Crooked

Crooked below osborne canyon gauge was at 2000 CFS (6.6ft)! Reminder to park in the red cinders by the church at the put in to keep the relationship between boaters and locals cordial!

At these flows, almost every single rock is well underwater. The run started off with a bang as the normallly technical boulder gardens were completely underwater and formed a frothing series of pushy wave trains, holes, and boil lines that felt like a big water run in the tight canyon (Class IV). We didn't note any particularly dangerous features other than some submerged trees on the edges, but some of the pushy flows crashed into the canyon wall or took you towards some hefty holes.

One of our group in a playboat was swallowed by a wave and swam through the last of the first three rapids, rescue of boater and boat wasn't too difficult in the fast moving pool below but act quickly, the water is bookin through this and ferries across the river required downstream movement.

This was the hardest water of the run, and repeated itself at The Wave and the final rapid below the dam.

After the intial rapids, the river consisted of fast moving slackwater interrupted by class III wave trains with catch-on-the-fly but near perfect play waves and holes interspersed throughout.

The Wave was still easily visible as a clear horizon line, though almost all of the rocks that normally guard the entrance were underwater. Portage on the left was harder at high water, I opted to put in just below the 'wave' itself and bounce off rocks through the last 20 yards of the rapid to avoid some of the walk. The rest of the group bushwacked with no major issues.

We opted to portage based on how quickly a boat would have rushed downstream without a boater, but the line looked easy and clean. Start far river right and ride the green tongue in, keeping a large rock/hole to your right, and stay center-right to crash into the wave itself. We watched a floating log enter the rapid and run that exact line on its own. There's a small recirculating eddy/hole on river left behind the wave that might be tricky if you ended up too far left.

The dam was a sight to see with so much water pouring over, the fish ladder was overflowed and crashing into the walls as well. Be sure to check in at the dam per the signs.

The last rapid is normally a fun challenge before the end of the run, and at this level it didn't disappoint. The normally large boulders made huge ramps and holes and the water was pushing into all of them. We opted to keep right as that line had better visibility for potential wood.

The paddle out on the lake was standard, 50 minutes of firm cardio in a beautiful setting. Don't skip this run, it's worth it!