Smith, North Fork
Headwaters Run
November 28, 1998
| Reporter | Scott Harding |
| Gauge Reading | 10000 cfs at SMITH R NR CRESCENT CITY (JED SMITH SP) |
| Flow | Medium Runnable |
A small group of kayakers from Southern Oregon and Northern California ran the Upper NF Smith River over the 1998 Thanksgiving holiday weekend (plus Diamond Creek the day before and the Chetco Gorge the day after). Flow at the USGS gage at Jed Smith was about 10,000 cfs and fairly steady, a medium level for the run.
We dropped off the road network above Horse Creek, carrying and sliding our kayaks a few hundred vertical feet down hill to reach Horse Creek near its confluence with the North Fork Smith.
What I recall most are the log jams on the run. All were portagable, but there were several and they were big.
Looks like there's a nice place to camp near the mouth of Baldface Creek.