Originally posted by The NZA
I will reiterate: totally hit me up if you do this again. I think this is number one on my tic list for next year, if I can find other (if not more, since I am still a greenhorn myself) competent boaters to do it with. The Alpacka defiantly does great in low water like this, so this time of year seems perfect. I may know some other packrafters who'd also be interested.
To shed a little more light on the character, this is not really a place for 2 green horns alone to go exploring whitewater:
There were somewhere in the neighborhood of 150 +/- rapids in the Class III to IV range, with maybe 25% Class IV, being primarily steep technical long and blind boulder garden drops. Class IV was most concentrated in the Slide Creek to Granite Creek area, but scattered thought the run in ample supply. The last rapid before our takeout at the Steel Bridge was a long Class IV. . All I will say is that there is a lot of scouting to be done of long blind drops, especially between Slide Creek to Granite Creek. Allow plenty of time for this section, but scouting will be done at many places along the entire trip. Although wood was not a problem, there are a number of nasty sieve hazards at low water in which you could kill your self. I would not want to do this trip with less than 3 (safety factor) or more than 6 people (camp size/horse pack logistics). At low water, you want top notch gear, because you will be smashing/squeezing through a lot of rocks.
Edited by shap - 11 Jul 2012 at 10:21am