Mt Adams
After the Little White drops, after the Green Truss is too low and when the rest of the NW summer creek runs have dropped below recommended flows... paddlers start heading to the Upper Upper Cispus! Bobby Miller a.k.a Zone Dogg showed up to have a little fun! That is Bobby in the blue/white NRS dry top.
On this August day the gauge was reading about 650cfs. This is a nice flow, not too pushy and not too manky. When the water starts to drop the upper section of the run becomes manky and pinny. Johny running the falls just around the corner from the put in.
Paddlers should think hard about running the falls just down stream from the put in, wood has gathered in the exit rapid that flows out of the pool below the falls. Most of the paddlers ran the falls on this day, while a few of us portaged. Some took the right eddy after running the drop, got out above the wood and portaged. A few ran the rapid and ducked the logs on river left.
The exit drop looking down stream
The exit drop looking back up stream from the pool after portaging on river left
The exit drop looking back up stream from the pool after portaging on river left
There was a little bit of shifting or new wood in the stretch above Island Drop but nothing too bad. There is always a bit of wood in this run so paddlers need to keep on their toes for hazards.
Zone Dogg running a drop in the Mank Zone
The same rapid
*Warning p-ton rock, scout this if you don't know the line*
The same rapid
*Warning p-ton rock, scout this if you don't know the line*
A new tree down in the creek, fortunately this one was not a portage
The section above Island Drop is a little manky, with smaller more technical drops. It is less solidified bed rock and more boulders. The section below Island tends to clean up and have more bedrock.
The section above Island Drop is a little manky, with smaller more technical drops. It is less solidified bed rock and more boulders. The section below Island tends to clean up and have more bedrock.The photos below show some of the in-between stuff above Island
Zone Dogg in the in-between
This is one of the more manky drops in the upper section of the run
Another drop in the Mank Zone
This drop is easy but if paddlers are not careful they will p-ton the rock that is visible in the right side of the landing zone. A little left angle can save ankles and boats.
After leaving the mank zone paddlers will arrive at Island Drop. This is an awesome rapid with a great right and left line. The right line is a double drop with the first being the largest of the two at about 10ft and the second being about 4-5ft.
The trick is to keep your bow up with a boof so you don't melt the first drop. Then you will be ready to clean the second smaller and more retentive one.
The left side of Island is a 15ft slide. Paddlers try to do a sliding fade of the left wall to avoid the confluence where the left and right lines converge. The falls on the left feed directly into the second drop on the right line. If you look closely at the pic above you can see the current on the right side of the pic feeding into the drop that Alex is about to run. This is the current coming from the falls on the left line.
The pic below was my favorite photo of the day! I thought the shot really captured the moment. Lots of action and style.
Ryan Scott running the second drop right line of Island
The section between Island and the bottom of the boulder garden below Behemoth falls is why we do this run! There are a few nice drops and what is know as Landslide. Scout Landslide from river right. Paddlers CAN portage Behemoth but it is difficult and also a little dangerous. the first person down Landslide should be careful a swim here without safety is unfortunate. It is difficult to self rescue above Behemoth. Set good safety for paddlers descending Landslide and scout Behemoth on river left just above the falls. Beware of the hole on river right below Behemoth Falls it is very sticky!
Matt King running Behemoth Falls
Matt deep in the second hole 
This is one of the more manky drops in the upper section of the run
Another drop in the Mank Zone
This drop is easy but if paddlers are not careful they will p-ton the rock that is visible in the right side of the landing zone. A little left angle can save ankles and boats.After leaving the mank zone paddlers will arrive at Island Drop. This is an awesome rapid with a great right and left line. The right line is a double drop with the first being the largest of the two at about 10ft and the second being about 4-5ft.
Alex Kilyk running the top drop on the right line of Island
The trick is to keep your bow up with a boof so you don't melt the first drop. Then you will be ready to clean the second smaller and more retentive one.Alex running the second drop right side of Island
The left side of Island is a 15ft slide. Paddlers try to do a sliding fade of the left wall to avoid the confluence where the left and right lines converge. The falls on the left feed directly into the second drop on the right line. If you look closely at the pic above you can see the current on the right side of the pic feeding into the drop that Alex is about to run. This is the current coming from the falls on the left line.Ryan Young running the second drop on the right line
Ryan Scott running the second drop right line of Island
The section between Island and the bottom of the boulder garden below Behemoth falls is why we do this run! There are a few nice drops and what is know as Landslide. Scout Landslide from river right. Paddlers CAN portage Behemoth but it is difficult and also a little dangerous. the first person down Landslide should be careful a swim here without safety is unfortunate. It is difficult to self rescue above Behemoth. Set good safety for paddlers descending Landslide and scout Behemoth on river left just above the falls. Beware of the hole on river right below Behemoth Falls it is very sticky!
Matt King running Behemoth Falls
Matt deep in the second hole 
Below Behemoth is a very nice boulder garden followed by another smaller one. The first boulder garden has 4 distinct drops. Right all the way works but ideally the line goes like this right, right, middle, right.
Looking down stream at the boulder garden below Behemoth
Looking upstream at the boulder garden below Behemoth, you can see the falls in the background
Lana Young running one of the drops in the boulder garden
Looking down stream at the boulder garden below Behemoth
Looking upstream at the boulder garden below Behemoth, you can see the falls in the background
Lana Young running one of the drops in the boulder garden
Alex Kilyk at one of the drops in the boulder garden
Alex getting ready to run the last drop on the boulder with the paddler in front of him going deep 
The group in the second smaller boulder garden
Then it is aprx. a 20 minute paddle out some class 2-3 to the bridge! This is a good visual flow. If it looks like this at the take out then your should be stoked.
A view of the level from the take out bridge
Till next time!
Till next time!
