Here are some comments of rapids made on the run, any names I give are those I myself associate with each drop and are not 'THE' names. Also note that any suggestions of line are made based on my experience during two flow levels during the same season, always boat runs like this as if you were boating it the first time yourself and make judgements accordingly.
This huge slide is clearly visible from the trail and is good putin location with a relatively clear grass slope down to the river. We opted to not run this slide on the first trip, but ran it on the left on the second trip. You want to avoid the right slide completely as the slide piles into a rock jumble at the bottom. There is a short pool at the bottom, before another drop of moderate height. This drop still deserves a good scout since middle channel where most of the water goes drops into some rocks that could easily pin if you don't have your nose high. There is a pretty ugly cheat route on the far left, but it is a real elbow basher. We portaged this too on the first run, Patrick and Keith ran it left the second time with a ferry in the middle.
Below the putin slide there is a section of a little less than a mile of fun tight creeking. There are a number of blind congested drops (IV) that you will want to scout for logs and lines, but we found it all to be runnable.
The first bedrock drop after the putin slide is an obvious scout as are most of the main drops on the run. One can scout easily from either side. The entrance is mellow slide slanting slightly to the left. At the end of the slide is a 4 foot ledge, most of the water pours off the left side creating a rather powerful hole, while what water that does pour off the right forms a clean sheet of water. The line we took at our flows was to enter right and work to stay right punching through a small shallow hole about half way down. Those who have run this rapid at lower flows reported a very serious hazard in the form of a shallow rock, right of center. At the lower flows the left chute may well be the safer option, in any case this drop deserves a scout.
Below Hum-Dinger there is a pool before you come to the next drop, one of the most magnificent of the run. Scout on the right, as the left hand scout forces you high above the river. The river splits with a portion continuing straight through pouring as a narrow chute over an 8-10 ft ledge, while the rest of the river diverts right where it then falls back into the river along a 80 foot long granite ledge. The left chute makes a fantastic jump as you hit the left edge of the drop. If you choose the right line you can pick any number of places to slide back in the river spreads out into a series of low water steep slides along the ledge. Although not hard to avoid, there is some undercut along the wall if you choose the right channel. High banks on either side of this drop add to the drama.
This is a fantastic screaming fast slide. There is a small shorter slide that is very similar to the main slide that comes right before that is a sort of prelude to the drop. There are large flatwater sections above both the prelude and the main drop with large expanses of bedrockon the left to get out and scout from. There are two channels at the top of the slide, the left side is far more conservative getting you in an angular groove that you ride to the bottom. The right side forces you to flirt with a scary boulder along the right wall. If you get too far right you could get stuffed between the wall and the boulder. At the very bottom the right wall is also pretty undercut, but the current doesn't seem to force you in there much. On our first run KRD followed KB down the right side and ended up challenging the boulder on the right, sliding into it sideways and hitting the pillow. He then was thrust into the undercut at the bottom, but popped out and rolled nearly instantaneously.
This rapid should be a pretty obvious scout on the right side, a large calm pool leading right up to the start of the rapid lets you take out right near the top. The primary feature of concern is a low undercut wall on the river right side near the top. On our first run we decided that it would be too hard to stay far enough left, so walked. The second run with a little less water we decided it was possible. Right below the undercut is a hole that requires punching, and then there is a fun class IV runout.
We portaged this conjested rapid on the first day, I think it was just too pushy at the higher water, it was runnable at lower water - but you still wanted to be on line.
This is another blast of a rapid, get out at the big pool above on the river bed granite thats exposed on the right. Though the falls are probably runable along severl points of their 35 foot width, the right side is the cleanest and the most apparent line. it is hard to get much speed, but you really don't need much. Be wary of the shallow shelf that extends accross the eddy below from the right. From above it looks like sand but it is rock. It would be hard to hit this shelf at the flows we did it, but perhaps at slightly higher flows if you were really working the right edge of the drop. The runout of this drop is also very fun. From the giant pool below the drop, you can take the far left channel that starts with a fun 4 ft drop into a small eddy. You fight your way accross a strong boil to a mid river eddy formed by a log/rock/brush islet. From here some peeled out to ride down the midle and off a narrow nose like plank rock, or you can fight the shallow water bedrock to get right and skim alng a shelf before droping back into the main flow.
This is a truly ugly rapid to look at. There is a large boulder near that top of the boulder that is severly undercut, the channel to the right of the boulder narrows into tunnel with a small rock preventing anthing very large from going through. There is a ledge just above the rock, that can be boofed, and when you land you actually pretty cleanly in a current that moves you around safely to the left of the rock. KRD was the only one who dared to run this drop on our first run.
