American, Middle Fork
Oxbow Bend / Ralston Afterbay to Drivers Flat Road(Tunnel Run)
Trip Reports
Log in to add a reportI got a group together to run this in kayaks this past Saturday at the normal 1100 cfs releases. With the gracious help of my wife, we were able to set shuttle to eliminate the normally 2 hour roundtrip at the end of the day to retrieve vehicles.
This was most of the group's first time boating this run. I would classify most of us as Class IV/IV- boaters, with a V leader. We scouted Tunnel on river right, and Kanaka on river left. Tunnel was relatively straightforward with all of us staying upright and punching the last wave hole. Kanaka went more or less ok, with some of us boofing the big hole center, and some going left of the hole.
The 9 miles or so of flatwater in the middle of the run was somewhat pleasant, though really flat near the end. We put on at 11am and were off the river by 4pm.
Overall, there were about 5-7 good memorable rapids with lots of scenic flatwater in the middle. If you were to make a day of it (pack a lunch, stop to hang out etc), it's about a once a year run for me, when nothing else is flowing.
After running the turbulent chute, the rapid mellows into a nice slow float through a 90' tunnel carved by California Gold Miners. It's rather reminiscent in it's calm of Disney's 'It's a Small World' ride...or at least it seems that way in contrast to the adrenaline rush of the Chute.
80 yards downstream of Chunder is Ruck-A-Chucky Falls--a 30' Class V+ to VI waterfall. The right side of Ruck-A-Chucky is a Boulder Sieve that is very fatal. If the crash into the boulders at the bottom doesn't kill you, the recirculating hole with the water crashing down on you will. If you are not prepared to run Ruck-A-Chucky and you think that Chunder will give you trouble, PORTAGE on river right.
Just an easy Class III hole, but you want to make sure you're in control after Last Chance so you can enter Tunnel Chute right on line. Consequences of being off line in Tunnel Chute include a turbulent ride bouncing off of a vertical rock wall on River Right or a trashing in the holes at the bottom of the waterfall on river left.
Rather gnarly. Avoid the Left Entrance, opt for the right side and ride the chute.
Immediately downstream of Tunnel Chute, the river is calm and gives an opportunity to reflect on what a rush running Tunnel Chute gives you.
Avoid the Boulder Sieve at Ruck-A-Chucky Falls on River Right at all costs. The right channel drops 20 feet into a boulder sieve. If the fall doesn't kill or seriously injure you, the pounding water from above or the keeper hole at the bottom will.
Looking upstream at Ruck-A-Chucky Falls, you can see the Boulder Sieve on river right, the turbulent main channel run by some raft-company guides--but not in kayaks--and the rocky left channel. There are many submerged rocks at the bottom of the falls and a swim here would be long and deep.
Sasha is in the Green Lotus River Shorts, the photographer is in the NRS hydroskin shirt and IR shorts. The rest of the crew, celebrating with a surprise birthday raft trip on the Middle Fork gathers around the AO shuttle bus.
The right channel of Ruck-A-Chucky Falls is a boulder sieve death trap. But it's also a hazard for rafts. Most companies require their guides to push the rafts over the 30' drop. However, if a raft went over the right side, it would be a major project to extract the raft, and even then, in all liklihood the raft would be severely damaged. So there is a rope guarding the right channel, and when raft guides push the rafts over the falls, one of the guides mans the rope guard and tries to prevent the rafts from going down the right side by pushing the raft into the main current. Here, Sasha performs that function.
Guides from some companies actually run the Middle Channel after they have unloaded their guests, but the Middle Channel is Class V+. The bottom of the falls are boiling and there are many submerged rock hazards. A swim here would be long, deep, and could easily result in a severe injury.
Strange angle shot from river right bank gives you a view of the entire rapid. At the very top of the frame is Last Chance Rapid. At top right is a big pool that flows around and becomes the left entrance of the Chute and falls into the chute over the Rapid-long waterfall. The left side of the frame (river right) is the vertical rock wall. Swims here are usually fast and violent as swimmers are flushed out of the chute. However, river rash is not unheard of after collisions with the rock wall on river right, or sometimes prolonged in the holes at the bottom of the waterfall if a swimmer strays river left.
This picture shows the view looking downstream at the Ruck-A-Chucky Falls horizon line. WARNING: The right side is a Boulder Sieve Death Trap. The middle channel is Class V+ and runnable in a raft. The left side is Class VI. Portage on River Right.
Photo taken from inside the rock tunnel immediately below Tunnel Chute. The Chute is on river right out of view (left side of the photo). The waterfalls that serve as backdrop in this photo compose the more dangerous left channel that pour into the turbulent Class IV+ chute.
Putting on just below the dam penstock, the water is rather gnarly and unpredictable, beginning immediately as Class II and building to Class III before the channel widens and the river becomes nice and easy Class II until Tunnel Chute.
What is it about jump rocks and raft trips?
Excellent view of all 3 channels at the Top of Ruck-A-Chucky while a Tributary guide sets up to run the Class V+ Middle Channel.
To the left of the raft in the top of the photo is the entrance to the Class VI left channel characterized by being obstructed by huge boulders all the way down.
The middle channel, that the raft is about to run, is relatively free of obstructions, but at the bottom are submerged boulders and severely undercut rocks. A swim here would be long, deep, and quite possibly injurious.
On river right (foreground) is the entrance to the Boulder Sieve Death Trap that you must avoid at all costs.
At the top of the photo is a good view of the boulder choked left channel. Middle of the photo is an obstructed view of the middle channel, and at the bottom of the photo is the right channel--boulder sieve death trap. The Tributary raft at the bottom just successfully ran the Middle Channel.
Photo courtesy of and copyright by Julie Keller.