Smith, Middle Fork

Did Margie's today. Surprisingly empty for such a scenic Class II/III run. Even after a rain, the water was still clear blue.

Trip down the Middle Fork Smith River

the run from Patricks Ck. to Panther Flat is a class 3 to 3+ classic. With somewhere between 15 to 20 class 3 rapids in the 5+miles of the run. The run stays consistant with rapids from the start to the end. Of course it also has class 4 Bridge rapid too. I have been down this run in excess of 50 times and enjoy it now as much as the first time down. Both playboats and river running boats will find lots of fun waves and eddys to play with.
The stated maximum flow should be increased as we find 12' on the Jed Smith gauge to be good fun, as the river speeds up and wave size increases. Bridge rapid does get harder the higher the flow goes but can be portaged (and scouted) with a little bit of effort on river left. I've always used 20% of Jed Smith gauge flow to estimate the cfs for this run. The run is doable to as low as 500cfs but 800cfs (2,500 & 4,000cfs@ Jed Smith) would decrease the # of rocks you will hit.