High Water Burnt Ranch Gorge

Crissler scoutin up Numero Uno.

Having paddled the BRG almost every weekend since September due to its proximity and reliable flows, we almost jumped out of our pants when the spring dam releases began, and our backyard run began spiking. Thursday afternoon found Crissler and myself standing at the put-in, staring into the chocolate milk that was the BRG. Rolling into the first rapid, China Slide, our hearts leapt with joy as we saw a surging wave train rolling as far as we could see, over what is normally a bumpy boulder garden. This style of blown out waves was standard until we reached the last rapid above the falls. As the gradient increased, and the gorge narrowed, the features became bigger and rowdier.  

Crissler running the bottom of Number 1.

Crissler in the run-out of the first falls. Big waves. Big eddy lines. Awesome!

Lead in to Falls 2. Just to the lookers right of the sieve pile is a nice whirl pool sucking down into the mess, just big enough for a boat. The hole on the right is much more stout than it appears as well.

Martin squirtin through the bottom of Number 2.

Falls 3 was one of the most fun big water rapids I have ever run, and the pace kept up below the falls. Rolling into Table Rock rapid, I heard Crissler comment from behind me, "shit, table rock is gone". Scrambling left, I attempted to skirt the huge hole that had formed on the right corner of where the rock normally would be. Unfortunately, I did not make the move in time, and found myself attempting to punch the beast. After getting beat down for around 25 - 30 seconds, I swam. I stayed deep for a good while and finally popped up next to Crissler, grabbed onto his stern, and started kickin my ass off for the eddy. Crissler was awesome and managed to get my boat once it came out of the hole, and we carried on downstream with no further carnage. 

Our flow on this day was around 3600 cfs and we both thought it was a sick flow. The rapids are long and pushy, and as I found, not a great place to swim. I would be stoked to run the BRG at this flow again and think that it is a great run for any solid paddler who is confident running big water.