East Canada Creek is in my neighbor’s drainage and is a favorite paddle destination next valley to the west. We took the long way around to get to there, which included setting a shuttle for a completely different creek and paddling across a lake only to find the creek we intended to paddle way too low. So, we paddled all the way back across the lake and regrouped for plan B.
Our local choices were either seriously epic high water class V, the kind where when you launch everyone knows they most likely will be fending for themselves should something bad happen, or class III mediocrity. Half the group was not keen to hike into any creeks. Besides, the beta was not forthcoming and the backup to the backup could result in more driving. Another option we considered was taken off the table due to road washouts from the recent flooding. So after a quick check of the USGS river levels we were no surer of the levels and where to proceed. A quick call to a friend in Stratford and we had a first hand account of the level on East Canada Creek: “low side of medium and dropping.” Giddy up, we were going to East Canada Creek.
Due to the late nature of our start and the waterline on the rocks at the lower put-in we opted to start at Oregon Bridge. There was enough water to start further up but the road is seasonal and is not yet open. Plus we were anxious to get on the water.
We boogied on down to the first drop. Cable Car drop is the crux of the rapid but there is a fun lead in down the river right side. There is a sneak down the left for boaters not interested in running the main drop that ends in an eddy for a short carry. We all paddled down the right and scouted. There was a new log in the drop that Derek and John removed and we all had fairly clean lines.
Its more boogie water and a couple ledgey type rapids before the next big rapid: Triple Drop. There are three progressively larger ledge drops culminating in an eight-foot waterfall. The crux is the second drop, which is the narrowest and has ledges on both sides. This creates a nasty hole with a boil line more than a boat length downstream. Like most times we boat scouted the first drop and got out to scout the second on the right. Sally was a little too far left coming off the first drop and the current was taking here backwards into the second drop when John and I grabbed her boat and pulled her back into the eddy.
We all had straightforward runs of the second drop but there were a couple of us that stalled out and had to paddle with a little more gusto to clear the backwash.
The third drop was at a nice level for a straight shot off the lip. We regrouped at the large eddy and finished out the rapid at the bottom.
There are multiple rapids and ledges to paddle all the way down to Mosey Dam. Good solid class III and easy IV at this level. East Canada Creek is a great paddle and especially a good teaching platform for introductory Creeking. A left to right boof seems to dominate on many rapids. There are different routes through most rapids, which allows for easy to more difficult lines. From Mosey Dam down to Stratford is continuous class II with a couple III’s. This is a great section for novice boaters to practice on, although the first rapid after Mosey Dam is a solid class III.
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