This was a sweet afternoon for the Farmlands. The water has been dropping a lot in the past few weeks, and the section is getting a bit more technical. The river starts out mellow with a Class III put in. The shelf at the bottom of the put-in is totally out of the water with a foot or so of rock exposed. This is a useful gauge, as the Husum gauge isn't a good correlation.

The first rapid of note is Sidewinder Fakie, which looks a lot like Sidewinder, but isn't. This is best right down the middle. There is a sweet boof off the shelf on the left at higher water, but down the middle is best at this level. Sidewinder is the next rapid. Scout or portage right or left. We put in right below the gnarly undercut mushroom rock and seal launched off it.

Scouting Sidewinder from the right side. Note undercut ledge on left.

Below Sidewinder there are a few fun rapids. The second ledge is a bit sticky and you should boof right. There is a sweeping right turn and the river drops out of sight as you enter "the drop zone." This begins with Doorbell. The doorbell rock is right in the middle at the bottom and you can go right or left of it. I didn't see it because it had a bit of water going over it and crashed right into it. There is a non-sticky ledge right below it and then a corner before Little Lava Dam.

Little Lava Dam is a really sticky riverwide ledge that is easily portageable on the left side. There is a small hole leading up to this drop. It is best run boofing off the left side next to the rock ledge or just straight boof off the left side. There is a log overhead right below the drop and the rootball could be a problem if you got shoved into it on the left side. The drop right below is nameless, but packs a punch. Stay left as you come around the bend and run left. From here it is only a short distance to Lava Dam Falls.

Lava dam was super sweet to go at this flow, and Gyner and I ran it without incident. I lined up with the rock wall on the far side and boofed off the ledge on the center right. It was epic.

A raft doing the "Scary ferry"

Gyner goes super deep but luckily resurfaces out of the hole... he missed the boof

Below Lava Dam there are 3 ledge before Steven's Ledge Rapid. The second one can be tricky, and has a small flake that has emerged on the right side. The next rapid down, Steven's Ledge, has three distinct holes and a boulder garden down at the bottom. This is the final rapid before The Doldrums, a slower, more mellow section of river.

The rest of the river is pretty mellow until it gorges up for the last time and ends with Off Ramp, a class IV drop that would be ugly to run upsidedown. This rapid is signaled by a large downed old growth tree on river right. Catch the eddy on the far right side and then boof down the ledge on the far right side. Scout from the left.

A bit down from Off Ramp is the Green Truss Bridge, the takeout for the run. We used a pulley system to lift rafts up the bridge. Kayakers can use the rope that is attached to the cliff to lift their boats before climbing up the Class V takeout.

The sketchy raft lifting system we used to hoist rafts up the bridge.

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