Knife

The two of us headed out late morning April 12, 2025. The flow was low, I would not recommend any lower than this. Everything went but there were some pretty scrapey parts.

The run starts out slow and progressivley picks up which makes it a nice run for folks that are still learning.

There are a few cables across the river, the first one at about 1.5 miles in. No issue at low flows but could be hazardous at higher flows. You pass a few private residences, the first one at about 2 miles in.

At about 3.3 miles in you will hit the first bigger rapid of the run. We got out to scout, and although there are many channels, at the low flows, the only thing runnable was the far left channel. A fun series of about 3 distinct drops curving to the right, with some runout before entering another medium long class 2 rapid below.

At a little past 5 miles in, just below Hwy 61, is the second big rapid. This one is longer and has many parts and options, especially with more water. We scouted, opted to run the top part and then portage the bottom part. There are low head dams to the right of this rapid, easily avoidable but good to be aware of to steer clear. From the top, we entered right and moved left, taking out on the left bank to portage the bottom. Even at the low flow, the bottom would have been runnable except there was a large log in the second to last drop, blocking safe passage. We debated running a center line or even a right line that was a slide, but opted against it with the low flow feeling like it would have been super manky and done some cheese gratering to the boats.

The rest of the run was mellow but had some fun waves still, and it's super cool running all the way into Lake Superior. We met some agate pickers at the mouth of the river on river right. They were friendly, said they had an unpleseant run in with private landowners on river left the day before, so beware of that I guess.

All in all super fun day, would be good with more water but still very beautiful and fun, excellent run for someone just starting out and you can easily portage the two bigger rapids if for anyone not wanting to run them.