Falls Creek (Dearborn Trib)

Boofing over the meat

Stuff to look out for:

*The first substantial drop after the 2nd river crossing on the hike up has a protruding undercut finger backed up by a piton rock. This is not in play at high med and up, but is potentially nasty at med and lower. It is in the R line, which is the meat line.

*The 23'er has undercuts/caves behind the curtain and on the R wall. Be careful and consider hooking up a strong swimmer to go in after them if it becomes an issue. 2 people have found these, neither had good experiences down there.

*The mandatory portage is immed. after the first substantial drop below the 23' falls. After running this, you will round a slight R bend and see the gorge with a huge tree spanning the creek. Get out at the first eddy on the R. This eddy is only good for about 3 boats, so space accordingly. If you miss this eddy all is not lost, but you'll have a bitch of a time portaging the deadly undercut spigot falls. Best portage route is to hike up the very steep hillside above said last eddy, until you hit a road. Take it to the gate, hike down to big falls on obvious trail. To portage, ferry across above falls, scale down to the last ledge, line boats down, huck your gear, jump and swim after it.

*Be aware this is grizzly country and they are thick up there.

Joe Booth, IPA, gets some on the first big falls.
Will Peete, IPA, takes his last strokes as he heads towards the crease. At this flow the holes behind Will can be a bit tricky. Run river left to center right of the lip.
Joe Booth, IPA, runs the left line of the first slide. At lower flows this line is not usually an option. This slide is the within the first few paddle strokes of the run. Watch out for wood.
Will Peete, IPA, runs the right line of the first slide. Most of the creek water flows towards this line and at this level there is a decent hole at the bottom of the rapid.

we usually just huck our gear and dive after it, but if you're creative it's a fun (but sketchy and labor intensive boat entrance) seal launch of about 13'.

Had some good downtime on this one.
Best way to portage is ferry across above falls, scale down 2 ledges, line boats to last ledge, huck gear and jump after it. Don't angle your jump downstream, very shallow. I found that out the hard way!
First known D., immediatly followed by Colorado Chris, Aaron Loft