Cataract @ 70,000

I like big water. At least that is what I like to say. But maybe I just like runs where I can roll without hitting my head on rocks, and have no idea what I am talking about with big water. There is more than enough time for these thoughts to revolve in your head on the multi-hour drive and shuttle for Cataract Canyon. The level is 70,000 cfs. Maybe it is all washed out into Class III. Maybe not. Only one way to find out.

But first, flatwater. Lots of it. Like 50+ miles before you reach the rapids. We paddled from 2PM to 11PM on day 1 and made about 40 miles. Kevin takes the flatwater paddle in very seriously.



Russ' bunk buddy on night 1.



When we finally reach the rapids at noon on day 2, tensions are a bit high. We have two paddlers in our group who have done the run at 50k and they are astonished by how high the river is. Rapid number 2, which I guess is usually not big deal has 20 foot waves and huge eddylines. No way to go but downstream.

Things never really get much harder than number 2 though. Most of the rapids are similar with long snaking wavetrains- some waves 20-30 feet high. But most are friendly and there are no holes. Every rock in the river is so far underwater that the only river features are eddylines and compression waves.

Even Big Drop 1 is washed out.



Big Drops 2 and 3 are not quite washed out. This picture does no justice, but if you can imagine, these features (Little Niagra on the right, and the Window Wave on the left) are thirty feet tall. The barely noticeable "marker waves" are 10+ feet tall. The line here was to punch the diagonal between the two bigger features.



View downstream of the rest of the rapid.



Deep contempation at Satan's Gut.



And then there was more flatwater. Seriously, Cat has alot of flatwater. At least it is scenic.



Our trip took a total of 48 hours, about 22 on the water. The high flows did not really speed up the flatwater, especially with a headwind. It is hard to rate the difficulty of the rapids. There are no real moves to make except in the Big Drops, but the waves and eddylines are huge and a swim would be really really bad. I literally do not know how a swimmer would get to shore in the rapids. The folks in our group who had done it at 50k thought that level was harder because there were holes in play that were washed out at 70k. Take this description for what it is worth. Cat at these levels is a very unique experience and I would love to go back...with a jetboat ride through the flatwater.

High Water on Pine Creek

Pine Creek at high water is an interesting run/rapid. Lots of folks put somewhere higher than the Numbers to get a little more action. At high water the stuff above Pine Creek itself is fun and the runout to the rapid is great. It is also a popular theory that the Pine Creek hole flushes at high flows so it is no big deal. This is a very easy theory to explain from your couch in the middle of the winter, but harder to back up when you actually see the rapid at 3000cfs, when the hole is still there but... kinda flushing.

At high flows the dam drop above Pine Creek goes well and is actually pretty fun.

The rapid itself from above. You are not getting left at this level.



Anonymous kayaker deep in the gut of the hole.



Cool video of our group and a couple other running the hole. Video by Robin Johnson.

Kayakers vs. Pine Creek Hole from Robin Johnson on Vimeo.

So, it does flush. Get out there and do your big water training.

Upper Animas

The Upper A is an amazing place that must be experienced to appreciate. Difficulty is highly dependent on flows, but it is always a great experience. We hit it recently with what I consider perfect flows. 1300 (medium) in Silverton, but with side creeks pumping it was pretty high by Rockwood (1700 on the Tacoma gauge). Side note: the Tacoma gauge reads low at higher levels (1700 at Tacoma felt like 2500+cfs as we floated past the gauge). The smoky put-in thanks to huge wildfires in Arizona.

During one of the fall rainstorms last year, in the spot where the old Snowshed Rapid used to be, a side drainage ripped out in a huge landslide, partially blocking the river. Fortunately, the result is a totally clean rapid.

Russ running the new rapid.

The only other pics I got were of No Name (oops, camera battery died). No Name is the biggest rapid on the Animas. Is is nice IV+ at low water but a hole forms at high water that has most boaters walking. At our flow the hole was forming, but not yet the high water monster. A couple kayakers pose in No Name for scale (This is the entrance. The big hole is out of the frame downstream.).

The Upper A is really too much river for one blog post. Broken Bridge is great at every level, Rockwood is intense at higher flows and the in-between is pure bliss. Get it before it's gone.

Cascade Creek

Cascade Creek (aka 3rd Gorge of Lime) is a great single day adventure. You get some hiking, 2 miles of creeking, 6ish miles of Upper A wavetrains, the option of the Rockwood Box with healthy flows and then some more hiking. The adventure starts with a 1-2 mile downhill hike from Purgatory to Purgatory flats.

We were a little dubious on the flows after everything spiked overnight, but a quick peek at the Cascade Slot and Lime Creek at the highway assured us that flows would not be too high. Too high does not really refer to the rapids on the run, which would be sweet at flood, but rather to the eddy above the 5+ portage and one limbo log at the bottom of a rapid most of they down the creek. These photos are from med-high flows (est 600+ in the creek, 1600 on the Tacoma gauge). Purgatory flats- your put-in and first opportunity to get a real visual on flows.

A couple wavetrains and a roll under a log bring you to the landslide portage. Maybe it would be just easier to run...maybe not (it has been run).

The launch out of the portage is the most gripping part of the run. It requires a seal launch right where the current slams into a wall. However, it goes better than it looks and is actually the best rapid on the run.

The only rapid that really stands out in my mind below this is the ledgy drop a few hundred yards downstream of the portage. At this level the hole looked horrible, but the ledge appeared to be a good boof. We proved ourselves completely wrong as four of us plugged the hole and paddled out one after another. Big Eric gets ready to displace some backwash.

The rest of the run is all straightforward Class IV, but it is wall-to-wall water in places and pretty continuous, so a swim would be bad. After you hit the Animas, you have six miles (maybe 45 minutes) to the Rockwood Box, which will be harder than Cascade at pretty much any level.

Piedra

The Piedra, the old fallback. Nothing else is running yet? Do the Piedra. Everything is scary high? Do the Piedra. Despite its long shuttle, and paddling 8 miles of flatwater for one mile of whitewater, somehow it is still worth it. The one mile of whitewater is one of the best miles of class IV in Colorado, and the flatwater actually moves pretty fast with good flows.

A couple weeks ago we went up for a beautiful Piedra day and hiked about 1/2 mile up the First Fork to a drop that I had scouted with low water. With water in it, it was only about a six foot ledge, but it was clean and fun. Drew boofs it.

Unfortunately there were about 5 log jam portages between the ledge and the put-in, so it probably won't be repeated, but at least we were warm for the actual paddling portion of the day.

Once the rapids kick off, they are powerful and fluffy with big easy lines.

Boof!

The Eye of the Needle is by far the biggest rapid on the run. Though technically easy, this one always gets the blood pumping due to the powerful constriction and chunky run out. I recommend always scouting this one because I have seen several different woof configurations in the runout. Never content with the standard line, Kevin drops in switch.

The paddle out is long but scenic and the water moves fast. Stop at the hotsprings on river left if they are not already full of naked hippies.