Pipe Creek

Beware of VERY unfriendly land owner down stream. We ran this at 720cfs (on the wildcat guage which by the end of the day it was 1,200) on 5-17-14 and it was a great run. (bridge has a visual guage that said 2 1/2 feet) We were driving along the road to scout before running and the land owner must have seen us drive by. At the put in, we were minding our own business and he apparently got in his black pickup truck and drove up there. He pulled up and rolled his window down to which I said hello. He asked if we were going to paddle. In short he made sure we knew he owned the land below the first dam / falls and not to step foot on his property. I said we want to be respectful to his community, him, and his property. I asked about portaging the low head dam (which is adjacent to his property) and I explained the dangers of low head dams and that I wasn't sure but thought there may be an easement immediately around the dam. He said there was no easement, and I was not about to argue with this guy. I expressed the danger to my two boys and myself that the dam presented and that I would hope he would allow us to portage and not risk my children's lives. He said 'That's your problem! if you paddle down there you go over the dam' (implying he could care les about the risk... step on his land we would go to jail). I asked him very politely stating that we were trying to be good stewards and neighborly... did he have a bad experience with paddlers or why would he not allow portage. He said they were dragging their boats across his land and trampling his wives flowers. The reality is this guy has some issues and there is NO changing his mind. Regardless it is his land so as paddlers we should respect it despite him being unfriendly. I explained to him that we had no intention of paddling down to his land. He then drove off without any further words. FYI the dam is breached in the middle 1/3 so it is not 100% uniform or all the way across, so scout from bridge and use caution if you run it.

We took out above the falls, and made the run twice. We met a VERY friendly lady named Nora who had no problem with us parking at the pull off right by widowmaker rapid. In fact they put the retaining railroad ties (4x6 wood) along the road to make pulling off easier. So be respectful to them, that's our last and only spot to park. There is one more rapid downstream before the falls which we didn't run. After meeting the land owner we decided to skip it and be extra careful. Turns out you can run it and safely get out and get back on the road to walk back up to your car. at 720 cfs (on the wildcat guage, 2' on the Putin bridge) it looked as if you could paddle right up to the lower low head dam (NOT THE UPPER 16' DAM) and probably get out onto the damn, get over it, and back into your boat (dam has center opening and is higher on the sides). I don't know if that is still trespassing. I called the local DNR and asked for clarification and he said he didn't really have the answer. Best bet is to avoid the guys property or don't portage. I will not recommend running a low head dam.

The rapids above widow maker had small surfable waves and eddys. I would call the rapids above at this level still class I or II- tops. The widow maker at this lever was a legitimate class II or II+. The wave surfed more like a class III in size. Great safe wave to play. Worth the trip.

Josh Struble surfing Widow Maker at 720cfs May 17, 2014.

Jacob Struble on Widow Maker at 720cfs. May 17 2014.

After a two hour drive to what we expected would be running but wasn't, someone had to brave the calm waters.

Again, the water level was way low. 1 ft to be exact. Anyone with information on how we could gauge this reach please leave a comment or email the streamkeeper.