Henrys Fork

Lower Mesa Falls is a scenic and stout falls offering spice of either the mild or intense variety. The hazard of the falls is its shape -- the left and right flanks of the falls meet to create an enshrouded central fold in the center of the river.

The traditional river-left line here involves a bit of a hike to a small sketchy put-in eddy directly at the lip of the first 15' tier of the falls. Launch, turn left hard and try to avoid falling off the right side of this first tier. There's a good chance you'll pencil the first tier, as the lip is generally shallow and rolling, and there's not much time to get up to speed above it.

Upon recovering in the mid-falls pool, pick a spot on the left 2/3 of second lip and steam for it. This lip is irregular and can be difficult to nail. Roll up 40 vertical feet below, paddle to shore, and begin a hot, steep hike out over sharp, loose talus.

The continuous 65'ish fall that forms the river-right line has been run a handful of times, leading to both glory and at least one shattered spine.

An alternate approach to the river-left line involves putting in above the ledges that lead to the first tier, boofing leftwards onto the mid-falls pool to the right of the traditional first-tier landing zone, then continuing to the second lip as usual. As far as I am aware, this line has only been run once. The line is tight, with the potential to be swept into the massive central room of doom in the landing zone of the central flow. Consequences here could be very high.