PDX River Explorers: Late Summer Kayaking on Mt. Adam's! "Upper Upper Cispus River"

Friday, September 3, 2010

Late Summer Kayaking on Mt. Adam's! "Upper Upper Cispus River"

~August and September can be a bit dry on the local Columbia River Gorge runs. Rivers like the Little White Salmon, White Salmon, and the Wind all get a bit bony. But in the endless search to keep paddling, the NW never disappoints. You don't have to drive to far to find the find fluffy stash's of white water.~

Name: Upper Upper Cispus
Description: The Upper Upper section of the Cispus is a great run! Waterfalls, boulder gardens, canyons, ledges, slot drops, mank, and wood all lie within its tight walls. Cold water, wood and mank keep some paddlers away, but the quality drops that make up the majority of this run make it more than worth while. Wood and pin potential seems to be a bit higher on the U.U. Cispus but I wouldn't consider the drops much harder than that of other local class 5 runs. Luckily, for paddlers the majority of the wood lies in the class 3 sections and is pretty easy to avoid.
Location: Mt Adams Gifford Pinchot National Forest
Class: solid 5
Season: mid-late summer after peak runoff
Length: 6 miles
Water Level: Paddlers have been known to run the U.U. Cispus all the way down to 350cfs on the gauge at Randle. Optimal seems to be somewhere in the 500-600cfs range. above 800cfs would be considered high by most and over 1000cfs is a stomping level!
Access: Easy
Gnarr Factor: Medium
Blister Factor: Low

~The pictures below were taking after a hot spell when the Cispus Gauge at Randle was reading high 500's cfs. We all agreed it was a nice medium flow, maybe optimal for masses!~

Ryan Young running the first just around the corner from the put in