Slightly longer rapid with some surf waves.

Surfing at Quatro

Surfing at Quatro

Photo of Mike Rock and George O'connell by Mark Lacroix taken 05/26/02 @ 6000 cfs

This is one of the best play spots on the river. It is a short ledge drop named for the series of surf waves that form at 3500 and up. Quattro lies on river right after a rather wide sweeping left hand turn. Catch the eddy on the right shore to setup to catch the waves. At lower water levels a nice wide smooth wave forms at the top of the eddy. There is usually enough room for up to 4 boaters to surf at the same time. Other waves below the Quatro wave form and can be surfed but these are more defined at the higher release levels of >5500 cfs. At that level up to a dozen boaters can be surfing at the same time within a very short distance.

Good lunch spot here. After the large eddy below Haydens the river narrows back down with a few waves and holes along the way. Just above the drop there is a nice beach/campsite on the right often used as a lunch stop. Immediately after this beach the river drops sharply. The best route is river left over the large haystacks but move towards river right about halfway down to avoid a large trashy hole. There are many other smaller holes as you move to the right that need to be avoided.

Another easy class 2.

A short rapid half-way thru The Basin.

Another easy one. (Mile 6.42–6.62.)

Enchanted Rapid blends into Elephant Rock Rapid at 2400 and higher. (Mile 7.04–7.3)

Pinball slot at Elephant Rock

Pinball slot at Elephant Rock

Photo of Tom Foster & Nance by Mark Lacroix taken 07/05/03 @ 2400 cfs

Look for the rock a few feet of the river-right bank at the base of the rapid.  Usually a pour-over, there is a huge surfing hole extending from the rock towards the center of the river that attracts rafts. At higher levels a hydraulic develops here. Best route thru the bottom of the rapid is in the center. Stay left through a nice series of haystacks. At the bottom you can go far right to run "Pinball". This is a narrow slot between the "Elephant's foot" and the river-right wall. (Mile 7.55–7.75)

Easy rapid below Elephant Rock. (Mile 7.80–7.85).

Another easy one. (Mile 7.90–7.95).

A popular lunch spot for rafting trips. Look for the beach on river-left just below the rapid.

As the name suggest this is a long rapid that gradually increases in difficulty as one heads downstream. At high release levels this rapid is full of holes, some sticky. The biggest ones are at the bottom of the rapid. The best route at the bottom of Mile Long is in the center along the boiling wave train. Note: After GPS measurements during 2007 and 2008 it was determined that Mail Long Rapid is really only 3/4's of a mile long.  (Mile 8.9–9.67).

Near the bottom of Mile Long Rapid there is a very dangerous hole and hydraulic. This was the site of a fatality in October 2005; a near drowning in September 2006 that required an airlift evacuation; and numerous other close calls where both raft guides and passengers were trapped and unable to get free without outside assistance.

Evil Nasty Hole at 5500 CFS

Photo taken from river-left shore on 9/2/07.

Bottom of Mile Long at 5500.

Downstream river-left shore view; Evil Nasty Hole in the foreground, FBI Hole on river-right in background. Photo taken on 9/2/07 from shore approximately 10 yards upstream of hole.

The problem hole is fairly benign looking (especially from above). Just looking at it you would not expect it to cause these type of problems, but it is surprisingly retentive with a strong recirculating current. Only after passing by is the steep drop-off and strong hydraulic visible.

The hole is formed by a big, flat, round rock left-of-center. The resulting hydraulic is huge and deep, with a visible horizon line and a "frowny face" characteristic of dangerous holes of this type (sometimes called "drowning machines). At lower release levels the hole does not exist. At 2500 CFS the rock forms a slight pour-over, at 3000 CFS a hole has formed, by 4500 CFS it forms a dangerous hydraulic; at 6000 it's downright nasty. The victim in the 2006 accident later described himself as "fighting like mad", trying to go up, down, left and right to get free before he lost consciousness after being recirculated many times. If a paddler does find themselves in the hole the best approach is to attempt to stay in their boat. The highest risk is to swimmers since the hole is so deep; the hole surges and objects floating on the surface eventually tend to get flushed out.

This is a wide section of the river, this is not the only hole in the vicinity. The bottom of Mile Long is full of holes, including one big wide one at the very bottom on river-right called the "FBI Hole". However these have all been described as "very flushy" and unlikely to hold someone. There is also another raft-surfable hole just upstream of Evil Nasty, so people sometimes may mistake the Evil Nasty one as being surfable.  (This hole upstream of Evil Nasty can also flip boats and rafts causing depositing swimmers into the path of the bad hole.)

Above the problem hole is a relative calm section that may draw paddlers towards the left side in an attempt to avoid the large boiling wave train down the center. However the short calm section ends with Evil Nasty Hole followed by a final ledge drop into a flat area on river-left. With several "mean" holes on the right, and Evil Nasty on the left, the cleanest line thru the bottom of Mile Long is generally straight down the boiling wave train in the center of the rapid (although it doesn't appear so from the approach).

Some descriptions place this hole as much as a quarter-mile below the bottom of Mile Long Rapid. Others place it just before the end of the rapid. These differences are attributed to the lack of a definitive location as to the exact end of the rapid. (Depending upon water level, the characteristics of the rapid can change greatly.) However, below Mile Long the river gets wide and flattens out with a huge open area and eddy along river-left where paddlers and rafts stop and regroup. (This flat area is also immediately above a very recognizible long rock wall lining the left bank.) The problem hole is located on river-left a few dozen yards above the flat area with a narrow channel between it and the left bank. In a hard boat it is fairly easy to skirt the hole between it and the bank, but rafts tend to be drawn back into the hole when this is tried.

At very high levels (7000 CFS and higher) two really big wave-holes form in a row just right-of-center at the end of Mile Long. One kayak was stuck in one of these at 13,000 CFS for a reported 10 minutes until it was literally flipped into the air.

Upper Popular Hill Falls can be identified by a marked rock on river left. This rock is painted red and has a black insignia on it that looks like a flag or could be a "P". The rapid after this is Upper Popular. The river picks up the pace here, the rapid is much steeper then prior sections. Look out for a number of rocks and holes near the bottom. This rapid can be just as difficult as Lower Popular should you chose a poor route through the rapid. There is a large river wide hole at the bottom that can easily be punched.