North Cascades River Expeditions

Story Time: Page 4 of 6

I was beginning to believe I was going to live. So far, we and our equipment had met each challenge the Taseko had posed. Suddenly, it was clear: the Taseko was a friend. It was giving us the ride of our lives. Its silver green waters were carrying us through a wilderness pristine, the home of kingfishers, bald eagles, deer, moose, and bear. The Taseko was reminding me to treasure life. The magic of river running was again taking hold.

Early on day three, it became clear that we were approaching the Chilko confluence. How had we overlooked the third class 6? It hardly mattered. As we gazed at the deep blue waters of the Chilko sliding into the glacial green Taseko, we were bursting with pride. We pulled over and toasted our Taseko run in a spirit of jubilant camaraderie.

As we continued down the Chilko, I got a dangerous idea. Lava Canyon of the Chilko! It was right behind us. At this pace, we would be to Hanceville by noon of day 4. We could run the shuttle, head up the Chilko, and run Lava Canyon on day 5.

Hadn't the Wrights finally been caught at hyperbole? There had only been 2, not 3, class 6 rapids on the Taseko. They weren't even class 6's anyway. There was no doubt: they had exagerrated. Maybe Lava Canyon wasn't all they had cracked it up to be.

This insane line of reasoning overwhelmed my normally reliable brain. The euphoria of the successful Taseko run was in firm control. The next thing I remember is suggesting to the others that we make a bee line for our take-out and set up to run Lava Canyon. They enthusiastically agreed. Somehow I felt they would just as eagerly have agreed to a Niagara Falls run. Even Jack wanted to do Lava Canyon provided that he could hop a ride in "Hurricane".

The next two days were rough as I contemplated the section of river we were to attempt. I determined to memorize the Wrights' description of Lava Canyon:

Inflatables should only attempt the canyon if paddlers are experienced and strong. The velocity approaches 24 km per hour, egress is difficult to impossible, resting spots are almost non-existent, and there are many continuous grade 5 rapids. There will be no chance to scout rapids, and no place to rest for the next 24 km. In 24 km the river drops 215 meters, 9 meters per km (48ft/mile) . . .
The first rapid in the canyon . . . appears like a water-fall, with a sharp left S-bend. On both sides of the river are boulders and broken rock with huge souse holes. Stay in the middle. In fact, stay in the middle of the river for the whole canyon. The first rapid is the steepest drop, but there are four more distinct drops interspersed with grade 3 and 4 water. The canyon has continuous heavy water with haystacks in the middle and rocks and holes on both sides.

Stay in the middle! Stay in the middle! I kept returning to this thought as we floated to Hanceville and moved our equipment upstream to the put-in for Lava Canyon. Right on schedule, we were ready to launch Thursday morning.

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North Cascades River Expeditions
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