Cache La Poudre

The Narrows of the Cache La Poudre can be broken down into three sections with different characteristics.

Upper Narrows

The 'Upper' section consists of three drops: Super Collider (V), Cabbage Shredder (IV), and Whiteline (V). These drops are back-to-back and easily scouted from the road; be careful because there really isn't much of a shoulder and lots of traffic travels along this road. Only a few years ago the Upper Narrows, particularly Whiteline Rapid, were considered deadly class VI rapids.

Middle Narrows

The 'Middle' section is good all-around class IV section of whitewater, and is great for those who want to add a little more class IV mileage to the Upper Mishawaka run; if this is your intention, don't forget to portage Lower Narrows! And watch out for Sports Car Corner, the first significant drop in the Middle Narrows. This is a manky drop with consequences for the upside-down boater.

Lower Narrows

Just below the Highway 14 bridge is the Lower Narrows, which consists of one big burly 'classic' class V.  This is a fantastic rapid with a bunch of neat moves, and eddies that all you to catch your breath at most levels, and a very aesthetic position alongside the road. A messy rock jumble at the bottom of this rapid gives you incentive to stay on line! For those who are running the Middle Narrows for the class IV experience, you can easily take-out on river left above the bridge and portage to the put-in of your liking on river right at the bottom of the Lower Narrows and continue on down to Steven's Gulch Access.

Appropriate levels for these sections vary tremendously. The entire section is commonly run at less than 1' on the Pineview gauge up to about 2'.  Above 2' or 2.5', the Upper and Lower start getting burly, but the middle is excellent.  Above about 3.5', the Upper and Lower are much less frequently run (they're moving into the V+ range at those levels), while the middle is pushy an

...