This is one of the tougher sections of river that I run and this was the second time that I have done it in a solo canoe ever. I always get dry mouth when I just think about it!
Both times that I have made this run have been in conjunction with Mat Madness weekend party (Matanuska) that a couple of our friends who have a cabin in that area put on. It is usually around Memorial Day weekend, sometimes the weekend before, sometimes the weekend after, it is always a ton of fun.
The approach to this river is to read and run it, which means we don't stop and scout what is ahead. Lucky for me everyone who was on the river with us has gone down it a gazillion times and I can pick up clues from them on where to enter each drop. Even at the lower water levels that I have done it at there are some big pushy waves and some steep very large holes!
I made it through this year almost unscathed, I swam once when my boat filled with water in a big wave train and the very last wave just knocked me over! I kept a hold of my boat which I am really glad of for two reasons: one, no one had to chase it downstream, and two it helped to keep me up at the surface when the hole I swam through sucked me under. I did manage to bash to front of my calf on a rock which earned me a big ugly bruise and now even a week later it is really painful and still bruised.
We had a great time at the cabin! The pic for this post is from the gathering the night before we ran the river. I didn't even take my camera on the river with me, I knew I would be too nervous to even think about taking pictures and I jettisoned all the weight from the boat that I could to make it as maneuverable as possible.
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