River Classification

Often you will read or hear about rapids as a "class 3" or "class 4" rapid. This is supposed to be a guide as to the level of difficulty of running said piece of moving water. Classifying moving water is somewhat open to personal interpretation and you will find that one person would classify a rapid differently than the next but there is a general guideline that is followed and you can take it from there as to the severity of the rapid.

Three main things will define rapid classification.
1- Water Volume
2- Water Temperature
3- Remoteness
These mixed with rocks and length of rapid are used to define "class"

A "class 1" rapid is the easiest of rapids and usually means it is easily navigable by even a novice paddler. Included in this classification are "riffles", small sections of a river with rocks spaced quite far apart and relatively few of them. Eel weirs, these man made rock eel trapping weirs found in the rivers of Nova Scotia form a large down stream "V" with an opening at the point just wide enough to fit your canoe through. Care must be taken when attempting to maneuver through them. Check to make sure that the weir does not contain a trap at the end. If you see a nice slick tongue of water exiting the weir then all is clear. If not, then be prepared to walk your canoe over the edge. Another thing to watch for by the way, try not to slide over the edge if at all possible or you'll most likely get stuck and have to walk it over anyway. Small rapids of short length and clear banks are also considered "class 1" rapids. Anything that does not pose a danger to paddlers is considered "class 1".

"Class 2" rapids are rapids with a greater volume of water and greater amount of larger rocks. Usually with some sort of deep water waves and requires a moderate level of skill to maneuver through the rapids. Rapids of medium length, say, 50 to 100 yards in length and are in a slightly remote area could be considered "class 2" rapids.

"Class 3" rapids are few and far between on the rivers of South Western Nova Scotia but the ones we have are really good ones. Numerous rock ledges, large boulders and canoe eating souse holes and swamping standing waves are abundant. A great amount of skill is required to maneuver these sorts of waters. By maneuver I mean the ability to pick and choose your way down the rapid and be able to stop and find shelter amongst the boulders and eddies along the way. Not just pointing the canoe down stream and hope for the best. "Class 3" rapids are far from any road and are generally of a length of greater than 100 yards. Hidden obstacles like guard rocks make for a difficult run and rapids of this class should "always" be scouted before attempting. A good understanding of river morphology would be a great asset here.

"Class 4" rapids are rapids that are best left to the fool hardy to run. Again the amount and size of rocks, souse holes and standing waves and other obstacles such as ledges, dams and bridge abutments along with huge amounts of water volume combined with the width of the river and the fewer chances of safety spots make these rapids extremely difficult not to mention dangerous places.

"Class 5" rapids, Hmm........ some will say there is no Class 5 rapid. Well the Hover Dam or Niagara Falls could be considered "class 5" I guess. Anything that is not humanly possible to run without imminent death could be considered class 5. Nothing to concern yourself with though, as I am sure you have the sense God gave a stone and know better than to fling yourself over a very tall ledge to a watery grave.

Footnote* Rapids of one classification can quickly become upgraded to the next within a short period of time due to either large amounts of rainfall or severe dips in water or air temperature for that matter. When the level of personal danger increases so does the level of river classification.
And always remember Doucet's Rules to rapid classification....
Rule #1 "The greater the amount of time spent wondering if you can run the damn thing is directly proportional the difficulty of the run."
Rule #2 "If you don't feel good about running that particular rapid... DON"T. You have nothing to prove to anyone and don't let anyone pressure you into doing it. Dares are for dumb ass'.
Oh and most important rule of all....
Rule #3 " Always go pee before you start the run."

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On the following pages you will find tutorials showing how to maneuver in rapids as well as definitions of river morphology. For the uninitiated "river morphology" is the term used to define why and how a wave acts like it does and what makes the water do what it does. Learning river morphology or river reading is very important to the success of running large rapids without incident, hopefully anyway. White water terminology and technique will also be covered. For now most tutorials will be simple graphics but it is my hope to be able to offer Flash Tutorials in the near future. I am just learning Flash so they will be slow coming until I have a better handle on the program.

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It's all about "CONTROL"

6:00 am in the morning. The sun rising over the horizon on Frozen Ocean Lake, Kedjimkujick National Park, Nova Scotia

Picture this....It's early morning and the mist is rising off the river as the sun peeks over the eastern horizon. Like a semi transparent veil of white, slowly rising to reveal the cool blue water slipping past the hull of your hand made cedar canvas canoe. The sound of water trickling off your Grey Owl paddle as it makes ever expanding rings in the water as you glide effortlessly towards a pair of loons sunning themselves in the early morning light. The lapping of the water as it flows beneath the canvas hull. A sound like no other, soothing and unforgettable. The loons barely take notice as you glide past, your paddle hardly moving yet the forward momentum of your canoe, slow yet constant is unobtrusive to their domain. The river starts to narrow and the water begins to flow faster as you come upon a rapid. The silence of the moment slowly disappears as you get closer to the rapids. A large black tongue of water looms ahead signaling the start of the run. You kneel lower in the boat and ready yourself for the task ahead.
Water flowing over and around rocks, the sound gets increasingly louder and the excitement begins to build. Alert, you scout the approaching maze of water and rocks. Reading the river well ahead, you pick your path, taking mental notes of eddies to rest in along the way. You reach the crest of the slick black tongue and are committed to do the run. The water splashes up and christens you right in the face and lap. cold and invigorating, your sensed heightened. The sound of rushing water, the smell of the river, the glint of the sunlight as it reflects off the waves and wet rock, the cool wet feel of your paddle, a symphony of pleasure to your senses as your mind races to pick the right eddie to rest and plan your next avenue of decent. There on river right, a large eddie about 30 meters away. Your paddle crosses your bow to execute a cross bow draw, lining your boat up for a well executed eddie turn. Ferrying across to the rock you plant your paddle well into the stillness of the eddie and with one powerful pull forward the canoe pivots and gently shoots up just behind the rock. Slowly you judge the angle of attack so that you can execute your next maneuver, pivoting in an eddie so that your boat faces down stream. A forward thrust and out you go into the rushing water half the canoe length as you apply a reverse stroke and sweep that pulls you back into the eddie. Again it's pick and choose your route as you play with the river. Work, bad relationships, bill collectors, broken down cars/trucks, traffic jams, rush hour, all but a distant memory stuffed way back into the furthest reaches of your mind.

That is how a canoeing experience should be. In Control of your canoe or kayak. Life is much more enjoyable when we feel in control of what is happening in the moment. But what would happen if you couldn't take in all that fun and beauty, because you had to struggle with your canoe? How much grief and bad feelings come between people (when paddling tandem) because they haven't got the basics of how to maneuver their craft safely and effortlessly through rivers and lakes so they spend most of their time arguing amongst themselves and miss all the wonders of the great outdoors?

Early morning on Kedjimkujik Lake Kedjimkujik National Park Nova Scotia

I don't want you all to think that just because you you read a few books on paddling techniques, read my tutorials or see a few videos on the same subject, that you can go out there and become proficient paddlers in a couple of weeks. They are however a good starting point and will help greatly when you come to the point of either going out and practice the maneuvers or, better yet, take a canoe certification course, taught by a qualified and/or certified canoe instructor. That is the best course of action. That way you will learn proper technique and the instructor will not have to spend a whole day to make you unlearn poor form.
There are canoe courses available through The Canadian Red Cross as well as your Regional Chapter of the Canadian Recreational Canoe Association. Get a hold of the Recreation director in your area, they will most likely have a list of certified instructors or contact people for water safety courses.
Above all..... Practice, practice, practice

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The following are some terms describing water actions that you will read or hear about when canoeing in moving water or "white water". The term "White Water" is not used extensively any more as it tends to have a foreboding sound to it and scares off the novice paddler from attempting river running so "moving water" is the more accepted term when attending canoe clinics.

WAVES:

Standing wave;
A standing wave is a deep water wave that occurs when water flows over an obstacle beneath the water. The obstacle is well beneath the surface and because of the swiftness of the current flowing over the water there is a void created just behind the obstacle creating a trough or depression in the water. Water wants to remain at a constant level so it will rise coming out of the trough but because of the velocity, it rises past that level and creates a wall of water. As the water reaches peak height it again falls back to the mean level of the river. These waves have no decernable bubbling action that is present when the obstacle is near the surface and causes turbulence on the water's surface.
Lots of fun and safe to run through, especially if there a series of these waves in succession.

Hay Stacks ;
A "hay stack" is a standing wave that oscillates or undulates (rises and falls in height noticeably) with a predictable rhythm. As the wave reaches its peak it will crest and the top of the wave will have white peaks (this is where the term "white water" comes from. Hay stacks are merely standing waves of larger proportions and occur in faster moving water.
Again these waves are fun to run through but expect to get wet. Greater care should be taken when running water of this size as the wave might just pop up under your boat and give you an unsuspected lurch forward.

Souse Hole ;
A souse hole is a deep drepression directly beneath a large rock or ledge on the river bed. The size of the hole and is determined by the size of the rock/ledge and the amount of the water and the speed at which thw water moves over and around the obstacle.
Because the obstacle is near the water's surface ( just inches below ) and the void behind the rock is deep the water naturally wants to fill this void. It flows over as well as around the obstacle and as the water flowing over the rock fills the void the water flowing around the rock pulls that water out and away causing the depression to remain. So it is a constand battle between the water flowing over and the water flowing around the rock. The water flowing over fills the hole and as it hits the bottom rises to the mean water level, or tries to anyway, but because the water flowing around pulls some of the water out the hole dosen't quite get filled so it falls back into the hole again and again creating a cyclic action not much unlike clothes in a dryer. If you were to throw a object that floats into a large "hole" you will see it go under and then surface and then under and then surface over and over again till it gets washed out. This is what is known as "Maytaging" you know... like the washing machine. Not much fun and an experience that I do not recomend you try. Depending on the size of the "hole" it can either be loads of fun or a disaster waiting to happen. A hole 10 to 20 feet wide and 2 to 3 feet deep are fun to play in but considerable skill is needed for this kind of adventure.

When traveling down river and you encounter a "hole", the easiest way to determine if it is safe to play in is.... If it's smiling at you, then it is OK. If it is frowning at you stay clear. "Smiling?? Frowning?? what does this Yahoo mean by that?" you ask.
As you approach the hole the depression is "U" shaped. If it is shaped like the letter "U" when you see it, it is "smiling". But if it is inverted, then it is not a safe place to play. This is because the water is being pulled upstream as it is pulled out of the hole and then re-enters at the top again. As opposed to the "smiling" hole that washes things out down stream from the top.
A "frowning hole" is caused when there is a second rock close behind the first and the water flowing up against the second rock forms a "pillow" of water that is forced back upstream into the depression behind the first rock causing the eddie of water to flow upstream. Another reason may be that the rocks that are on the river bottom are positioned so that they form a inverted "U" causing a hole to be formed in the same manner.

Eddies;
When water flows around an object, be it mid stream or something attached to shore, it creates a depression that must be filled.
The resulting effect is water that flows in the opposite direction of the main current. This known as an "Eddie line". The water directly behind a protruding rock is relatively still and flat this is an "Eddie" and the "eddie line" can be seen as a thin current flowing back upstream.
Eddies are your friend in moving water. They are the resting places near shore or mid river, the safe places to get your berrings and a good vantage point from which you can scout the river further down stream.

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