Paddling on the Spillimacheen River

Spillimacheen River - A difficult run through a deep canyon with no way to exit. The run starts in the reservoir above a small generating station for BC Hydro, this has typically been runoff the lip of the spillway on the river right channel, on this channel stay left, it's a very straightforward slide. Recently BC Hydro has requested that paddlers no longer run the spillway slide and portage around the chute on river right. After about 500 m of boogie water the river will turn the left and drop out of view. Hug the river right side, the first drop is a 8 foot curving slide called birth canal, scout on the right. Directly below this is Astro Lube a 20 foot slide. Another km of easy class 2 brings you to the heart of the canyon, the next section does have eddies and pools but gets very continuous when the water is higher. About 500 m of boulder garden flows right into reach around a 8 foot ledge with a constricted entrance, scout on the right and run the entrance on the right and the main ledge anywhere. Three ledges in a row is one in the pink a straight forward 8 foot ledge that can be run on the right or left, after this eddy ut on the left to scout two in the stink or L Drop. L Drop is a fun rapid when the water is lower and scary when it's higher, this drop is walk-able at most levels on river left, becoming more challenging as the level increases. The typical portage line is a boat toss / cliff jump followed by a swim to river right. For very very high flows a river right portage exists. The next drop is Happy Ending a perfect 20 footer in a big pool. After this there is another km of class 4 boulder gardens.

Spillimacheen River - Run starts off as meandering class 1+. Potential wood hazard throughout this slow section. Run picks up after a large river left eddy as the river quickly picks up the pace to class II+/III, the last bit is continuous class III with enough bend you don't get to look to far ahead. No stand out rapids, just notable eddies to take a break. This run can easily be done in under an hour at high flows.