Copper Creek
road's end to E. Fork Lewis
| Difficulty | IV-V |
| Length | 6.9 mi |
| Avg Gradient | 125 fpm |
| Gauge | East Fork Lewis River Near Heisson, Wa |
| Flow Rate as of 1 hour | 295 cfsbelow recommended |
| Reach Info Last Updated | January 26, 2016 |
Projects
Washington’s legendary volcanoes – Mount Rainier, Mount St. Helens, and Mount Adams – are the source of wild, free-flowing rivers and streams that cascade over big drops and through deep basalt canyons on their way to the Columbia River. Rivers like the Clear Fork of the Cowlitz, Cispus, Green, [...]Read More
River Description
At lower flows, the upper section will mostly keep your group busy watching out for pins and looking for the deepest routes through the boulder gardens. At medium or healthy flows it can be very splashy with non-stop sliding action, small ledges and bouldery rapids. This upper stretch is mostly III-IV. Even though it is usually pretty clean and a ton of fun at reasonable flows, be sure to keep an eye out for wood.
The first significant drop on this section is Fishtail, which is the first drop where the bottom is not visible aside from a large boulder in the center. Run left all the way. The biggest drop on this upper stretch is The Weir, a slide of about 12 vertical feet. It has a little flake right of center that tends to launch boaters into the air over what is a sticky hole at high flows. Scout/portage this drop on the left. It comes up quick after a couple of small bedrock ledges in a row.
As you continue downstream, you will experience a mile long class fun giggle fest at healthy flows, or a class III-IV technical run at low flows. At the end of this stretch a bridge is passed under. Get out on the right as soon as it is convenient to scout and likely portage Certain Death. If you go too far, the rapid can sneak up on you and an inadvertent run would be plenty likely. Scout and portage it on the right, along a trail that parallels the river. Should you attempt to run it, take note of the hole feeding into an undercut on the river right, just waiting to catch those who mess up the top of the drop. For those choosing to portage, you can easily portage right along an old road and seal launch off the side of the small cliff into the green water just downstream of the drop.
The most scenic drop of the run is Triple Delight. This drop consists of three ledges of increasing size – two, eight and eighteen feet. The cleanest line involves boofing the first two ledges just left of the main chutes. The final 18 footer can be run far right or
...River Features
Put In
Certain Death
Undercuts
Triple Delight
3' into 8' into 18'
Final Five
Stacked set of drops
1. Right to left flake boof in the center
2. 7' off vertical plunge
3. 8' ramp into the wall
4. 2 stage 12' ramp to ledge hole
Take Out
Trip Reports
Log in to add a reportPut in below Certain Death. Felt like a medium flow at 1400 rising to 1900 throughout the day. Seemed like everything would go lower, but also still be fine higher. Obvious horizon lines made scouting straight forward, no significant wood issues to were in play. Triple Delight and Final Five were definite hightlights.
The shuttle road is not in good condition. Extra clearance recommended. Some potholes were road wide, with a foot or two of mud on the edges in a couple of places.
Good forgiving flow for the Upper section. Flow was challenging for the Final Five and nobody in our crew ran it. Big Falls was great and still forgiving.
Upper section is a solid step above the lower section in terms of difficulty except for Final Five. Very congested and difficult to boat scout. Wood could be a major hazard throughout the run but it was mostly clean for us.
EF Lewis gauge dropping from 1,500-900 cfs throughout the day.
The second and third drop of the Final Five.
Looking back up at Certain Death. Nasty undercut on river left at the second pitch of the drop.
Run river left-to-right, or try the right chute. Mayb be pin hazards for hardshells in the right side route.
Looking back up at the first three drops of Final Five Canyon