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This dewatered reach of the Dead River has some amazing falls at its beginning and end. Unfortunately, they are separated by about three miles of Dead flat water in between. It is rare to find enough water spilling over the dam to attempt a run on this reach. Thus, we were amazed this spring (2002) to find water, and (as we found out after setting out), actually a bit too much water!
Starting from a tall, sloping face dam (above left), water quickly flows under a footbridge (above right). Immediately below, a tight constriction and split falls dropped into a very nasty looking hole (below, left and right). |
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| A brief paddle brings you to a constriction and obvious falls. We took out on the left to scout (and ultimately portage) this steep twisted drop (photos above, and below left). |
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| After looking back up at this impressive drop (above left), another brief paddle brought us to a shorter drop, but with a piece of lumber sticking up confusing the already not-straightforward drop (above right). Since the main flow lands on this up-turned lip of rock and the rest lands on shallow irregular angled bedrock, this was another portage. |
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| As we approached a train trestle high overhead, another large horizon line presented itself. My buddy had scouted this from high above on the trestle and proclaimed it looked very runnable. From river-level it appeared a completely different story. Another portage. (Photos above and below.) |
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The long flat stretch now intervened. Not a ripple in the next three miles, until a small canyon is reached. While the river narrows considerably here, there is little more than minor rips in a scenic dells. After a bend to the left, the dells opens up, and a powerline is reached.
Just beyond, a short ledge was completely blocked off by trees. Just as well, since flowing out of a brief pool, the final sequence of falls begins. |
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| Looking down (above left) and back up (above right) at this falls, my buddy assured me this looked like it should be boatable with about half (or less) the flow we had. We both agreed we wanted nothing to do with it at this water level. |
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| A great pool follows with some minor rapids trailing out. As a small island with cedars splits the flow, and sweet looking rapids ensue, they lead quickly toward another large horizon line. This drop falls into a narrow crease formed by a transverse rock blocking the right side below. The jumbled face and jutting rock precluded finding any desirable line on this large falls. Above are views looking down from the brink (left photo), and looking back at it from a slightly downstream left bank (right photo). |
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| The next was a sweet curved slide with a kicker at the end (above left). A very short pool leads to a series of stepped ledges (above right). |
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| Another broken faced drop (above left) preceded a falls which drops between flanking shoulders of rock. |
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| A left-to-right slide looked like the route-of-choice on this falls (above left). Downstream, the river funnels into a dells (above right). |
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| A narrow squeeze, with piton rocks to boot. The final drop is a short river-wide ledge which would have been fine except it was followed almost immediately by a river-wide snag at water-level. |