Eel falls

[peterng]

So in all our wisdom we decided to put in right below the main falls and run the next 4 drops.

3 of us, 1 amateur. the amateur made it through, I've been shaking my head ever since in disbelief.

I have a couple of new theories since this trip.

1. Wear 2 life jackets. I got shot down through that white half air froth and didn't see very much daylight. Not cool.

2. Use flotation in the boat. My Appalachian took hell. It spent the majority of the run underwater, and got pinned 3 times. Hard on the boat, and it took us a lot of time to get it free. Almost had to leave it. Flotation would keep it up out of the water a lot more where it could sail through the bads.

3. Wear 2 life jackets.

4. If you are running rapids beside your canoe that is not equipped with flotation, you do not want to be below or above the canoe, beside it is the only place to be. I got sucked under the canoe, the canoe got sucked over me. Not cool.

If you want to get in shape, go run up and over those cliffs 8 or 9 times. I'm still sore.

We're going to try the river again this weekend, minus the rapids perhaps but we'll see. Depends if I can find some flotation.
Pete

[Ken Corbett]

Pete,

Thanks for the insight. I'm sure many river rats have speculated about putting in just below the drop and running the canyon. This will answer a lot of questions ... it will frighten many off, and sweeten the temptation for just as many as well!

I guess it shows that with all risks, there comes a time when the dice are tossed and crap! the numbers come up.

May I post this on my site as an addendum to the Eel River trip? Of course, I will cite you as the author. I think this is valuable information.

[peterng]

Ken,

Absolutely. If it wasn't for your site we likely wouldn't have found this great float to begin with. I'm looking forward to keeping an eye on this set of drops as the water drops. It'd be a lot of fun if you caught it at the right level.

The best thing about this run is that just upstream from Benton is a huge swampy marshland. My theory is that when these large swampy areas are found in a drainage basin, they detain the rainfall and are slow to discharge it.

So the Eel runs at a nice level for quite a while compared to many other rivers in the region.

Oh ya, I left out the part about not comsuming 6 or 7 beers before you need to paddle technically.
Pete