Trip Coordinator Name(s): Les Horvath

Date of Trip: June 24, 2023

River Reach: Longview to Hogg Park

River Difficulty Level: Intermediate

Water Level: Low

# of Adults: 2

# of Minors:

# of Guests:

Rescues(aka Swims)?:

Events,Observations,Comments:

This trip was an UNOFFICIAL club trip: since nobody signed up and the three-boat rule applied. Marie and I went by ourselves to check out what the 10 cms water level had to offer and if it was runnable.
10 cms offers good features to play in and enough water to paddle this reach comfortably other than a couple of gradient sections that have large boulders exposed requiring quick maneuvers from river left to right. I would say that 10 is the bare minimum to paddle.
It was 21 degrees mostly sunny with periodic clouds and threats of a thunderstorm which missed us.
Trip started at 10:30
11:30 lunch and back on the river at 12:00 scouted and ran the broken ledge at 12:15 successfully. We see eagles, osprey, Peregrine Falcons, Eastern King and King Fisher birds and mergansers with ducklings along the way. We did a little bit of surfing which was still a possibility, running Class I/II waves and rock dodging. The rocks and big boulders are more predominant when reading on the run and it seems that in the gradients the water actually moves faster. In some rock gardens when running down a gradient section quick decisions and channel picking is important in avoiding rock collisions; capsizing in a location such as those is not a safe outcome due to the current still having a strong flow making timely maneuvers essential and very important in lower water level verses higher water levels. Running over the ledge sections the stern did not hit or skim off rocks or boulders below.
The first ledge about 20 minutes into the trip is best to run far river left otherwise the stern will hit on the rock slabs below (tandems). River right looks like it would be runnable for the next time to check out.
We had a few shallow sections during the day, but all was runnable and presented no issues descending into rapids just below the shallow section. There were about 4-6 spots of shallow sections where we skimmed over rocks without losing much momentum and never had to get out and walk the canoe. We never had to walk the canoe at all at this level.
Pekisko Creek rapids are better to try the river right side next time. River left the stern did hit rocks while running rapids.
Hazards: exposed large boulders, one dead head. We are seeing farmers fencing put up that extends into the river in two or three locations – monitor next year!
The trip ending at 1:50 p.m.

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