Feather, N. Fork

I really enjoyed this flow of 1,200 cfs. Nice and padded out. The muddy water was also a nice touch.

At Feather Fest 2024, to honor the many massive contributions Dave Steindorf has made to the Feather River Watershed, we decided the name of the first rapid on Tobin will hereafter be Dave's Drop! Adding the rapid and a photo to the river page.

After hearing about Chris Chandler having a bad run at the Cleaver in the Tobin section of the NF Feather River, I decided to go up a check it out. The rapid has changed quite drastically. The pool elevation at the top has dropped about two feet. It looks like a large rock on the right side of the boof rock moved out. Now there is quite a bit of flow going to the right of the boof rock. The big issue is that there is much more of the Cleaver rock showing, this is where Chris got pinned. The upstream point of the Cleaver rock is undercut and jagged and all of the flow pushes into it. Not at all surprising that Chris got stuck there. I strongly recommend portaging this at low flows. We will have to see what it looks like at release flows, and it should definitely be scouted.

Medium low flow with Charlie Guilbualt and Lance Petrack-Zunich (Team Geezer).  Tobin and Lowbin are great at this flow. We came upon a tree hazard in Little Knarly, the rapid just below the Bucks Creek Powerhouse.  The tree is at the bottom of the rapid blocks much of th channel.  You can get round the tree by going far left around the rock at teh bottom of the rapid.  There is another log just down stream but is is much easier to avoid.  Both will probablably move out with high flows but for now be sure to use extreme caution when running this rapid. There is one more log just above the Rock Creek Powerhouse.  Reasonably easy to see and going right will allow you to miss it.

My first Feather Fest. As per usual, almost no other packrafters around. After a warm-up run on the Rodgers Flat section, I found a makeshift crew of riverboarders (Ross, Rudy) and kayakers (Miles, Jess) to run Lobin with. Even after some successful step-up Class IV runs on the SF Smith and Pit 5, I was hesitant on this one. The crew led me down all the ledges with no scouting – not my preferred tactic; I swam immediately and frequently from there on out. Luckily had good self-rescues every time. Safe to say Lobin can kick your ass pretty easily! In hindsight, they were all swims that some scouting and better low-brace technique could have prevented.

Drone photos of NF Feather - Lobin courtest of Martin Beebee Photography, Featherfest 2019.

Feather Fest weekend 2018. Sunday morning run on Rodgers Flat and road scout of the retaining wall on Tobin after cleaning up the festival site.

Feather Fest weekend 2018. Saturday morning run on Rodgers Flat and afternoon run on Lobin.

FYI North Fork Feather Rock Creek - LOG HAZARD below Lisa's Ledge. (Downstream photo of log hazard - Dave Steindorf). It is in the boof line that many people take on this rapid - log would be on river right. It could create a very bad pin.

Nice flow on New Year's Eve. This run is very fun at 600 and good down to about 350 cfs.

Low flow down Lobin with Dave Steindorf, Thomas O'Keefe, and Megi Morishita.

Parking at Rock Creek Bench

Old Roger's Flat put-in

AW's Special Projects Director Dave Steindorf presents during the official opening of the Rock Creek Bench Access on the North Fork Feather River. (June 13, 2017.) The access provides significant safety improvements for accessing the river.

This access below the Rock Creek Dam on the North Fork Feather was negotiated by American Whitewater with PG&E.

Sprinting with boats across the highway to access the river demonstrating the need for a proper public access.

Photos of paddlers sprinting across the highway and demonstrating the need for a formal access at Rodgers Flat with parking off the highway.

Entrance boof at Piece of Risa, the last rapid on the Tobin section.

This sliding boof goes at flows above 800cfs

El Patron at base flows (300 cfs)

This is the crux rapid at low flows, easy at flows above 800 cfs.

Tobin, a classic piece of California granite boating. A class IV run but get a guide for your first time down.

Hit Your Line at the Top of 'Piece of Risa' Too! In a BoaterTalk thread on the pinning incident (available at http://boatertalk.com/forum/BoaterTalk/1129154), Mike Fentress describes another scary incident in 'Piece of Risa', this one starting in a nasty eddy on river left at the top to the rapid: In case the link ever disappears, the key bit is: 'Last month, at the top left of the same rapid, a boater was swept into the top left eddy just past the entrance. I'm pretty sure he didn't go there on purpose, as it in no way looks inviting. Anyhow, we were just done with the run, up on shore, and saw him climbing out of the rocks near the bottom. He had been sucked deep under the big rock that forms the bottom part of the top left eddy, and came out near the obvious undercut at bottom left.' Mike's conclussion: 'I think the description given in AW about the safest way to run the rapid is right on - enter top left, stay left of center until towards the bottom, then go right.'

Enjoying the entire run from Rodgers Flat to Rock Creek Powerhouse on the North Fork Feather River.

Every year we hear more stories of terrifying spots in the tobin stretch of the N. Feather, and there is usually an element of surprise in the comments that come along with the photos. Get a clue folks. This stretch is extremely hazardous, all one needs to see this, is to be observant of the large number of sieves in the rocks on shore that don't get covered by boating flows. There is no reason to think that the rest of the channel is any different than the banks. This run is fun and the moves aren't that difficult, but considerable thought and caution should be exercised before one goes exploring anything but the tried and true lines.

Warning! Dangerous Sieve in Piece of Risa!!!

Read about the fortunate outcome to a very scary pin here:

Description of Vertical Pin in Piece of Risa [broken link removed]

In case the link ever disappears, the key bits are: 'On the last rapid of the Tobin section, Piece of Risa, at a flow of 1000 cfs, I ran the rapid on river right. Unsuspectingly, my boat pinned vertically in a nasty hole that the river has bored into a boulder. This hole can not be seen at released flows. I had no idea it was there until I landed in it. I was pinned for about 10 minutes until I was able to free myself from the boat . . . I drove back the following day to remove the boat myself after the flow had been shut off. What I saw scared the shit out of me. The boat was pinned in a perfect tube through a granite boulder. Big hole at the top, small exit hole at the bottom. A perfect sieve. Had my kayak gone in at any different angle, the situation would have been much worse.'

What really put my hair on edge was a peek at the photos of the incident and of the sieve at low water:

Images of Vertical Pin in Piece of Risa [broken link removed]

Images of Sieve in Piece of Risa at Low Water [broken link removed]

Don't do this run without taking a look at these photos first so you'll know what to avoid when you get to this drop!

Trip on the North Fork Feather.

Just below rock creek, straight across the road from Tobin Resort, notice the falls entering the river on river right

magical tobin section just below rock creek enters from the north

Kevins Gate is the start of the Tobin Section. The double bridge crossing is a landmark for train buffs all over the world.

Spelius joined the paddling community in spirit for the first whitewater releases on the North Fork Feather.