Trip report
Day 1
- Flow was definitely high but I think I enjoy it.
- Took a swim at the first rapid of consequence very nearly a disaster. I let go of my paddle, trying to catch the boat in the paddle, is black, and instantly disappeared in the water. I was very lucky to see it after swimming, a shore, floating downstream, and be able to catch it, that could’ve been a pretty bad disaster in the future. I need to remember that the boat is much easier to see and catch the paddle and either get my paddle to shore if I need to swim for the boat or just hang onto the paddle as long as possible .
- Nice campsite at trail end
- The river is definitely too high to wait across so I think I’ll come back by the road option. The other alternative is to bushwhack up high enough to float across and still hit the trail. It would probably be fairly involved to bushwhack inflate boat cross river un inflate, repack, etc. kind of feels just like a lot For a river crossing versus walking on a well, graded road and listening to podcasts
- Supposedly the narrow class three drop is a couple miles ahead of me. I’m hoping I’ll get a chance to stop and scout it but I haven’t done a great job stopping and scouting. It’s been tricky to figure out on the other hand after that first swim I’m doing a much better job, picking my lines and staying in the boat.
- Got a little bit wet yesterday through the dry suit I think just some leaking through the gaskets plus sweat but I was definitely cold by the afternoon when I stopped
- I need a better solution for my phone. I keep wanting to check the map and know where I am but the screen in my fingers are too wet. I’m gonna try keeping it in the dry bag today but I still don’t know how I’ll dry my hands in order to be able to use the phone.
- I also need a better dry bag for the bow bag the one that I have is kind of clunky and hard to fit in there
Day 2
- Swam at final rapids - came up at me, wasn’t prepared, failed to scout. Wet re-entry fine, but swimming 2x in 2 days isn’t great. work on this.
- Snow and final bushwack were a killer, rest easy
Plan
- drive to put in Thu AM, start float
- float
- scout ford for return journey along the way
- class 3 drop at ~11 mi - mitigate risk by portage if it’s even 10% scary
- aim to take out in the evening, transition, start hike
- take enough water to dry camp - water will likely be abundant but you’re at a creek
- short hike, camp night 1
- no readily obvious camp spots from sat/topo, but the hike begins along a road, expect sites to present themselves - turnouts etc
- day 2 return to car
- if the ford looked … fordable – or could be done by inflating the raft and crossing – return by trail (solid red)
- otherwise, return by road (dashed)
- if the ford looked … fordable – or could be done by inflating the raft and crossing – return by trail (solid red)
- ETA at car ~ noon
Gauge: https://levels.wkcc.org/?D=nx3#Anx3
Risk mitigation:
- No go if above 2000 cfm (TODO: check SS)
- Pay very close attention to the Class 3 drop. Scout before, and portage if it’s all scary.