The Upper Upper Cispus has many powerful rapids, challenging lines, and a few larger drops, all stuck down in a beautiful gorge that is boat accessible only. This is an epic trip, a bit harder than the Green Truss, but a bit easier than the Little White.

Taylor had rolled into town a few days earlier, and Jim had just showed up. I had been itching for a while to get on the fabled Upper Upper Cispus, and Todd had been working way too much in the Wet Planet office. Andy was just back from 7 weeks and 11 first decents in Tibet, so the trip all came together when all our paths crossed one afternoon.

This is a higher elevation run, and you'll need warmer clothes than you think.

The run starts off quick with a few bouldery rapids, and right around the first corner is the first falls, Warm Up Falls. This 14 footer is pretty clean, and can be scouted on the left side. It has been run every way, but left is the cleanest.

14 foot Warm Up Falls, Jim Janey running.

Below the falls, the river keeps you on your toes with a bunch of really fun bouldery rapids. There was a bit of wood, but none in the main channels. A few rapids down is Shark Fin, a challenging boulder garden. There is an obvious fin rock in the middle of the rapid. The line is right behind the rock, and coming off the drop with a bit of left angle. There is a nasty piton rock on the right below this drop.

Andy approaches the Shark Fin (rock visible downstream)

There are more good rapids down below here, including an awesome boof rock rapid. You duck behind some rocks and then there is a big flat one that is prefect for the launch into the landing spot below. At 600cfs, most of the rapids had good eddys and places to stop and scout if needed. At higher flows this is way more continuous and would be hard to scout and stop.

Todd takes the perfect line over the boof rock rapid.

A little ways down from this rapid is a river wide log that has been a mandatory portage in years past. It seems that the log has rolled over, and has a small passage on the left side of it. We all ran it well, but at lower water it might be a portage. It is really obvious as you come down to it because of the logs going all the way across and collecting on this old growth log. Andy says the log has been there since he started running the Cispus more than a decade ago.

The river wide log has moved enough to squeeze by it on the left. Taylor runs while Jim sets up.

The next section of the canyon is the most memorable part for me. It looks just the way I imagine the perfect river. The canyon is deep and green. The rapids are fun with small ledge drops created by the uptilted geology. This river is nearly straight here, and you can see a ways down the river corridor. The picture doesn't even come close to doing this justice.

Beautiful canyons and isolation in the gorge make the Upper Upper a classic.

This straight section of gorge ends with a challenging boulder garden that is worth scouting on the left. There is a tricky entrance and then the river pours over a few boulders creating a few 6 foot pour-overs. The right side had wood down in it (large logs coming off the right bank) and the center was sieved out. The far left is ideal, but can collect wood. Be careful with this drop.

Todd running the slide right before cutting back left away from the logs and sieves.

A few rapids later is Split Drop, where the river goes around a large boulder right and left. Both sides are runable. The right goes through a boulder garden and then drops through a hole. The left side goes through a narrow slot and then drops into that lower hole. This rapid sounds similar to Island Falls which is a bit downstream, but they are very different. Easy to walk down and scout this on the left side.

Andy's Rapid, he pioneered the left line in this one. Go hard off the tongue and throw a last second boof on the right side to aim a bit left of the large hole. Or run right around the boulder.

Beautiful Cispus canyon, good gradient. Looking back up from Split Drop.

A few corners below Split Drop is Island Falls, a difficult rapid to decide which way to go. Both the left and right side of the island are runable, and they both look like lots of fun... so which way?! The right side has a powerful narrow hole into a tight slot, and then another powerful hole at the bottom. The left side is a rocky slide into the hole at the bottom. This drop is oftentimes portages because of the regular trashings this drop gives out. Andy ran right and aced it (see video), the other 4 of us ran left with mixed results. Taylor and Todd aced it and came off with enough left angle to miss the hole at the bottom. Jim had too much right angle and went right into the big hole at the bottom. As he went into it he tucked forward, his yellow Jefe disappeared for a second and then he floated out the bottom uscathed. Lucky.

I dropped in and thought I totally had it, but at the last second my nose spun from my good left angle (missing the hole) to a straight shot right into the gut of it. I got surfed for about a 30 seconds before flushing out. The hole has a undercut on the right side, and is closed on the left by the left drop, so its very sticky. We had a rope setup, and I would advise anyone else running this to setup a rope here.

Andy Round runs the right side of Island Falls

Taylor runs the left side of Island Falls

Taylor and Andy wait at the bottom of Island Falls. Picture taken from standing on the Island.

Looking down from Island Falls there are a few small drops before The Squeeze, a narrow slot where the entire river drops through a 5 foot wide channel. As it comes down the drop a lot of the water crashes into the right wall, and right into a decapitation rock. Either drive left at the last second as you come off the drop or go for the wall and put your boat on its left edge so you hit with your boat and not your body.

The Squeeze drops through a narrow slot and a lot of the water goes into the right wall. The rock at the edge of the picture is the one Jim and I crashed into.

Once you are through The Squeeze, you are getting really close to The Big Behemouth. There is a large landslide that comes in on the right, and that is above the lead in rapid to the falls. Landslide is one that needs to be scouted. This rapid changes regularly when new debris comes down from the landslide. There were logs jammed in the rapid that were almost passable. Andy and Taylor both ran between them, and both had sketchy lines almost going under the log.

Scouting the landslide rapid right above Big Behemouth

The Rapid of No Return is right below this, which leads up to Behemouth. Once you are down this rapid, you must run the 30 footer. You could portage from the landslide, but it would be very difficult, but once you are down past this rapid, the gorge is totally walled in, and there is no way to go but down.

The Rapid of No Return. The waterfall is around the corner from the visible part of the picture.

The Behemouth is a 30 foot drop, but is actually more of a slide into a 17-20 footer. There are two eddies right above the drop on the left side. You can carefully get out and scout from there. The line is to paddle from the right to left, drop down the slide and then launch out with a huge boof over the vertical part of the drop. About 50 feet below the drop is a very sticky ledge that needs to be run on the far far left against the wall. Many boaters clean Behemouth only to be trashed and swim out of this bottom hole.

Looking back up at the Big Behemouth. The ledge below is best run on the far left channel.

Andy runs the perfect line at Big Behemouth

Todd runs the 'falling off backwards' line at Big Behemouth

The two rapids below the big one are sweet boulder gardens. The general line is go center, right, right, right, and then right. After these two there is an amazing view of the big one up above all of the rapids below. Then a quick 2 mile paddle out on Class II and you're back to the bridge. Epic run.

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