Canoeing during high water on Sipsey

[Uncle Wayne]

I have a friend who wrapped a canoe around a tree about 3 to 4 miles downstream from the picnic grounds earlier this week.  He said when they put in the water was almost up to the lower parking area.  According to him, all the rapids, (I'm sure he meant the 100 yard dash),  were flooded out but the current was very strong.  After they wrapped the canoe and couldn't pull it off, they walked on the banks where they could, floated on their backs when they had to downstream to the take out at HWY 33. 

I'm very surprised he tried to canoe Sipsey under these conditions.  It was a disaster waiting to happen but fortunately for them they made it out with only a few scratches.  His canoe is still wrapped around the tree.

[southmark]

I have two friends that kayaked Brushy, Rush and the Sipsey last week end.

His quote "Hundred yard dash was fun too. It was about 300 yards of standing 1-2' waves...a good little ride."

[angrysparrow]

That's me SouthMark!    We had a great time floating all 3 streams (Brushy and Rush on 9/19, Sipsey on 9/20).  It was the first time I had floated either Brushy or Rush, and I thoroughly enjoyed them.  Both were very scenic, especially with all the waterfalls running freely.

I can confirm that the water was right up to the edge of the lower parking lot when we floated Sipsey and the current was fast.  We had no problems with blowdowns at all, though.  There were only two, and were easily navigated past.  

Brushy Creek only had one logjam that required portage, about 100 yards before the confluence with Collier Creek.

Rush Creek had two blowdowns that required portage, one of which was in a tough spot with a steep bank covered in briars.  Well worth the effort for the scenery of that canyon, though.

[Pathfinder]

Why is the sparrow angry?

[angrysparrow]

Why is the sparrow angry?

I'm not, really.

It is something of a trail name.  While hiking one day I sat down in front of a large Yellow Bell bush, which was apparently the home of a sparrow's nest.  In angry defense of their home, those little birds attacked and quite got the best of me.     The name stuck.

[southmark]

I'm not, really.

It is something of a trail name.  While hiking one day I sat down in front of a large Yellow Bell bush, which was apparently the home of a sparrow's nest.  In angry defense of their home, those little birds attacked and quite got the best of me.     The name stuck.

Yea I've hiked and canoed with him and he is not angry at all.

[grillmastertoo]

Hey Sparrow--
Next time you hit the creeks up there, give me a shout, i would love to paddle through there....
Maybe even include an overnight hang halfway down....
Do you happen to know what level it was flowing when you were on them?

[angrysparrow]

Hey Sparrow--
Next time you hit the creeks up there, give me a shout, i would love to paddle through there....
Maybe even include an overnight hang halfway down....
Do you happen to know what level it was flowing when you were on them?

I don't know what it was at on the 19th, but on the 20th the gauge height at the bridge was above 20.  I don't know the CFS.

I'd be happy let you know Allen!  We just have to watch for rain.

[MobileBackpacker]

Been thinking of canoeing the sipsey again and this thread reminded me of another funny story about that 100 yard dash.

Me and my girlfriend at the time (unbelievably after this decided to marry me) canoed the Sipsey in March one year. The day before our trip we had stopped at the take out to check out the flows. It had rained extremely hard the night before but we had this planned for a little while so we were going regardless. We pulled off on the side of the road to several forest service vehicles, emt trucks and a slew of other vehicles. Curiously we ventured down to the river to see what the fuss was about. We got down to the bank where 10-15 people were looking on at the whitest guy I have ever seen. He was trapped out on a boulder in the middle of a raging milky green torrent with a soaked t-shirt and jeans. I jokingly said that i had a canoe and maybe he could jump in as we passed by. Apparently the joke wasn’t all that convincing and seconds later i was being helped in untying my canoe of my truck. I confessed to a more experienced paddler that he should take the stern and that i had done plenty of canoeing just that most of it being in florida.  Actually, i had spent an entire summer in Arkansas on the Buffalo River a few years back but i had never paddled in anything with this much current. Thankfully by the time we got the canoe down to the trail a ranger had picked him up with a boat from downstream.  The guy and his buddy had apparently flipped their canoe about a mile downstream of the picnic area and rode out the river on top of the overturned canoe for most of the way then abandoned ship and floated on their back to the bridge. Crazy.

Well, we a little bit luckier. The river had calmed down considerably the next day so we went ahead with our trip. By the time we hit the 100 yard dash it was rollicking (remember, flat water coastal paddler here) it was an awesome 5 seconds of uncontrollable rollin and bouncing off the waves (my wife had dropped her bow paddle and held on just as we went in) and then just like that we were coasting on down from the rapids. We had so much anticipation going into the dash because we had never canoed any whitewater per se and when we sailed through we were stoked. We turned around and snapped off some photos, high fived and excitedly chatted all the while floating downstream, after all, the dash was done.  By the time i got done taking the photos and set my new DSLR in the dry bag we were rounding a small bend and were greeted by a large strainer. We didn't have much time and the current sucked us right in. Under the log went my wife and the canoe, miraculously i managed to hang on to the log and catch the back end of the canoe. My wife resurfaced flailing downstream in shock (water was cold cold) and i briefly watched in humor (actually disbelief) as all of our untethered gear spread out down the river floating away. I floated the have sunken canoe downstream towards my wife who finally made it to the bank shivering uncontrollably. Thankfully i made here put on a life jacket before the dash, in my bravado i went without, which probably helped me latch onto the tree and save the canoe but it was still quite stupid. We managed to find all of our gear down the river and by the time we made it to the parking lot we were dry and the sun was out. It was an awesome trip and im glad to say that I have only dumped my wife in a cold river one other time since then and yes we are still happily married.