Chetco

We ran this in early March towards the lower limit of flows (577cfs). It was still plenty of fun. We hiked down the FR 1917-067 spur to Tollman Ranch as we did not have a high clearance vehicle. It took about 45 minutes to walk down. The approximately dozen or so rapids that begin about 1/3 of the way into the run were all great read and run. After a stretch of flatwater and passing under the steel bridge we came to the gorge. There are basically two rapids in the gorge--Candy Cane and Conehead--and then it's over and you have the paddle out. We did not run either drop. Candy Cane was very congested with narrow chutes and water flowing under boulders. Conehead had several rocks sticking up along the right that would have been tricky to navigate at low flow. The spur road described as the take-out in Soggy Sneakers had a massive washout. It would have been possible to hike out (although I expect the road will further deteriorate) but we elected to just paddle another 15 minutes down to the South Fork confluence where you can drive right to the river and have easy access.

A trip on the Chetco River towards the lower limit of the flow range.

I finally got on this run after many aborted attempts; it's a long way from anywhere and I live in So. Or.! Soggy sneakers has the discription of this run nailed. Starts mild,class 2. slowly builds to class 3 then a couple of 4's then back to class 3 then 2 in short order. 1/2 mile past the bridge comes the gorge; eddy-out right to scout/portage. Candy Cane the 1st rapid was a 5 at our flow of 2,400 cfs, beautiful rapid! Conehead the next (last) rapid in the gorge is a long class 5+ (at least in my book) that has to be seen to be believed. Awesome. Not the best run in the neighborhood. (for example the NF of the Smith wins on every criteria of what makes up a great run I can think of) but if your looking for an adventure and don't mind long shuttles on poorly signed dirt roads or portaging over giant boulders this run might be for you or... you could just hike into the gorge and see what all of us on the river that day thought was the highlight of the run.