Sauk

We ran the Sauk the other day at a reasonable flow. We had a small group, one kayaker and one packrafter. The upper gauge was reading around 1200 while the lower gauge read 4000. The Whitechuck was basically a creek so the beginning of the run wasn't super juicy, we took the left line around the island as usual. After a few rapids we picked our way through Alligator, then Gumball. Both were a little bouldery but we found clean lines down both. Jaws was fun, slowly intensifying as you approach the wall, not sure if it's just me but Boneyard just below Jaws felt a lot cleaner than last year, maybe some rocks moved in the flood last November? Whirlpool was the best rapid on the run, big waves and fast water. The left channel appears to have cleared out a bit more and could be a cleaner sneak route at higher flows. There was a massive bald eagle chilling on the log here.

Continuing down to Clear Creek, there is a rapid not too long after Whirlpool where the river splits and most of the water goes left. This is Popeye, not a lot of info about it on the site but there is a hole in the middle of the river that backs up against this huge rock dubbed 'Popeye'. At higher flows this rock creates a massive hole and at lower flows a wave train wraps around the right side. When the river makes a slight left bend and opens up again, there is another similar rapid, a huge rock called 'Skeleton' lies in the middle of the channel, lines to the left or right avoid the massive hole at higher flows, this one is a bit friendlier than Popeye. As the river hits the highway again, there is a nice hole on river right where another river channel flows over some steep cobblebars and back into the main channel. This one is called 'The Game Show' and at higher flows creates some interesting waves. More water over the river right side would be a lot of fun. The rapid at Clear creek is shallow but has a few lines, the river right side is clean but uneventful and the left side has a few gravel bar chutes but most fan out and become too shallow. There is a small stump with some bushes growing out of it, the clean line is roughly 20-30 feet river right of said stump.

Down to Backmans County Park there are tons of little catch on the fly surf waves and little class II boulder gardens. As you approach Backmans Park, the rapid that flows by the park appears to have changed a bit and no longer flows through the huge ledgy boulders on the right. At the bottom of this rapid, we saw what we had come out there for. Some drunken dingus decided it would be a hilarious idea to drive his silver Ford sedan into the river. The car was facing upstream with its windshield into the current with the tail end out of the water. The windshield was busted out and so was the drivers side door. My buddy in his kayak splatted up on the roof of the car an I was pretty sick. Unfortunately the angle of the car as the direction of the flow made this move pretty sketchy on my packraft, especially with the potential for sharp glass in the vicinity. The car is also horrendously undercut on the right side the way it has been propped up, use extreme caution if you decide to approach it.

We had heard the car was downstream of Backmans County Park, so we had committed to running down to the mill. Sure we could've spotted the car from the takeout at Backmans but what fun is that? We wanted to float by it! Directly below Backmans Park is a fun little boulder garden but the action fades significantly as you make your way down river. There is a small split in the river not too far downstream where the right channel has no rapids and pushes into some navigable wood, the river left channel is clear and has two small gravel bar chutes, it's pretty obvious which line is preferred. After a short stretch of flatwater, the riverbed opens up again and bends right through a fun class II-III boulder garden. At the top of this rapid, look for a horrendous log choked channel splitting off to the left, this means you are at the right spot and the run will be ending soon. The river will bend to the left and split again, we took the left channel and it had a fun little chute toward the bottom. The right side is navigable but a little spooky cause the entire right bank is loaded with wood. We took out below the bridge at the Darrington Mill. If the tweakers who keep stealing the solar panels off the gauge here could stop so we can get a more accurate flow reading on this section of river, that would be really nice.