"Wilko" wrote in message
newswG9b.44887$tK5.5159039@zonnet-reader-1...

From what I've paddled in Europe, and (mostly the eastern part of) the
U.S., I got the impression that western U.S. rivers are more like what
we have over here. Sure, there are pool and drop as well as more
continuous rivers here, and there definately is a big difference in
volume between the multitude of rivers and creeks here.

In general, I found the rating of the rivers I ran in the east to be
quite different from those I ran in Europe. From the experiences of
those Eastern U.S. paddlers that I've taken on trips in Europe, I got
the impression that they weren't so used to the more continuous nature
of the creeks and rivers I took them on. They tended to rate those
European creeks/rivers higher than I would, I assume that had to do with
the more continuous nature of those streams.

Hmmm, good observations, and I don't see any simple explanation. However, my
experience is that European rivers (if there is such a generic term) are a
differnet animal entirely than Eastern or Western water.

The eastern US rivers tend to be relatively short and intense, as the
Appalacians are an old, narrow mountain belt, and there is often only a few
miles between where the water has enough volume to have carved a good bed,
and when the rivers dump out onto the piedmont and flatten out with mud
bottoms. So, yes, eastern boaters will run a 2-mile stretch of rocky water
several times, and call that a 'run'. Several larger rivers (the Hudson, for
example) have several play stretches, but mostly because the rivers cut
across resistant geology and develop rapids in areas where they could easily
be long, class 1-2 stretches instead.

Western rivers, OTOH, tend to drain huge drainage basins, and the mountains
belts are very wide and relatively young. So the rivers can come down out of
the hills already with substantial volume, toss among miles-long stretches
of boulders, then canyon out and become long fla****er floats. The
whitewater stretches can be VERY continuous (my personal favorite is the
dozen-mile long nonstop 'Idaho Class 3' stretch at the top of the MidFork
Salmon.), but once the river changes its nature, its a long-term change.

European rivers, OTThirdH, are a mix of the two. The mountains are very old
and worn down, like the Appalacians, however they are very wide and can
support large rivers. The european steep creeks (like the ones in Slovenia)
are similar to the Eastern US rivers in nature, but because of the
dependable drainage of the Alps, they run more consistently and carry a lot
more debris through their drainout. However, because of the intermittent
nature of big floods, the rocks are sharp, poorly sorted, and the river bed
is relatively immature. So you end up with an eastern-style rocky creek,
that runs a western-style length before it changes its nature.

I think both eastern and western boaters overrate anything they are
unfamiliar with. Calling Hance in the Grand Canyon a '10' is a joke to any
eastern boater who can navigate rocks. Calling Magic Falls on the Kennebec a
'4-5' is a farce to any western boater who has run the V-wave in Lava. Any
US boater who comes to Europe is going to overrate the rapids, until they
get used to the continuous and rocky nature of them. I think European
boaters see both long runs, and rocky runs, so they might not overrate US
rivers quite so easily.

I know here in Kinshasa, I have had so many people tell me how the rapids on
the outskirts of town here are 'Unrunnable' that I want to puke. Its
basically a solid class 5-, with an entrance where you skirt a huge Lava
LedgeHole-sized pourover, run a Hance Lookalike wave train, then catch a
Niagara Whirlpool-sized eddy. I've run stuff this big in rafts a dozen times
with no problem. The stuff downstream is rumored to be worse, but I wonder
if its just continuous instead......

--riverman