Feather, Middle Fork

This run can be divided into two separate sections: Graeagle to Sloat, and Sloat to Redbridge Campground. Each section is approximately 8-9 miles in length. This is a beautiful run that is a great introduction to technical class III paddling. Intermediate paddlers will have a great time with a more experienced leader to show the lines, or by scouting a few of the harder drops.

The first section starts off flat, with just a few riffles as the river meanders through meadows and wetlands, with numerous buildings and a golf course along the way. After several miles, around the 4-mile mark, the rapids pick up, with some nice class II+ drops that are forgiving boulder slaloms. Around mile six, just as a bridge appears in the distance (Camp Layman) you'll encounter an easy class III drop that requires some rock and boulder dodging, with a retentive hole midstream near the bottom. The latter is not hard to avoid, but it comes up with little warning. Near the end of the run at Sloat there is a longer class III drop, the hardest on this section, that can be run left of center, with a ledge and hole at the bottom. The river turns left and the take-out is a few hundred yards above the bridge at Sloat.

The second section, from Sloat to Redbridge, is mostly in a deep canyon that is a miniature version of the much more difficult canyons downstream. The pace picks up and you'll encounter several fun class III- drops that are all read-and-run for solid class III paddlers. At roughly the 3-mile mark the river turns hard left, funnels down a narrowing channel and smashes into two large boulders on river left. A kayaker drowned in this rapid, after being forced into one of these undercut boulders. It's very easy to miss this hazard by running the drop on a clean far right line. Just be aware. (The accident report is included elsewhere in this section.)

At the ~4-mile mark you'll encounter the most difficult drop on this section, a longer class III drop that ends in a nearly riverwide hole. There's a line on the left side of the left channel that involves dodging a few boulders and sets you up perfectly to slip to the left of the hole at the bottom. Alternatively, take the right channel and sneak the entire rapid.

The rest is just class II-III boogie water.

I had had this section on my radar for years after reading Bill Tuthill's account of it, mostly because there was little beta on it and I love the Quincy area. According to the gages it hadn't come up in something like 3yrs so I jumped at the first time it came up. Ted Couch and I ran this as an overnight in our packrafts, camping at Camp Layman for digs that were above freezing (what luxury). It's scenic and pretty chill – mostly Class II with several Class III rapids.

Ted's most infamous paddling moment caught here in photo form. It was impressive enough to somehow break an entire paddle end off in such a calm stretch, but we then fashioned a replacement using Tyvek and a found shovel head. Ted managed to paddle several miles with this comic setup before somehow breaking the other end off. At that point I kicked him off the river with a laugh out of necessity/safety/sanity and finished the remote part myself. Legendary.