Elk River

Priscilla and I camped out at the Elk on 2024-12-18/19/20.  The evening we drove in the flow was 4.3 on the plow phone, the day we ran the river was 3.7, then when we drove out it was 3.3.  We were surprised that 4.3 looked rather on the pushy side, 3.7 felt ideal and quite a lot higher than the photo in the Soggy Sneakers book.  The upper had some manageable wood in the first slot rapid (scout left), and an odd log to portage shortly below the landslide rapid, possibly on the next right turn.  I was able to eddy out just above it on the right, then climb on it and over in the pool.  Portaging on the bank would have required shlepping boats over boulders and through poison oak.  At the island not far downstream, the left channel was clear, but the right was not.   There was one more log I was able to pull myself over in my boat below all the rapids..

The lower section was all clear, and high quality as always.  The first stand out rapid is easier to scout from the road during the shuttle than from river level.   42.71110250724266, -124.34682350846337