Trip Report: Upper East Fork Hood

[liveonearth]

Flow: low, rocky, technical but totally passable at approximately 400cfs.
Gage: http://www.dreamflows.com/graphs/mon.226.php

VERY continuous. No bad holes at low water, reports of very sticky holes at high water. Lots of maneuvering around boulders, quite a few places where you have no choice but to go over rocks.

Gradient: 150fpm all in small drops, a few steeper sections but no sheer horizons whatsoever. Steeper than it looks from the road.

No portages today. Two swimmers, same event, one got stuck in hole then pinned on rock, second boater got stuck in same hole, or something like that. I missed the show but gave chase of the boat that made it farthest downstream, trying to shove it into a shallow channel. It finally pinned on a midriver rock and we were able to get a line on it, but then it shifted and went under a big log. I jumped up and down on it but it didn't budge. Later it did budge, and we were able to pull it out. The paddler had clipped his car keys into the boat and said "I didn't plan on swimming and losing my boat."

Takeout brushy, go downstream in dry channel until you see the beaver chews, break through thicket and trail is on other side. Don't boat down to the bridge because several reports all agree that the log that you must portage on the river is worse than the takeout thicket.

Who was there: Tom, Scott, Ron, Chris, 2 others, me.