Payette, S. Fork

We decided due to the consecutive nature of the canyon into swirly canyon that we would knock them both out in one 20.5 mile float, bad idea. I'm not sure if the description of this run is inaccurate, or if there was some huge flood that washed all of the rapids away but this run was way less exciting than the description makes it out to be.

From the Danskin access down there were a couple smaller class II rapids that had long stretches of flatwater inbetween. At some point during this stretch we stopped for lunch and a few cold ones after completing the Canyon. At some point the river will make an S turn, slamming into the left wall before slamming into the right wall and then through a narrow canyon for roughly 1/4 to 1/2 mile. In this narrow canyon there were many points where the canyon wall would constrict and open up again, creating very funky eddies, boil lines and whirlpools. We all managed to get spun around at some point against our will though none of us swam. I'd imagine a swim in the stretch would not be fun as there are really no breaks in the swirlies and there are no still eddies to pull off into. Such a strange section of river to have such intense currents where the river really doesn't drop any noticeable elevation.

After the canyon opens up again and the swirlies stop, be prepared for a long slow float out to the Alder Creek Road as anything that really resembles whitewater is over with. There are a few riffles and the occasional class I-II rapid but we couldn't find the 'UPW' or any of the other noted rapids on this run though we did see the old dam site. The last mile and a half or so of this run is pretty much flatwater. This is definitely not the 'II-III' run we were expecting and we would very likely not had done it if we had known we were getting into a 'I-II' run. There were a lot of cool little hot springs along the river, though many appear to have been developed and then abandoned by landowners still littered with no trespassing signs as if they have cared for the past two decades. The swirly canyon itself was really cool but short and not particularly worth it when you have to tack on the rest of the run too.