South Platte, North Fork

This is a great rapid and a highlight of the run. It's not easy to recognize from above as the river suddenly explodes into this drop as it rounds the corner. One may use the portage and scouting trail on river left. Those who don't like the looks of the crux entry move can put-in to run the lower half visible in this photo which packs a pretty good punch.

After Deer Creek rapid there are a couple
more drops that demand your attention but
the pace slows considerably and you can
enjoy the canyon scenery of the lower
section.

From this guys line to river left is bad news, you will be swept directly into an undercut just barely out of the photo. It is luckily pretty forgiving. This guy, and most who go left of the launch pad, only get knocked over by the undercut rock. But if you fail to roll back up the swim isn't fun;-)
Too far right, and you will piton hard and then a vareity of neat things can happen. You can splat the rock backing up the hole or just surf the hole sideways for a while. This bold paddler surfed the hole for a few seconds but made it out OK. Better to be too far right than too far left.
Ouch!

Beleive it or not, this paddler did not surf the hole. It's not a perfect line, but not a bad one either.
Pretty, isn't it? Good news for those who are intimidated by the crux, you can put in just below the undercut(large pyramid rock at top of picture) and run the bottom half(IV+ at low, V at medium, and V+ at high water). The big hole at the bottom is asymetrical and usually is pretty darn forgiving, the mean hole is formed by the small ledge just above it!
This two step drop is very pushy. The ideal line is to drive to the left and catch the river left eddy, like the boater in the green boat. From this eddy, a REALLY squirrely eddy I might add, you can ferry right to miss the undercut. Easier said than done;-) At the bottom of the picture you can see the rapid takes a severe 90 degree right turn with most of the water pushing left into a large undercut rock.

This is the crux move of Super Max. Just a few feet after a severe 90 degree right turn in heavy current, you need to hit a 2 foot wide launch pad. Too far left and you get flushed into the undercut (the big rock bottom left of the picture. Too far right is not quite as bad, but isn't that much fun either. Most likely you will piton on the rock backing up the right side.
This is the 1st drop of Four Falls Rapid. You can see the water pouring into the uncercut cliff on river left. A sieve on the right side of the drop sucks 50% of the river under the boulder the kayakers are launching off of. It is only a Class IV move, but with Class VI consequences, so most people call it a V+ and portage. The drop isn't that big or fun and isn't worth the risk.
Check out the full-sized version of this picture by clicking here.