Williams

If you can catch it at 14.5 feet and rising or higher on the Craigsville gauge, it is probably the best run in the state. I ran it at 17.1 and falling fast on 11-14-03 and it was 11 miles of non-stop class III+ to IV+ action. No pools and very few eddys. AW says max level to run is 15 feet and I agree unless you have a very strong roll.

There are 2 great features about this run. One is that 80% or more is scoutable from the road as you run your shuttle. This helps keep strainers from suprising you (so you don't have to spend all day worrying about when the next strainer may appear).

Two is that there are not a lot of serious undercuts on this creek (as far as boulder-infested creeks go). There is one very serious one that I would caution you about. It is about 4-5 miles into the trip (if you put in at Tea Creek). You will go under a cable stretched high across the river. This cable signifies that you are leaving the catch and release area for fishing. The first major rapid you come to after going under this cable is about 300 yards down river. The rapid is about 150 yards long and at the end, the creek narrows and dumps into an unavoidable hole. The hole is more of a wave-hole than a pourover and will let you out. However, when it spits you out it tends to throw you into a car-sized boulder in the center of the river. Most of the water hits the rock and reflects to river right with some going river left. An intermediate paddler or better should have no trouble avoiding this rock; but it is very hard for a beginnier to miss it. It is severly undercut and a lot of water goes under it (but I don't think a body could flush through it). I spent a good deal of time trying to recover my paddle from under it one day when I was a beginner. You cannot see this rapid from the road. Other than this one, there are a few places along the river's right bank that are undercut but are easliy avoidable and are parallel to the river's flow and therefore would probably spit you out.

The only other major place to mention is Twin Falls. When I ran it solo at 17.1 feet I carried around this rapid. Several holes that you will have to punch at that level and an absolute 'must-avoid-hole' at the bottom on river right.

You can run this creek down to about 12.3 and falling slowly on the Craigsville gauge; but it would be a beginner to intermediate run at that level. Still very fun; but nothing like it is at 15 feet or more.