Sprite Creek

Put in at Stewart's Landing Dam. There is a parking lot right at the put in overlooking the lake and dam.

If the clamshell (tainter gate) is open you can put on the lake and paddle through it. You will rocket down into some turbulent water with a very large recirculation eddy on the left. Stay with the flow you're in on the right side and move back center as the pool narrows and picks up gradient.

When it is closed you can walk a little down Stewart Landing Rd and take a small unmarked path to the river. It is very soon and hard to miss. If you find a larger marked trail you went too far and need to work your way upstream as you walk to the river. Put in next to the concrete wall as far up as you can go.

Before the 119 bridge there is a drop with a good boof. After you go through the old bridge abutments you can catch an eddy on river left, or slightly further down on river right to set up. The boof is in the center left, you want to be a little left of the curler coming off it to the right. If you don't feel the boof you can run down the right side.

The boof rock is used as a gauge since it can be seen from Route 119. The photo of the drop shows what a lower runnable level looks like. This was during one of the draw down releases. Everything was fluid but you could get hung up on rocks in spots if you don't pay attention

You can tell you got to The Slide when you get to a spot where the river is divided into two 'channels' by a small rocky area with small shrubs above a flat pool with a horizon line. The horizon line is formed by a 3-4 foot ledge. Boof the ledge on the center right a little to the left of notch in the ledge, trying to be perpendicular to the ledge. After going over the ledge the river collects in a pool and makes a hard left turn. You can stop in the pool to collect your group or get out on the flat rock and take a look at the slide. Enter the slide center right and move to the left as you go down it and punch the reactionary at the bottom. The lead out of The Slide is a small boulder garden. The water in it should be pushing you to the right. Be prepared to catch the eddy on the river right as its the last eddy before Triple Drop.

Triple Drop is one of the big drops on the run. The flow divides around an island giving you two options on how to get down. Typically people run the left channel. The right channel can be run but there is a crack in the rock that flow goes into which you want to avoid.

As you approach from The Ledge, ferry from the river right eddy, across the current, to the river left eddy. From this eddy you can scout the left channel or portage. The left channel consists of three ledges in short succesion, two 4 foot ledges then a 10 foot drop. Start working your way down on the left. The first ledge is at 45 degrees to the flow. You want to wait til you've passed the guard rocks to boof off it to the right. Preferably you'll be torwards the top and able to catch the river right eddy below the edge. This is a good spot to stop and set up for next two ledges. From the right move back to the center and keep a little leftward angle as you boof off the second ledge. You have about 15 feet of quick water into the final part of the drop which is about 10 feet. Continue moving from center to the left side. There is a submerged rock wall on the left that is parallel to the flow. You want to be next to it on the tounge of water boofing off the left side of the ledge. The landing zone is narrow, but if you get it, you won't hit anything. You should land so that you are going just to the left of the rock in the outflow.

Two Beer Bridge is where you take out if not running Wild Child, or if running it you could walk back up. It is the footbridge before. Locals have put up a sign at it with its name and all know it as Two Beer Bridge. To go all the way down to the bridge you will need a 4 wheel drive vehicle. For most it is best to park after you have passed the very large puddles which may require a vehicle with good ground clearance, before the road goes downhill. The final bit of dirt road is steep with large rocks.

When approaching Two Beer Bridge on the water make sure to catch an eddy so you don't get swept downstream. The first option is a larger eddy on river left as the water picks up gradient. If you're not feeling confident it is better to take out here. The next option is to catch the river right eddy before the bridge abutment. There are guard rocks that need to be negotiated to get into it, making this a harder option.

Immediately after Two Beer Bridge is Wild Child. This is manky sliding drop as the river makes a turn. In the landing zone there is a hole and a boulder, making a room of doom on the left side. Many choose to skip this and take out beforehand.