Feather, West Branch

After moving to Paradise in the early 90’s I became infatuated with the West Branch of the Feather River. Despite having relatively good access, this branch of the Feather had been overlooked in the explorations of the 1980s. The Miocene Canal, a flume running along the West Branch, provided convenient access and occasional views of the river. As I delved into the canyon, it became evident that much of the river seemed runnable. To ensure I wasn't getting in over my head, I hiked into what appeared to be the crux sections between Dean Road and Lake Oroville. The steep canyon demanded caution, and I wanted to confirm that everything was either runnable or portageable.

The first significant gorge is down canyon from where Feather River Hospital once stood; unfortunately, it burned in the Camp Fire along with most of Paradise. The flume hangs on the steep canyon walls above the gorge, offering limited views down to the river. Despite the access, there remained much unseen. This gorge had thwarted early attempts at descent. On one of these trips, a team comprising Rick Stock, Roland McNutt, and Michael Kirwin encountered the formidable Hospital Gorge. Stacked class V rapids extended as far as they could see, prompting Roland to declare, 'Boys, I smell death down in that gorge.' Michael responded with humor, 'Roland, I think your olfactory glands are running overtime.' Michael's sense of smell didn't prevail, and the group embarked on a strenuous climb out of the canyon. Knowledge of these early trips motivated me to explore the gorge myself. It proved worthwhile, revealing significant rapids hidden from the flume and providing insight into portage and scouting routes that demanded exiting before entering the vertical-walled section of the gorge. The crux featured a series of drops where walls shot straight up from the water, culminating in a ten-foot drop with a punishing hole — a reality that I learned firsthand.

The second gorge, just above Lake Oroville, was steeper than the first, dropping almost 200 feet in 270 yards. The rapids were more challenging, with four stacked on top of each other, offering little room for recovery. Fortunately, I discovered a portage route that bypassed the two hardest rapids, involving a tunnel climb on river right and a critical ferry back to the left to scout the next rapid.

After all this reconnaissance, I decided it was time to attempt the descent. I enlisted Arn Terry, who was enthusiastic about the run. Embarking on a first descent with only two people might seem risky, but Arn was one of the best paddlers I knew — technically skilled with good judgment, albeit with a penchant for unconventional boat choices.  His play boat was a Perception Saber (Basically a plastic slalom boat) and his creek boat was a full sized Perception Pirouette. He also did not like outfitting, no hip pads, no back band.  None of this hampered his ability to run stout class V with a high degree of precision.

Hiking our boats down from the Dean Road parking area to the takeout for the Naked Lady run, we prepared for an adventure. The upper run had always intrigued me, and the descent wasted no time in getting interesting. Several class IV rapids in the first mile showcased spectacular canyon walls. Approximately 1.2 miles into the run, we encountered our first class V rapid. Initially resembling a boulder-choked mess, a line emerged — entry through a slot and a left-side cascading run. Arn navigated the rapid effortlessly, and I followed suit.

Continuing downstream, we approached the top of the Hospital Gorge, marked by a large pool leading to the lip of an unrunnable waterfall. A prescout had revealed a portage route high on the cliffs, with a perch for a 30-foot seal launch back into the gorge. As Arn went first, I found myself holding my boat, realizing the perch's steep angle. Gingerly stepping in, I hoped for enough friction to keep my boat in place while assembling myself in the boat. With the sprayskirt being the most stressful step, I finally launched, landing with a good hit but staying upright. Now came the challenging part — running the Hospital Gorge.

The first significant drop in the gorge, named Pre-Op, required a tight maneuver around a large boulder. Arn executed a pivot turn, not an easy move under any circumstance, but all the more impressive in an 11 foot boat. Feeling unable to replicate this move, I opted to portage. The scariest part was that the pool downstream was completely walled in. Meaning, if you get scrambled and come out of your boat, you will have to somehow get in your boat while floating in the water, or swimming the Emergency  Room drop that is just downstream (A truly frightful thought).  A later run with Peter Miller confirmed that coming out of the boat here was possible, but not recommended. Since I was already out of my boat portaging Pre-Op, I continued down on the shelf that is about thirty feet above the water on river left so I could watch Arn’s run of the Emergency Room and get his picture. As I mentioned above, this drop is about ten feet and all of the water is pinched between the two canyon walls.  I could see that penciling in here would result in a substantial beat down.  There was a small shelf protruding from the left wall that offered the possibility of a boof, problematic because you would likely land right at the base of the falls on the right side of the drop and be pulled in for a beat down. Regardless of these hazards, this was the line that Arn chose.  In this case, the the 11’ Pirouette was the right tool for the job. Arn was able to generate enough hull speed to hit the boof and clear the pounding hole at the bottom of the spout. Now it was my turn. Back in my boat, quaking above the drop, I decided that my plan was simply to paddle hard at the right side of the drop. Not sure I knew how to do much else back then.  I know the concept of a late boof stroke had not arrived into my paddling quiver at that point.  So, I charged at the drop to get all the speed I could get out of my Freefall LT. Fortunately, I was able to get just enough bow lift that I was able to escape with only a massive tail ender. After a brief high five in the pool, we continued downstream through a couple of significant but manageable rapids, and then we were out of the gorge.

The subsequent miles featured a handful of stout rapids, all runnable. Eventually, we reached the top of the Ben and Jerry's gorge, consisting of four closely stacked rapids. During my scouting, I decided to name them after Ben and Jerry's ice cream flavors for added flair. First up was Chocolate Fudge Brownie, packed between massive boulders, with a ramp down the right side leading to a finish pinched between two boulders. Following immediately downstream was Chunky Monkey, requiring a precise run on the right, a hard drive left to a boof into a must make eddy needed before navigating Heath Bar Crunch. Heath Bar Crunch required a drive up against the right wall, needed in order to avoid hitting the flat rock below the drop. Even if you nail this move, you are likely to catch some of the rock below. Both rapids had tricky sections, that  demanded precision. I don't recall if Arn ran these or if we both portaged through the tunnel on river right. After paddling a short pool and a class II/IV rapid, we encountered Phish Food, the last rapid in the gorge, requiring a ski jump boof and a strong move back to the left to avoid a massive boulder. The canyon opened up, revealing a sneak route and portage on river left. Just after this rapid, we reached the high-water mark of Lake Oroville.

Pleased to reach the lake's flatwater, we paddled about an hour to Nelson's Bar. After loading our boats, we drove about twenty minutes back to my truck at the end of Dean Road. During the drive back, Arn remarked that this might be the easiest logistics for a first descent he had ever experienced. I marveled at the fact that this gem of a run had been right under our noses for so long, undiscovered until now.