Riding the Big Foamy

Don the neoprene, strap on the helmet--spring whitewater is coming to a river near you
By Mark Jannot

Paddlers rejoice: it's defrost time again, when the snowmelt begins turning trickling rivulets into torrents that soon will come blasting down from the mountains. Which is your cue to dust off your PFD and take to the river. But not just any river. Not, for instance, the fabled stretch of the Colorado that carves the Grand Canyon. Spring there is a time when the water is low and the headwinds are high. Better to head for the runoff-fed rivers that are best run--or only run--in that brief window between March or April and early June. The ten rivers here range from raging Class Vs to barely rippling Class Is; only expert kayakers and guided rafters should brave those at the screaming-foam end of the spectrum. But canoeists and families with young children will also find some spectacularly scenic rivers where the water runs at more of a simmer than a boil.

Dolores River, Colorado
Class II-IV+

Named El Río de Nuestra Señora de las Dolores (the River of Our Lady of Sorrows) after an early explorer drowned in its rapids in the late eighteenth century, the Dolores has recently been home to new sorrows. The McPhee Dam, one of the last great Bureau of Reclamation boondoggles, was erected almost a decade ago, and since then the river has flowed only during the spring runoff. For the remainder of the year its waters rest in their reservoir and evaporate, too expensive for neighboring farmers to use.

From mid-April to early June, however, the Dolores runs 180 miles from the dam to its confluence with the Colorado, just across the Utah state line. It's one of the longest stretches of unbroken wilderness river in the Lower 48 and can be enjoyed in two- or three-day segments or tackled in its entirety in a grand 12 days. From the put-in at Bradfield Bridge, in the southwest corner of the state near the town of Cahone, the river travels a gentle ten miles into Ponderosa Gorge, hugged on both sides by thick stands of 100-foot-high Douglas firs. Slowly, as the river descends, the evergreens are replaced by scrub oak, saltbush, sage, and cactus, and the pace quickens through a series of Class II and III rapids and one Class IV+ monster, the legendary Snaggletooth, which is portaged as often as it's run successfully.

This upper section is home to numerous great blue heron rookeries, healthy populations of black bear, elk, deer, and mountain lion, and copious examples of 800-year-old Anasazi Indian rock art. Down below, the river winds through a quieter section of slickrock canyon suitable for open canoes and culminates in a section of solid Class III-IV whitewater, highlighted by Stateline Rapid, which should be scouted.

No permit is necessary for private parties, although the BLM requires all boaters to register at the put-in. For information and to order a copy of the Dolores River Guide, call the Anasazi Heritage Center at 970-882-4811. Bill Dvorak's Kayak & Rafting Expeditions runs trips from one to 12 days for $88-$1,595 per person throughout the spring. Its "Classical Music River Journey," in early June, features four concerts by musicians from the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Call 800-824-3795.

Bruneau River, Idaho
Class IV-IV+

The Bruneau is a secret among river guides, the kind of peekaboo river that can double in volume overnight or, in low-runoff years, disappear just as quickly. While it's generally possible to run the Bruneau from early May to early June, opportunity sometimes narrows to a paltry two weeks. Add to that uncertainty a "Class V" four-wheel-drive haul from Highway 51 near the town of Bruneau to the put-in at Indian Hot Springs, and you begin to understand how the Bruneau has managed to remain obscure.

The trip itself is worth the logistical logjam. The Bruneau carves a deep, narrow canyon into a massive expanse of 12-million-year-old volcanic rock, with basalt-rhyolite cliffs towering over the river almost from the put-in. Western juniper crowds the banks, and California bighorn sheep can occasionally be glimpsed high up in the canyon. The three- to four-day, 44-mile run ends with Five Mile Rapids, a nearly continuous stretch of Class IV-IV+ whitewater.

Since this is a once-you're-in-you-can't-get-out situation, go with an outfitter unless you're an expert. Hughes River Expeditions (800-262-1882) offers four-day trips for $1,145 per person, with a run on the Snake River as a backup. Permits aren't required, but private boaters must register with the BLM's Boise District Office (208-384-3300); while you're on the phone, order a copy of the $5 guidebook. Call the flow gauge at 208-327-7865 for water levels.

Hudson River Gorge, New York
Class III-IV

Here's a surprise: The vast, murky, congested waterway that begs comparison with an open sewer by the time it gets to Manhattan is a pristine wilderness river a few hours north. Born high in the Adirondacks at Lake Tear of the Clouds, the upper Hudson flows fast but fairly smoothly until it reaches Indian River and the Gorge, where it becomes a torrent. Like most spring runs, this one changes dramatically with the water level. At three feet, it's a very manageable intermediate run. At nine, it nimbly tosses 18-foot rafts into the air. The water is highest from mid-April to mid-May.

Put in on the Indian River, just off Highway 28 near Indian Lake. This three-mile stretch is a good prelude to the Gorge, with almost continuous Class III-IV rapids, including one mile of standing waves that come so fast you can barely catch your breath. At the confluence with the Hudson, the river widens past an ethereal rise of 400-foot blue granite ledges and then funnels into the Blue Ledge Narrows, a tight, turbulent Class IV passage. From there it's two miles and two dramatic 90-degree bends to quarter-mile-long Harris Rift, the run's most notable rapid, with two large hydraulics near the end known as Big Nasty and Soup Strainer.

No permits are required to run the Hudson. Adirondack River Outfitters (800-525-7238) runs full-day trips on the 17-mile stretch through the Gorge for $50-$75 per person (bring your own wetsuit or rent one for $15). Other outfitters include Hudson River Rafting ($90, with wetsuit; 800-888-7238) and Middle Earth Expeditions ($75-$85, with wetsuit; 518-523-9572).

Illinois River, Oregon
Class III-IV+

The Illinois River looks no different today than it looked 100 years ago. Or 500. No roads. No power lines. No cabins. No clear-cuts. Just a 36-mile stretch of pristine, wild river racing through a deep canyon past house-size boulders and old-growth forests of moss, ferns, madrone, and evergreens. It may be the most solitary stretch of whitewater in the Lower 48. And you can spend three or four days running it and never be out of sight of a waterfall for more than a half an hour.

Such bounty has its trade-offs. The Illinois runs out of a lowelevation drainage in the Siskiyou National Forest near the California state line, and most of its flow comes not from snowmelt but from southern Oregon's almost continuous spring rains. A week without rain and the river bottoms out, which tends to play havoc with the concept of long-range planning. Even in normal years, the river's season is a miserly three or four weeks from mid-April to early May.

At the other extreme, it's not unheard of for a spring squall to move in and take the Illinois from 2,000 to 8,000 cubic feet per second, a rise of up to ten vertical feet, almost overnight. At such levels, the four miles of continual Class IV rapids in the Inner Gorge in the middle of the run--Prelude, Little Green Wall, and Submarine Hole--become raging Class Vs, and the river's signature Class V, the Green Wall, is all but unrunnable. And once you're in, you're not getting out except by helicopter.

ARTA (800-323-2782) runs four-day raft trips for $590 per person, with a backup plan on the nearby Rogue. Independent river runners should call the river information line at 541-479-3735 for details on river flow levels and the float permit lottery.

Nolichucky River, Tennessee
Class III-IV

A few years ago, guidebooks were stern in their warnings about the Nolichucky: Under no circumstances, they said, should you attempt to run it when the water rises much over three feet. These days, however, whitewater one-upmanship has made even the direst declarations obsolete--though the river is a plenty hairy Class V at heavy runoff--and the thrill seekers have moved on to rougher waters.

That leaves the Nolichucky to the rest of us. Despite the presence of the Clinchfield Railroad, which clings to the left bank for the entire run, the Nolichucky is a river of spectacular Appalachian scenery, flowing through a 900-foot-deep canyon in the Cherokee National Forest, with Bald and Flattop Mountains on the left and the Unaka Mountains on the right. The one-day trip runs just nine miles from the put-in at Poplar, North Carolina, to Erwin, an eastern Tennessee railroad town that's legendary for a curious bit of southern-style justice: Back in the twenties, the outraged townfolk of Erwin lynched a circus elephant that had accidentally crushed a child.

Most of the river's foamy stuff is crammed in at the top, where several miles of continuous Class III and IV drops, at a gradient of about 60 feet per mile, begin within minutes of launch. The first major rapid is On-the-Rocks, which sports a big boat-eating boulder smack in the middle of its flow. And Quarter Mile, a field of broken ledges just downstream, was dramatically altered about six years ago when a flood deposited two huge iron railroad containers in the flow of the main channel. Now you've got to scout and carefully skirt them to avoid beaching your boat on a mound of jagged metal. Don't relax when you get through it, though, or you'll be swallowed in the first of several river-wide hydraulics that have to be skirted far right or far left.

The Nantahala Outdoor Center (800-232-7238) runs raft trips on the river for $55- $65 per person. No permits are necessary for private boaters. For more information, call the Nolichucky Ranger District at 423-476-9700.

Piedra River, Colorado
Class IV-V

When champion kayaker Nancy Wiley first ran the Piedra 20 years ago, she and her father portaged the biggest rapids--until she took a spill and swam in the roiling First Box Canyon, leaving her father little choice but to paddle after her. There followed one of the first complete runs of the Piedra. The spot is now known as Nancy's Hole, and Wiley hasn't portaged it since.

The rest of us might consider being a bit more discreet. The Piedra is a highly technical, 22-mile, daylong run through two box canyons and reaches Class V intensity at high water. Flowing from the San Juan Mountains along the southwest face of the Continental Divide, the river's course alternates among wildflower-blanketed high- mountain meadows, thick forests, and sheer canyon walls. The first section--through the paradoxically named Second Box Canyon--starts just west of Pagosa Springs and quickly gathers a tremendous flow of water into solid Class III and IV rapids. But the river really flexes its muscle farther on in First Box Canyon, where it drops at a pitch of 100 feet a mile.

May, when the water is usually highest, is the best time to run the Piedra. A good local outfitter is Mountain Waters Rafting (800-748-2507), which runs one- and two-day trips for $175 and $350 per person. Mild to Wild Rafting (800-567-6745) runs one- to three-day trips for $95-$325 per person. No permit is necessary for private boaters. For more information, call the San Juan National Forest's Pagosa Ranger District at 970-264-2268.

Forks of the Kern, California
Class IV-V

"It would be hard to find a half-mile of this run that contains no significant threat to rafts and kayaks alike," reads the warning about the Forks in one California whitewater manual. With 80 major rapids pounding through 18 miles of river, this is one of North America's toughest runs. Designated a National Wild and Scenic River in 1987, the Forks winds through the Sequoia National Forest northeast of Bakersfield and cuts through a thousand-foot-deep granite canyon.

Class II and IV rapids begin right at the put-in, about 25 miles from Kernville, accessible only by way of a two-mile trek down a steep switchback trail off Mountain Road 99. A few miles in, you'll hit several Class IV-V monsters, but the real boat-breakers don't appear until after the halfway mark. The only sign of civilization is an old hunting lodge about eight miles downstream, rumored to be home to a grizzled prospector. Rest up here, because two miles downriver, at Class IV Big Bean, the gradient steepens and the roller coaster begins. Just below it, the legendary Vortex reaches Class VI in big water (in this case you're looking at a 20- to 45-minute portage) and leads directly into the Gauntlet, a 200-yard section of Class V drops.

The best time to run the Forks is from early May to late June. Whitewater Voyages (800-488-7238), which in 1980 became the first outfitter to run the Forks, offers two- and three-day trips for $475-$590 per person and will only accept clients with previous Class IV rafting experience. Permits are required for private boaters and are awarded in a drawing on April 15. To apply, contact the Cannell Ranger District, Sequoia National Forest, Burlando Road and Whitley Road, Kernville, CA 93238; 619-376-3781.

Rio Chama, New Mexico
Class II-III

The Chama, a National Wild and Scenic River in the northern part of the state near the Colorado line, is a near-perfect family run. The classic trip runs 30 miles from the El Vado Dam through the Chama Canyon to the Abiquiu Reservoir, combining exciting but easily runnable intermediate rapids with scenery that spans high-forest Douglas firs, ponderosa pines, and sagebrush desert. The New Mexico air is crisp and clear, and the last third of the run, below Christ of the Desert Monastery, features yellow, red, and green sandstone formations that pop off the canyon walls. Peregrine falcons and golden eagles fly overhead, and wild turkeys are a common sight on the banks.

In springtime, runoff from the San Juan Mountains is released from the El Vado Dam at volumes of 3,000 to 4,000 cubic feet per second, making May and June by far the best months. The BLM, taking its cue from nature, manages the river for wilderness integrity during this time, allowing only a few commercial trips per week. In the summer months, by contrast, when regular 1,000-cfs irrigation releases trundle down from the dam, it's not uncommon to see 100 people on the river on a weekend day.

You'll need permission to put in at El Vado Ranch (505-588-7354), which is private land. For water flow and permit information, call the BLM office in Taos at 505-758-8851. The Kellstedt Trading company in Santa Fe (505-471-7077) rents rafts for $75 per day. If you'd prefer a guide, Far-Flung Adventures (800-359-2627) runs two- to three-day rafting trips for $202-$303 per person. Kokopelli Rafting Adventures (800-879-9035) charges $87 per person for day trips.

Buffalo River, Arkansas
Class I-II

The Buffalo was named the first National River by Congress in 1972, a designation that preserved most of its 150-mile length, from its source in the Boston Mountains of the Ozarks to its confluence with the White River. The last of the great rivers in Arkansas to remain undammed, it has since become a classic canoe run, particularly in the spring, the only time the tricky Class II section above Pruitt is runnable.

The beauty of this section of the river is its towering bluffs and wildly varied flora. More than 1,500 species of plants surround the river, from sweet gum, sycamore, and river birch forests along the banks to oaks, hickories, maples, and pines higher up. Twelve miles into the trip, watch for a geology lesson: The Ozarks rose where the earth's crust cracked and slipped along fault lines, four of which can be seen along the mile of river between Jim Bluff and Hemmed-in-Hollow. Red limestone that's barely visible at 350 feet above the river two miles farther upstream is head-high at Jim Bluff; the opposite phenomenon occurs at Hemmed-in-Hollow, where sandstone beds that normally rest at river level form the upper lip of a 175-foot-high waterfall, one of the highest between the Appalachians and the Rockies.

The trip from Boxley Bridge to Pruitt Landing is about 30 miles and should take two to three days of paddling. For a list of canoe rental concessions on the Buffalo and a copy of the Buffalo National River Canoeing Guide ($6), call the Buffalo National River Park Service office at 501-741-5443.

Wolf River, Wisconsin
Class II-III

Whitewater in Wisconsin? Wipe that parochial smirk off your face. Northeastern Wisconsin is home to the best whitewater in the Midwest, and though the Wolf doesn't boast raft-tossing rapids, it's perfect for self-guided family raft trips and a particularly challenging two- or three-day canoe trip. To boot, it's a nationally renowned trout stream, bursting with browns, brookies, and rainbows.

The Wolf runs 29 miles through northeastern Wisconsin, east of Wausau, and is divided into four sections, each of which makes a good day trip (put-ins are in Lily, Hollister, Langlade, and the Menominee County Highway WW Bridge). Near the end of the third section, above the bridge, the river constricts to just 20 feet wide at Gilmore's Mistake rapids, spawning standing waves at the top and large rollers and souse holes on the lower ledge. Two miles downriver, Class II Shotgun Rapids is the Wolf's longest and has swamped so many canoes over the years that there used to be a block and tackle permanently attached to a tree on the right bank to help fish them out.

The fourth section, however, is the roughest, a nine-mile stretch that can reach Class IV in high water. Big Smokey Falls (715-799-3359) sells permits, provides a shuttle service, and rents rafts ($17.50 per person). Call the USGS field office at 715-536-2200 for water level and other information.

Mark Jannot is a frequent contributor to Outside.

See also:

Have Paddle, Will Practice