Cranberry

Ran this on January 27, 2024 at low water. The gauge was 4.65’ when we put on and 4.53’ when we took off. Even though that’s below the recommended minimum, there was still enough flow to get down. The first two thirds I thought had plenty of water, but the last several miles where things widened out got annoying with all the shallow rock dodging, especially at the end of a long day when the light was failing. Wouldn’t want to do it any lower.

Based on the main AW description, I was expecting flatwater for the first couple of miles, but the section above the North Fork turned out to be a delightful stretch of intimate, technical class 2 with no real doldrums. In fact, the entire run had constant gradient and was busy in a good way. Lots of eddies but no real pools. At this level, the biggest rapid was steep and manky – class 3+ pushing class 4- IMO because of the tightness and shallowness. With more water, it would be easier. There were several other drops that felt to me like class 3, too. Again, with more water those would probably get easier. Nothing on this section was crazy difficult, but you’ll be mentally ‘on’ the entire time because of how tight and continuous things are.

Maybe a mile or two above the takeout where the main flow squeezes between a big boulder and a log jam, there’s a large tree trunk completely across the river. At 4.6' the bole was just far enough under water to be invisible until you were already committed. The first two folks in our party ended up barely ramping over it. The rest portaged. At higher water, it should be far enough under to be mostly out of play, but a swimmer would still be at risk.