time and dropped the big one at the top. Mark and I followed, and it was so much fun we all took a second round.
Heres a quick little vid we took of Dane and I running the top slide.
http://photos.imageevent.com/aquaticevolution/video/beede%20falls4.mov
Give it a look. Someday soon Ill actually purchase a DV camera and take some quality video footage. Just need to hit the lottery first.
4/19/2005
Smalls Falls, Sandy River
We got a chance to head up to the head waters of the Sandy, near Phillips Maine, and run smalls falls. The water was pretty low, so we only ran the last three drops in sucession. A little more water would have padded out the landings on the top drops, and none of us felt like bruising our asses in the name of kayaking glory.
We scouted in the morning and with everyone feeling a little nervous we decided to head down to the town of Phillips to check out some other drops that Mark and I had scouted at super low water in the fall. The drop in town was pretty constricted compared to the rest of the river, had a lot of volume, and a river wide hole shoving water into 1, a slot full of wood, 2, a large undercut boulder in the river center, and 3, and pretty manky hole on river right. None of us were stoked about the options, and after a couple minutes we loaded back up and took our chances with the waterfalls.
Mark and Dane set safety on a ledge below the first fall, even though we all kind of agreed that they couldnt do much from there except get a good view of some carnage. Dan M, Alex and myself made small talk about who would run first, and with no one stepping up I figured what the hell. Someone has to go first, and it really isnt THAT different than going second or third.
I dropped into the eddy above the first fall, saw my line and peeled out. It was nice to stop thinking about what I was going to do, and actually do it. I saw the rock gaurding the falls, brushed by it with my left edge, and threw in a hard left stroke as I went over the lip. The landing was soft and before I knew it I was looking for the next horizon line. I re-grouped with a hand on the river right wall, peeled back into the current and headed for the second drop. The 10-12ft fall normally required a boof to the left to avoid a large rock outcropping on river right just downstream, but the low water exposed some rocks on the river left and we all agreed to boof towards the center. I paddled hard to the left, turned downstream and boofed, just missing the rock wall to the river right (just like I meant to...right!). The last drop was a small slide/fall into a little hole that was over before I knew it. Needless to say I was very excited at the bottom and let out of a few yelps to no one but myself!
Dan M and Alex had some interesting lines, and both came out okay. Lets just say some clutch, last second rolls were made and Alex threw in the high brace of a lifetime (mere mortals would have dislocated a shoulder on this one, but not Alex). Both were psyched and ready to take another crack at it. Unfortunately Dane had to catch a boat to Vinylhaven for work and we all had to boogie out of there. Mark and Dane both opted to wait for the next time, and we loaded up and headed out.
This was a pretty sweet find, given that is only about 2.5 hours from door to door, and it looks like there was a lot of snow left in the area. I bet we will be back for another sunny day at smalls falls soon.
This is the only picture we took of the day, Dan(blue boat) and myself getting ready to run the quick slide at the top.
I am trying to figure out how to post videos, so here are some links --some might work and some might not. The files are all pretty large (like 40 megs) so I have a feeling it will take a WHILE for anything to actually download. I would say try to right click and save the file, and then come back in like 20 minutes. Soon I'll have this all figured out!
Happy Paddling
Dan
DanA Runs one of the smaller upper drops, that could use a little bit of water.
http://photos.imageevent.com/aquaticevolution/video/MOV01781.MPG
DanA makes a clean line through the falls.
http://photos.imageevent.com/aquaticevolution/video/MOV01783.MPG
DanM just makes it down the falls!
http://photos.imageevent.com/aquaticevolution/video/MOV01784.MPG
And Alex had what would have been the line of the day, except for the self-induced flip.
http://photos.imageevent.com/aquaticevolution/video/MOV01788.MPG
We scouted in the morning and with everyone feeling a little nervous we decided to head down to the town of Phillips to check out some other drops that Mark and I had scouted at super low water in the fall. The drop in town was pretty constricted compared to the rest of the river, had a lot of volume, and a river wide hole shoving water into 1, a slot full of wood, 2, a large undercut boulder in the river center, and 3, and pretty manky hole on river right. None of us were stoked about the options, and after a couple minutes we loaded back up and took our chances with the waterfalls.
Mark and Dane set safety on a ledge below the first fall, even though we all kind of agreed that they couldnt do much from there except get a good view of some carnage. Dan M, Alex and myself made small talk about who would run first, and with no one stepping up I figured what the hell. Someone has to go first, and it really isnt THAT different than going second or third.
I dropped into the eddy above the first fall, saw my line and peeled out. It was nice to stop thinking about what I was going to do, and actually do it. I saw the rock gaurding the falls, brushed by it with my left edge, and threw in a hard left stroke as I went over the lip. The landing was soft and before I knew it I was looking for the next horizon line. I re-grouped with a hand on the river right wall, peeled back into the current and headed for the second drop. The 10-12ft fall normally required a boof to the left to avoid a large rock outcropping on river right just downstream, but the low water exposed some rocks on the river left and we all agreed to boof towards the center. I paddled hard to the left, turned downstream and boofed, just missing the rock wall to the river right (just like I meant to...right!). The last drop was a small slide/fall into a little hole that was over before I knew it. Needless to say I was very excited at the bottom and let out of a few yelps to no one but myself!
Dan M and Alex had some interesting lines, and both came out okay. Lets just say some clutch, last second rolls were made and Alex threw in the high brace of a lifetime (mere mortals would have dislocated a shoulder on this one, but not Alex). Both were psyched and ready to take another crack at it. Unfortunately Dane had to catch a boat to Vinylhaven for work and we all had to boogie out of there. Mark and Dane both opted to wait for the next time, and we loaded up and headed out.
This was a pretty sweet find, given that is only about 2.5 hours from door to door, and it looks like there was a lot of snow left in the area. I bet we will be back for another sunny day at smalls falls soon.
This is the only picture we took of the day, Dan(blue boat) and myself getting ready to run the quick slide at the top.
I am trying to figure out how to post videos, so here are some links --some might work and some might not. The files are all pretty large (like 40 megs) so I have a feeling it will take a WHILE for anything to actually download. I would say try to right click and save the file, and then come back in like 20 minutes. Soon I'll have this all figured out!
Happy Paddling
Dan
DanA Runs one of the smaller upper drops, that could use a little bit of water.
http://photos.imageevent.com/aquaticevolution/video/MOV01781.MPG
DanA makes a clean line through the falls.
http://photos.imageevent.com/aquaticevolution/video/MOV01783.MPG
DanM just makes it down the falls!
http://photos.imageevent.com/aquaticevolution/video/MOV01784.MPG
And Alex had what would have been the line of the day, except for the self-induced flip.
http://photos.imageevent.com/aquaticevolution/video/MOV01788.MPG
4/11/2005
California 2005 Part II
Two days on the California Salmon!
Lower CalSalmon, 5/16
We drove until late that night as well, through Crescent City, down highway 101, and then east towards the small town of Somes Bar, CA.
Packing up at the take out of the Smith River Gorge. From here we were headed south and east towards the mighty Salmon River we had read so much about.
We thought that there would be plenty of camping available in the Klamath/Salmon area, but when we finally arrived, we learned that 6 Rivers National Wilderness was “closed”. None of us had considered the possibility that a National Wilderness, probably the size of New Hampshire, might be something that one could open or close, but all of the campgrounds were roped off, and we had to spend another frustrating hour at 1 in the morning until we were able to find a place off the road to camp. We pulled onto a dirt road, drove for awhile, and then just kind of picked a spot and crashed. One exciting feature of going to bed in the dark is that you never really know where you’re going to wake up.
As it happened, we were in the middle of a large field, probably 50 yards from a great established campsite, complete with fire ring and tent sites.
We were all a bit confused when we woke in the morning. I don't think any of us expected to be in such a nice place... but apparently everywhere in Northern California is a nice place.
That morning, we set up a permanent campsite in the established area. We set up the tents exactly where we wanted them, took off the trailer (we could practically hear the van sigh with relief) and chained it to a tree with a bike lock and locked it up with a janky lock that we found in my grandparents garage. Certainly if someone was interested in stealing the world’s smelliest trailer, it wouldn't have been a problem.
By now it should be painfully obvious how tired the poor minivan was...
As it turned out, we had nothing to worry about. Everyone in Northern California that we met was incredibly nice, and went out of their way to help us. A perfect example was later that morning, when we were gassing up the car and wondering where we were going to paddle that day. A car drove by with some boats on top, and we managed to flag them down. It turned out to be some paddlers who had driven up from Arcata for the day, and were planning on doing some playboating on the CalSalmon. They were really nice, in a somewhat stereotypically spaced-out California kind of way. One of them looked exactly like Jack Johnson, so we spent a good part of the day trying to get him to admit that he really was Jack Johnson. When he was turned the other way, we would yell, 'Jack!', but he never seemed to turn. He was crafty. Dan even played a Jack Johnson CD in the car, hoping that he would start singing or fess up, but he never did.
We decided to change our plans, and ended up following them down the lower part of the CalSalmon, which was a really fun, III+/IV- run.
Some low water play on the lower Cal Salmon... the water was so low that windowshades into rock ledges were the only moves of the day.
After being in our creekboats, some of us felt slow and unstable being back in playboats, and the river never let up for a second. It was one rapid after another, and Jack Johnson and his posse led us down all of them and were really helpful. The only rapid that we got out to look at was called (typically) 'Gaping Maw.' The gaping maw in question was a big hole that, at high water, covers the entire left side of the river. At the level we paddled it, the rapid was just a relatively benign maze of rocks and holes that needed to be navigated. Dan A. and Pat made stellar runs through the gaping maw, while Will, Dan M. and I watched. Dan M. pointed out exactly where his line was, which features he was determined to miss, and then headed down to his boat.
Dan M peels out and heads for the gaping maw
He managed to hit not just one, but both of the holes that he had committed to avoiding, and just trucked down through the hole thing.
Running right through hole number one, so much for avoiding
Will went next but he and the mamba had bonded and he styled his line through the rapid. I got some photos of everyone running the rapid and then had a good run down.
After gaping maw, we stopped at a beach so that Jack Johnson and company could “stretch their legs,” and they proceeded to burn one down with gusto. It was nice of them to get us through all of the hard rapids before they got stoned, and we parted ways at the takeout. After getting in dry clothes, we headed to what would become our new favorite store—the Salmon River Outpost.
Paradise... no really this place is paradise. Microbrews, espresso, blue grass music, and all the free river advice you want.
The only store for miles, it had a wide selection of delicious beers, organic foods, and an incredibly appealing redneck/hippie vibe. We had decided the next day that we were going to take on the Upper Salmon, so we got to bed early that night, dreaming about the tougher, IV-V river.
Upper CalSalmon River, 5/17
We got an early start the next day, loaded up the boats, and headed in to the Salmon River Outpost. This place’s stock just kept rising—not only do they have incredibly beer and food, but the guy who worked their made espresso. We got fired up with some coffee, and got some river beta from the guy working there, who was a big paddler. His best advice was, in Freight Train rapid, 'just go in with a low brace, and it'll feel like the whole rivers closing in on you, but just keep that brace, and then you'll come screaming out. It's radical.'
Low brace, screaming out, radical... right?
We called our parents, checked the river flows, and then headed up the road to the Salmon.
Yes we both called our mommies, what of it.
The put-in for the lower section is the take-out for the upper section, so we dropped the bike at the house where we put in the day before, near the mangy dogs who chase cars, and headed up the road. Every time the road curved, exposing the deep canyon and the frothy water below, we would park the car on the shoulder and jump out, offering our opinions of various river features from 200 feet above. It was ridiculous --"I think that I see a good line on the left...that looks like a manageable rapid." I think that we were nervous about what was coming up, but, honestly, you couldn't see shit from up there.
The put-in for the upper section is a campground about 8 miles above the take-out.
Elliot makes his way back up from river level at the put-in. He proceeded to cut the tension of all the boys changing at the car with a little Metallica rock out session.
We loaded up the boats, had a little food, and then got on the water. The river starts of with a bang --a large drop into a swirly pool called Bloomer Falls.
Roadside scout of Bloomer Falls, just downstream of the benign flatwater putin.
We took a long look at the rapid, supposedly not one of the harder rapids on the river, and all of us except Dan A. ended up walking it. Dan had a good line down the middle, and ended up shooting out of the backwash of the falls in a spectacular stern squirt. I think that most of us regretted not paddling this rapid, but since it was the first rapid of the day, none of us wanted to tempt the fates too early.
As it turned out, Bloomer Falls, even though it was only rated IV+, was one of the more difficult rapids on the river. Because the water was relatively low, I think that some of the punch was taken out of the bigger rapids, and we had a good morning cruising down the river, scouting the larger drops, and moving along well.
Some fun rapids on Upper Salmon
We stopped for lunch around 2, and then continued onward.
Only moments later Elliot tackled Dan A (on the left) in a desperate attempt to grab the last snickers bar of the lunch... says Dan "I'll simply never forgive him..."
The afternoon ended up being substantially more intense than the morning. After lunch, one of the first rapids that we encountered was Cascade Falls, which ended up being kind of a Choose-Your-Own-Adventure puzzle. You could take the more difficult entry, punching a pretty meaty hole on river left, and then have a much easier time of the boulder choked runout. Or you could take an easier entry move, a boof into a swirly pool, but then have a much tougher time getting on track to avoid the rocks at the bottom of the rapid.
Dan, Dan and I decided to run it, and we all ended up going for the easier entry move, and decided to take our chances with the lower section.
Scouting Cascade on the Upper Salmon River, we all opted for the boof entry off the lower left hand spot of green water in the picture. The other move consisted of punching through the hole all the way river left (just to te lower left of where we are standing) that was backed up by the wall and a submerged rock.
Pat took a nice shot from the bottom of Cascade. The low level exposed a number of normally covered rocks.
Everyone had great lines, but Dan McGrath definitely had the hero line, not only for “remembering to boof,” but also for managing to avoid the rocks at the bottom, which Dan A. and myself pinballed off of in various ways.
The rapids continued to be challenging as we moved closer towards the end of the river. We were all getting tired, but I think that it was hitting Will the hardest. In one of rapids, Will had a great line right until he hit the bottom, and then flipped over and never really made it back up.
Sometimes you eat the bar...
and sometimes the bar eats you.
Will had a good swim though, and managed to collect himself at the bottom with grace and panache.
The next big rapid was called Achilles Heel, and, as Dan A. put it, “it was exactly what I expected a California Rapid to look like.” A tremendous amount of water blasted down a wide chute and into a ledge, with most of the water turning to the left, and some pouring over. This rapid was just amazing—there was nothing particularly difficult about it, just stay upright and move towards the left. But it was fun! Dan McGrath and I got kind of bogged down in some diagonal holes, and Dan Abraham had a really clean line. Pat Hughes, never fond of taking too many strokes, definitely missed a key stroke and managed to ride over the pourover basically sideways. We were all really concerned, but Pat is nothing if not graceful, and followed the advice of the guy at the Salmon River Outfitters, threw down a low brace, and came out of the rapid just fine.
After Achilles Heel, we were all on the lookout for Last Chance, which, as the name would suggest, was the last rapid before Class V Freight Train. Each new rapid was assumed to be it, and we would cautiously hop out and find that it was just another little drop with a green pool behind it. At this point, we were all starting to get tired, and wondering when the rapids would ever end. Will added another beer to his list by swimming, and decided that he was done. He hopped out of his boat and hiked up to the road. I walked the next rapid, and then we finally saw Freight Train on the horizon. We got out on the left to scout, and before we had made it halfway down, I think that we had all decided that we were done for the day.
Dan A makes one last search for a clean line down Freight Train in the quickly fading daylight.
Freight Train was an immense and fairly complex rapid, with tight and demanding lines. We walked to the end of the rapid, admired it, and then walked past it on our way to the car and some much-deserved sleep.
A day well done by any measure. The Salmon river lived up to all our expectations, and we made our way back to the campsite for some hot burritos and cold barley sodas.
Part III will be up soon, and hopefully some video of Bloomer Falls, Cascade, and Achilles Heel once I find someone to host a couple megs of video!
Lower CalSalmon, 5/16
We drove until late that night as well, through Crescent City, down highway 101, and then east towards the small town of Somes Bar, CA.
Packing up at the take out of the Smith River Gorge. From here we were headed south and east towards the mighty Salmon River we had read so much about.
We thought that there would be plenty of camping available in the Klamath/Salmon area, but when we finally arrived, we learned that 6 Rivers National Wilderness was “closed”. None of us had considered the possibility that a National Wilderness, probably the size of New Hampshire, might be something that one could open or close, but all of the campgrounds were roped off, and we had to spend another frustrating hour at 1 in the morning until we were able to find a place off the road to camp. We pulled onto a dirt road, drove for awhile, and then just kind of picked a spot and crashed. One exciting feature of going to bed in the dark is that you never really know where you’re going to wake up.
As it happened, we were in the middle of a large field, probably 50 yards from a great established campsite, complete with fire ring and tent sites.
We were all a bit confused when we woke in the morning. I don't think any of us expected to be in such a nice place... but apparently everywhere in Northern California is a nice place.
That morning, we set up a permanent campsite in the established area. We set up the tents exactly where we wanted them, took off the trailer (we could practically hear the van sigh with relief) and chained it to a tree with a bike lock and locked it up with a janky lock that we found in my grandparents garage. Certainly if someone was interested in stealing the world’s smelliest trailer, it wouldn't have been a problem.
By now it should be painfully obvious how tired the poor minivan was...
As it turned out, we had nothing to worry about. Everyone in Northern California that we met was incredibly nice, and went out of their way to help us. A perfect example was later that morning, when we were gassing up the car and wondering where we were going to paddle that day. A car drove by with some boats on top, and we managed to flag them down. It turned out to be some paddlers who had driven up from Arcata for the day, and were planning on doing some playboating on the CalSalmon. They were really nice, in a somewhat stereotypically spaced-out California kind of way. One of them looked exactly like Jack Johnson, so we spent a good part of the day trying to get him to admit that he really was Jack Johnson. When he was turned the other way, we would yell, 'Jack!', but he never seemed to turn. He was crafty. Dan even played a Jack Johnson CD in the car, hoping that he would start singing or fess up, but he never did.
We decided to change our plans, and ended up following them down the lower part of the CalSalmon, which was a really fun, III+/IV- run.
Some low water play on the lower Cal Salmon... the water was so low that windowshades into rock ledges were the only moves of the day.
After being in our creekboats, some of us felt slow and unstable being back in playboats, and the river never let up for a second. It was one rapid after another, and Jack Johnson and his posse led us down all of them and were really helpful. The only rapid that we got out to look at was called (typically) 'Gaping Maw.' The gaping maw in question was a big hole that, at high water, covers the entire left side of the river. At the level we paddled it, the rapid was just a relatively benign maze of rocks and holes that needed to be navigated. Dan A. and Pat made stellar runs through the gaping maw, while Will, Dan M. and I watched. Dan M. pointed out exactly where his line was, which features he was determined to miss, and then headed down to his boat.
Dan M peels out and heads for the gaping maw
He managed to hit not just one, but both of the holes that he had committed to avoiding, and just trucked down through the hole thing.
Running right through hole number one, so much for avoiding
Will went next but he and the mamba had bonded and he styled his line through the rapid. I got some photos of everyone running the rapid and then had a good run down.
After gaping maw, we stopped at a beach so that Jack Johnson and company could “stretch their legs,” and they proceeded to burn one down with gusto. It was nice of them to get us through all of the hard rapids before they got stoned, and we parted ways at the takeout. After getting in dry clothes, we headed to what would become our new favorite store—the Salmon River Outpost.
Paradise... no really this place is paradise. Microbrews, espresso, blue grass music, and all the free river advice you want.
The only store for miles, it had a wide selection of delicious beers, organic foods, and an incredibly appealing redneck/hippie vibe. We had decided the next day that we were going to take on the Upper Salmon, so we got to bed early that night, dreaming about the tougher, IV-V river.
Upper CalSalmon River, 5/17
We got an early start the next day, loaded up the boats, and headed in to the Salmon River Outpost. This place’s stock just kept rising—not only do they have incredibly beer and food, but the guy who worked their made espresso. We got fired up with some coffee, and got some river beta from the guy working there, who was a big paddler. His best advice was, in Freight Train rapid, 'just go in with a low brace, and it'll feel like the whole rivers closing in on you, but just keep that brace, and then you'll come screaming out. It's radical.'
Low brace, screaming out, radical... right?
We called our parents, checked the river flows, and then headed up the road to the Salmon.
Yes we both called our mommies, what of it.
The put-in for the lower section is the take-out for the upper section, so we dropped the bike at the house where we put in the day before, near the mangy dogs who chase cars, and headed up the road. Every time the road curved, exposing the deep canyon and the frothy water below, we would park the car on the shoulder and jump out, offering our opinions of various river features from 200 feet above. It was ridiculous --"I think that I see a good line on the left...that looks like a manageable rapid." I think that we were nervous about what was coming up, but, honestly, you couldn't see shit from up there.
The put-in for the upper section is a campground about 8 miles above the take-out.
Elliot makes his way back up from river level at the put-in. He proceeded to cut the tension of all the boys changing at the car with a little Metallica rock out session.
We loaded up the boats, had a little food, and then got on the water. The river starts of with a bang --a large drop into a swirly pool called Bloomer Falls.
Roadside scout of Bloomer Falls, just downstream of the benign flatwater putin.
We took a long look at the rapid, supposedly not one of the harder rapids on the river, and all of us except Dan A. ended up walking it. Dan had a good line down the middle, and ended up shooting out of the backwash of the falls in a spectacular stern squirt. I think that most of us regretted not paddling this rapid, but since it was the first rapid of the day, none of us wanted to tempt the fates too early.
As it turned out, Bloomer Falls, even though it was only rated IV+, was one of the more difficult rapids on the river. Because the water was relatively low, I think that some of the punch was taken out of the bigger rapids, and we had a good morning cruising down the river, scouting the larger drops, and moving along well.
Some fun rapids on Upper Salmon
We stopped for lunch around 2, and then continued onward.
Only moments later Elliot tackled Dan A (on the left) in a desperate attempt to grab the last snickers bar of the lunch... says Dan "I'll simply never forgive him..."
The afternoon ended up being substantially more intense than the morning. After lunch, one of the first rapids that we encountered was Cascade Falls, which ended up being kind of a Choose-Your-Own-Adventure puzzle. You could take the more difficult entry, punching a pretty meaty hole on river left, and then have a much easier time of the boulder choked runout. Or you could take an easier entry move, a boof into a swirly pool, but then have a much tougher time getting on track to avoid the rocks at the bottom of the rapid.
Dan, Dan and I decided to run it, and we all ended up going for the easier entry move, and decided to take our chances with the lower section.
Scouting Cascade on the Upper Salmon River, we all opted for the boof entry off the lower left hand spot of green water in the picture. The other move consisted of punching through the hole all the way river left (just to te lower left of where we are standing) that was backed up by the wall and a submerged rock.
Pat took a nice shot from the bottom of Cascade. The low level exposed a number of normally covered rocks.
Everyone had great lines, but Dan McGrath definitely had the hero line, not only for “remembering to boof,” but also for managing to avoid the rocks at the bottom, which Dan A. and myself pinballed off of in various ways.
The rapids continued to be challenging as we moved closer towards the end of the river. We were all getting tired, but I think that it was hitting Will the hardest. In one of rapids, Will had a great line right until he hit the bottom, and then flipped over and never really made it back up.
Sometimes you eat the bar...
and sometimes the bar eats you.
Will had a good swim though, and managed to collect himself at the bottom with grace and panache.
The next big rapid was called Achilles Heel, and, as Dan A. put it, “it was exactly what I expected a California Rapid to look like.” A tremendous amount of water blasted down a wide chute and into a ledge, with most of the water turning to the left, and some pouring over. This rapid was just amazing—there was nothing particularly difficult about it, just stay upright and move towards the left. But it was fun! Dan McGrath and I got kind of bogged down in some diagonal holes, and Dan Abraham had a really clean line. Pat Hughes, never fond of taking too many strokes, definitely missed a key stroke and managed to ride over the pourover basically sideways. We were all really concerned, but Pat is nothing if not graceful, and followed the advice of the guy at the Salmon River Outfitters, threw down a low brace, and came out of the rapid just fine.
After Achilles Heel, we were all on the lookout for Last Chance, which, as the name would suggest, was the last rapid before Class V Freight Train. Each new rapid was assumed to be it, and we would cautiously hop out and find that it was just another little drop with a green pool behind it. At this point, we were all starting to get tired, and wondering when the rapids would ever end. Will added another beer to his list by swimming, and decided that he was done. He hopped out of his boat and hiked up to the road. I walked the next rapid, and then we finally saw Freight Train on the horizon. We got out on the left to scout, and before we had made it halfway down, I think that we had all decided that we were done for the day.
Dan A makes one last search for a clean line down Freight Train in the quickly fading daylight.
Freight Train was an immense and fairly complex rapid, with tight and demanding lines. We walked to the end of the rapid, admired it, and then walked past it on our way to the car and some much-deserved sleep.
A day well done by any measure. The Salmon river lived up to all our expectations, and we made our way back to the campsite for some hot burritos and cold barley sodas.
Part III will be up soon, and hopefully some video of Bloomer Falls, Cascade, and Achilles Heel once I find someone to host a couple megs of video!
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