Idaho Panhandle: Smith (IV) and Cow Creek (V)

The very tip of the Idaho Panhandle holds some of the highest quality pure creeking in Idaho. Lower Smith Creek is an epic 6 mile class V/V+ mission with the average gradient easily exceeding 300 fpm the whole time. The only problem is that with good flows in the 150-250 cfs range and a diversion at the put in that takes out 370 cfs (which powers around 25,000 homes in Eugene, OR), it has an extremely narrow window. Anyways, to sum it up, half the group that arrived early Friday put on with about 85 cfs and the promise of rising flows throughout the day and got skunked. After about 2 miles and 5 hours, they hiked out.

The next day, we put on the much easier but not dewatered Upper Smith for a short stretch with some fun drops.

Crystal clear class I with no sign of whitewater at the put in.

First mini ledge, with wood. Always the wood....

The best rapid on the creek had death wood...I was so bummed I didn't take a picture. Soon, however, we came to a good multi-tiered slide.

Then a "plugger"...lead in

From above...it all funnels into a 3' wide hole

Disappearing act...

Below, there is a broken falls...here Adam "sneaks" the top part

And boofs the bottom part

And here is the author boofing the final drop from a different angle. Photo courtesy of Leland from www.rivergypsies.net

PART II

After we reached the takeout on Smith, there were rumblings about running Cow Creek, which shares the same takeout. It was already 5pm, and I was tired from scouting/portaging/wading and just couldn't bear to put my gear back on.

This will go down as the worst decision of my season so far.

The four people who put on found incredible drops and a low but totally runnable flow (which is how I prefer my class V). Anyways, here are some shots from that section.

This double drop is one of the burliest drops I have seen people run in person. Ben and Jeremy fired it off perfect...except for the backwards boof. The pics only show the easier bottom drop. The upper was super impressive and burly but impossible to take pictures of from river left, where we were.

Fish Creek, Idaho - V (V+)

Fish Creek is well known...at least from the trailhead down. Right at the put in for the ultra classic Lower Lochsa, Fish Creek gets lots of playboat traffic since many boaters use it as an alternative/more exciting put in for the Lochsa.

However, just a short 2 mile hike above the trailhead lies the most accessible class V Lochsa tributary - upper Fish.

With rapids composed of a mix of bedrock and large boulders from cliff walls, Fish Creek has drastically different character at low and high flows. At low flows, it features steep, technical, manky, and sometimes sieved out boulder drops. Medium and high flows bring out stomping, continuous, pushy and classic Idaho class V.

Hike two miles up, and when the trail meets the river, put on and be ready for action right around the corner.

Here is a series of Ira Vasgaard in first major rapid. This is it for action shots, but rest assured, the whole section has high quality, well defined bouldery action. Don't miss it if you are the Lochsa with your creekboat and need some adrenaline.










Oh...I almost forgot. 1/4 mile above the trailhead is a STOMPIN' rapid that is always V+. Good luck with this one.

Bear Creek, Bitterroot Mountains - V

Falling out of the eastern front of the Bitterroots just north of Hamilton, Bear Creek is the best and highest quality class V creek that can be run after work by Missoula boaters.

However, despite the high quality of this section, three factors combine to make Bear a rather infrequently run creek. First, a fairly long hike in and out makes every run something of a mission. Second, the rapids are stacked and the back to back nature with lots of wood consequences means Bear has a high intimidation factor. Third, no good correlations with any online gauges means that you have to drive to the trailhead to check the level...and with the flashy nature of this creek, it can be difficult to find ideal flows.

Just over a mile above the trailhead, you come to the last commonly run rapid on the creek: Brave Bear. Take a look from here, realizing that you can scout much better from creek level on the other side when you get down there, and continue up the trail for a little over a mile. If you get to a point where you can see snowy peaks upstream and the valley floor below you, you have gone too far.

The first rapid, which some have been calling The Big Easy, and others just "The Put In" is a long, multi-tiered slide that is guaranteed to leave you grinning. Watch out of the undercut boulder at the bottom on the left...and if the move here looks too intimidating, the level might be too high.

Jason Schroeder, visiting from Hood River, two strokes into his first time paddling in Montana.



And wishing he was a little further right at the bottom. The logs on the right are sticking in the undercut boulder, and are actually helping the situation right now.



Below here is a quick portage of a river wide old growth log that could be there for years, then a sweet bouldery, wood filled barfight called, simply, the Gnar. It runs better than it looks, and leads into Airplane, a sweet banking slide that is a lot bigger than it looks here.



Catch the eddy immediately below Airplane and see if Log Drop is clean. Currently, it is not (see behind Ben), and this necessitates a seal launch into the slide in the second half of this cool and unique rapid (you kind of have to see it to understand).



Bottom of Log Drop.



Some bouldery drops lead to the Tijuana Crack Whore, one of the signature Bear rapids. Here, a technical boulder drop dumps onto a low angle banking slide, which turns left and drops down into a very narrow crack. Elbow pads recommended. Here is Nic Cole in the entry.



And Schroeder, droppin' in to the filthy part.



EJ Etherington getting kinky in the crack (photo Ben Litz)



And Ben Litz showing how it's done at low water. You can clearly see the crack on his left. (Photo EJ Etherington)




Ben Litz in the runout.



Random slide.



Another random slide above Hotel California...with Ben going one round with a hole.



Below the sticky hole backed up with wood known as Hotel California (you can check in anytime you like...etc), an easy portage on river left brings you to the brink of the granddaddy of Bitterroot rapids: Brave Bear. The Brave one is a combo of ledge to slide to pillow to slide to ledge to...well, you get the idea. It's big and awesome.

Here are Ben and Nick, checking out the pillow move and the top part of the rapid.



Author demonstrating poor form "It's GOOD!" on the entry.



Pillow rides...not just for the bedroom anymore.



(courtesy EJ Etherington, thisriverlife.blogspot.com)

Ben trying to get left below the pillow. This may be the crux move...a boof into a big seam.



And for scale...in the runout, with the lower half of Brave Bear visible above.



Below here, it sort of looks good. But it is manky, wood filled, and hauling ass. Many teams have attempted to continue below here, few have gotten far.



Flows: Picture of the gauge rock, coming soon.

Big Timber Creek, Montana - V

Every day on the river is a good day. Some are better than others, and some just simply blow your mind. Big Timber blew my mind.

It is a classic in every respect. Phenomenal scenery, enormous rapids, and some of the biggest slides you'll ever see. Here are some pictures that cover maybe 20% of the good rapids.

First, a tree had to be cut. What a shitty view. That's Conical Peak, right in the heart of the Crazy Mountains.


Then, we had to hike some more. Boats are heavy.



Alan makes his first paddle stroke of the day on the douple drop put in rapid.




The above leads directly into O's Woes, a fast constricted slide that sends you deep into the bottom hole at high speed.




Below, Chad digging for the boof then riding out slide in Fine Line.






Triple Dipple, which Shiloh is boofing large, leads directly into the fabled and truly epic Pinch.




Here is AJ and then Alan in the Pinch. You can see Triple Dipple above, and then the Pinch slide which constricts to about 6 feet wide.





And then the big scare. Chad hit a bouncer, turned sideways, and went flying headfirst down the slide, where he began to come out of his boat.





He was fine. His boat was recovered, he was stopped from flushing into the next huge slide by a diving leap from AJ, and the paddle was found a few rapids down.

Alan boofs a ledge immediately below the Pinch.



This boof leads directly into this, where Shiloh is approaching terminal velocity in a huge banking slide.



This drop doesn't have a name. I guess it's just "class IV boogie." There are lots and lots of slides and ledges like this, and none of them have names.



Parting shit: Blasting through the Pinch.

Flows
High by some standards, but most in our group called it perfect. However, no one ran the Gambler or the Falls, so what do I know?