Red Deer River running high (but not stupid high)...

No big deal until Big Rock. Still getting over the year before's ass-kicking on the Kicking Horse, I decided to walk, with a number
of our beginners. But sit back and watch the carnage! There was the pair in the ducky, travelling with a raft company (why the
raft co. let them go in a ducky is a question I don't have an answer to). Right over the pourover at the start of the rapid! Swim
the rest.

Then there was the group of three people in two canoes. The pair in one was completely clueless. They avoided the pourover (which
really isn't difficult), but were unable to avoid the big waves and swamped. Swim. The solo canoeist really looked like he knew
what he was doing, nonchalantly and skillfully paddling around the pourover. But then, all he needed to do was put in two or three
good strokes to miss the big waves, and he never did... Maybe he wanted to ride them, but in an open canoe without floatation, I
wouldn't think that was a good idea. Swamp. Swim.

So, get down to Gooseberry. The raft company is there, and all but one make it through safely--even the pair in the ducky got
ejected but they did make it through. One raft is off line and gets stuck. Now for those who haven't paddled the Red Deer,
Gooseberry is a river-wide ledge, and the river is probably over 200 feet wide. There is an angled tongue down the centre, which
can be ridden at any water level. Some people will boof the left edge of the ledge as well. At high water, like it was that day,
the line is razor thin, and the consequences of being off line would be rather unpleasant (though a swimmer would be most likely be
spit out after a spin cycle or two). Once again, I walked. As I said, one raft missed the line (just barely) and got stuck in the
hole. All the passengers were ejected (a couple had some unpleasant recirculations in the hole for a few seconds which probably
seemed like a lifetime to the hapless swimmers) but the guide stayed in. And he stayed in for the full fifteen minutes that his
raft was stuck!! Apparently he was a very experienced guide who had never once flipped a raft--and he still didn't flip it.
Anyway, a couple rafts unsuccessfully tried to knock him out of the hole. One of our kayakers ran the drop with a throwbag in his
teeth, throwing it at the right moment--he hit the guide in the face with the bag, but the guide was unable to grab it! Then there
was the guide on shore trying (two or three times!) to hit the raft, 80-90 feet away, with his 60 foot throwbag... And glaring at
me for not trying to throw my bag!

So we get down to the Nationals site, where the raft company takes their customers for a swim off a small cliff. One decides it
would fun to attack one of kayakers... At first, we thought he was panicking and was just trying to get out of the water, but it
was soon obvious that he was just an a$$hole.

Eventually, we get to the takeout, where we saw the remains of the canoe that the guy was paddling solo. We later found out that he
had tried to line his boat through Gooseberry, and it got away from him... He actually tried to accuse people of stealign the gear
he had had tied into the boat!

An amazing day of crazy bravado...

(I missed the really crazy day of bravado, when the river was stupid-high...)

-Paul

Paul, I did a section of the Red Deer, at lower water, but do
not know the names of any of the rapids. Can you post enough detail
so I know what section this story is about, and whether I've seen some
of the same section or river? I remember a riverwide ledge, which is
the only one we bank-scouted prior to running. Possibly the one you
call Gooseberry? A smallish river, clear water, very pretty in
places. Saw lots of wildlife, elk, wolf. Tom McCloud


On Mon, 17 Jan 2005 17:05:24 GMT, "Paul Skoczylas"
wrote:

Red Deer River running high (but not stupid high)...

No big deal until Big Rock. Still getting over the year before's ass-kicking on the Kicking Horse, I decided to walk, with a number
of our beginners. But sit back and watch the carnage! There was the pair in the ducky, travelling with a raft company (why the
raft co. let them go in a ducky is a question I don't have an answer to). Right over the pourover at the start of the rapid! Swim
the rest.

Then there was the group of three people in two canoes. The pair in one was completely clueless. They avoided the pourover (which
really isn't difficult), but were unable to avoid the big waves and swamped. Swim. The solo canoeist really looked like he knew
what he was doing, nonchalantly and skillfully paddling around the pourover. But then, all he needed to do was put in two or three
good strokes to miss the big waves, and he never did... Maybe he wanted to ride them, but in an open canoe without floatation, I
wouldn't think that was a good idea. Swamp. Swim.

So, get down to Gooseberry. The raft company is there, and all but one make it through safely--even the pair in the ducky got
ejected but they did make it through. One raft is off line and gets stuck. Now for those who haven't paddled the Red Deer,
Gooseberry is a river-wide ledge, and the river is probably over 200 feet wide. There is an angled tongue down the centre, which
can be ridden at any water level. Some people will boof the left edge of the ledge as well. At high water, like it was that day,
the line is razor thin, and the consequences of being off line would be rather unpleasant (though a swimmer would be most likely be
spit out after a spin cycle or two). Once again, I walked. As I said, one raft missed the line (just barely) and got stuck in the
hole. All the passengers were ejected (a couple had some unpleasant recirculations in the hole for a few seconds which probably
seemed like a lifetime to the hapless swimmers) but the guide stayed in. And he stayed in for the full fifteen minutes that his
raft was stuck!! Apparently he was a very experienced guide who had never once flipped a raft--and he still didn't flip it.
Anyway, a couple rafts unsuccessfully tried to knock him out of the hole. One of our kayakers ran the drop with a throwbag in his
teeth, throwing it at the right moment--he hit the guide in the face with the bag, but the guide was unable to grab it! Then there
was the guide on shore trying (two or three times!) to hit the raft, 80-90 feet away, with his 60 foot throwbag... And glaring at
me for not trying to throw my bag!

So we get down to the Nationals site, where the raft company takes their customers for a swim off a small cliff. One decides it
would fun to attack one of kayakers... At first, we thought he was panicking and was just trying to get out of the water, but it
was soon obvious that he was just an a$$hole.

Eventually, we get to the takeout, where we saw the remains of the canoe that the guy was paddling solo. We later found out that he
had tried to line his boat through Gooseberry, and it got away from him... He actually tried to accuse people of stealign the gear
he had had tied into the boat!

An amazing day of crazy bravado...

(I missed the really crazy day of bravado, when the river was stupid-high...)

-Paul

"Tom McCloud" wrote in message ...
Paul, I did a section of the Red Deer, at lower water, but do
not know the names of any of the rapids. Can you post enough detail
so I know what section this story is about, and whether I've seen some
of the same section or river? I remember a riverwide ledge, which is
the only one we bank-scouted prior to running. Possibly the one you
call Gooseberry? A smallish river, clear water, very pretty in
places. Saw lots of wildlife, elk, wolf. Tom McCloud

The Red Deer has many sections. The parts of interest to whitewater paddlers are all upstream of Sundre. The main section starts
where the Forestry Trunk Road crosses the river, at Mountain Aire Lodge. (AFAIK, that's the only currently existing bridge upstream
of Sundre.) Various take-outs are used. Gooseberry is the only significant river wide ledge on the main run. If you did the lower
section, near Coal Camp, there's a rapid called double ledge which is also significant--the river is much narrower and constricted.
I doubt anyone would see that section on the same run as Gooseberry--or it would be a very long day! At lower water, none of the
other rapids really have any significance. There might be a hole at the bottom of Big Rock (which is the first "real" rapid), but
it's probably playable.

Low water (depending on who you talk to) is anything below about 50 cms--I know people who are happy to run it at 30, but that seems
a waste of time to me. High water is anything over 80 or so cms. That day it was over 100 cms. (The year before, a group paddled
it over 200 cms, experiencing severe carnage...)

-Paul

On Wed, 19 Jan 2005 15:11:24 GMT, "Paul Skoczylas"
wrote:
"Tom McCloud" wrote in message ...
Paul, I did a section of the Red Deer,

The Red Deer has many sections. The parts of interest to whitewater paddlers are all upstream of Sundre. The main section starts
where the Forestry Trunk Road crosses the river, at Mountain Aire Lodge.

Paul, That name Sundrie sounds familiar. Faint memories of
crossing the river, turning left (upriver), and in a few hundred
yards, on the left, there is a small park/ picnic area. This was our
take-out. Went up above there maybe 8-9 miles or so. Really can't
recall the put-in, except that it was a short carry, then down a steep
bank onto rock. I think we drove a gravel road over a pretty good
hill looking for a put-in and didn't find anything, so backtracked,
and kind of headed back a trail in the woods. I don't believe we had
as much as 20 cms, but it was fun. I'd do this one again if I was
ever in the neighborhood. Tom McCloud