South Fork of the Feather (Little Grass Valley)
| Stretch: | Little Grass Valley Dam to South Fork Diversion |
| Difficulty: | Class IV-V |
| Distance: | 8.3 miles, one long day |
| Flows: | 180 - 500 cfs (300 is great). Current Dreamflows gauge |
| Gradient: | 150 fpm average (sections above 200 fpm) |
| Put-in: | Little Grass Valley Reservoir spill way |
| Take-out: | South Fork Diversion Dam |
| Shuttle: | 30? Miles (about 45 minutes one-way if done right) |
| Season: | Summer and Fall, scheduled release. |
| Featured in Video Fifteen. | |
So I just got of this river yesterday (as I am writing this) and man did I have a good time. I was first exposed to this rapid one year ago to the date, yesterday (ironic as you will see). So last year I went out to run it with a friend and some new acquaintances . The plan was to drive to the take out, set shuttle and camp at the put-in, putting on nice and early. Instead it took us 6.5 hours to find the take-out as we didn’t come prepared with maps and proper directions… instead we had a GPS and too much confidence in its ability. So the next morning we awake and begin a drive to the put-in… repeat the prior sentence… 3.5 hours later we arrive at the put-in. So we began to put-in at about 12:30 and the day began. We ran the first drop, ran the second, took a long scout and portage on the third, ran the exit of it, portaged the falls, then scouted the following drop. As Jim and I set safety Stephan and Steve went to run the Slot and 10 Footer. Stephan cleaned it, but Steve flipped and recirculated behind the falls, where he swam, and climbed on a rock behind the falls. About thirty minutes later we finally extracted him. It had just taken us over 2 hours to run the first 200 yards of river, Josh and I fearing the unknown below, and dark, and the incoming rain, hiked off. The rest of our group continued. We promised that we would wait at Put-in for a few hours in case they decided to hike back up to us as well.
As we hiked out we see more boaters arrive, ready to put in just as we again reach the put-in (at 3:30). Darin and Jon head our warning and decide not to put on, but Thomas and Ben give it ago. One hour later after an iffy losing of a paddle just above the 30 footer, Thomas and Ben rejoin us and help us wait for the rest of our group. After a few hours we drive down to take out, it is getting dark and to our “surprise” our other three group members have not arrived at take out. A few hours pass and a four wheel drive pulls up and out hopes our group, at 10:30, they too hiked out.
So yesterday started off better, we knew the way to the take out to meet up with Darin, we know the way to the put in, we were putting on by 10:30. Off to a good start. Then shit hits the fan, a member flips and is swept into the third rapid, a big and junky one. He does the hole thing upside down on the right side of the river (not the line), swims, boat and paddle swept downriver. The boat hangs up just above the falls and the paddle catches an eddy. After getting the boat off he decided to hike out, it is still earlier than my last trip, all is not lost. We begin making good time, running everything according to Darin’s lines, scouting nothing. The half way down I begin to take on water… because of a 9 inch crack, we have to wait for the boat to dry in order to duck tape it up. From this point I was boating with a boat full of water, then my arms began to cramp. All in all, this run which can take as little as 3 hours, took us 7 hours, and that was without a single scout. Lesson, give yourself plenty of time, either bring a probe or a person experienced with the lines, and always bring a space-blanket and matches incase you can’t hike out.
So to begin with, I would say there that at 300 cfs, there are two gorges which are Class V in nature, and one rapid further down which is Class V by itself. In the middle parts are many class III and IV gorges. The “easy” sections are not as easy as the ratings would have it. The easy sections are continuous, so although no move will be harder than class III or IV, in ten feet you will have another move, followed by another and another… for hundreds of yards at a time before an eddy can be caught. This leads to my next point, there are entirely too many drops to describe them all. In total there are six or so junky rapids, along with no less than forty clean drops. With this in mind, with the fact I have only run it once, there is no way for me to recount the whole run, or even necessarily the order of the fourth gorge’s rapids, so use this more as warning or scouting hints than as an absolute guide. This run is great fun, but I would recommend being familiar with class V before entering it as you will be in for a very long and draining day otherwise.
Ben Stookesberry has some great follow-cam of the South Feather in the second half of this video.
I didnt get many photos, but for some links with more, please check out:
Thanks to Ian Buckley for contributing several photos to this write-up.
Mi 0:
- The first gorge is class V in nature at 300 cfs as the rapids are all stacked on each
other and are not forgiving, you can portage the entire gorge high on the left side
of the river.
Put-in (IV). Ferry across the river from the put-in eddy, aim far left and boof off the 10-foot falls. I have seen people probe and it has worked out fine for them. Just below it there is an exit rapid which is easiest to run on the right, no more than class III-.
Second Rapid (IV-). On the first corner the river drops over a junky rock pile and slams into the wall, turns right then drops into a few holes. It is best to run the pile on the left. Make sure to eddy out immediately after the rapid on the left and scout or portage the next drop.
Recommended Portage? (V). A very junky rapid directly above a class IV- run out, directly above a 30 foot waterfall portage. The rapid drops perhaps 20 feet most of it at the beginning. You enter center left, and go over the first pillow and hit one of the launch rocks. Boof hard or you will find the rock shelf below, land and move immediately left. Exit the rapid on the slot on the left, at lower flows this doesn’t really go, but the right side is nasty. So portages occur on the left, and are much easier at the lower flow.
Run out (IV-). A boulder garden is all that stands between you and a thirty foot waterfall portage. The boulder garden is best to run down the right as the left side goes into a macking hole which has caused many problems.
PORTAGE 30-Footer (V+). This drop has been run once, by Rusty Sage, however he broke his boat in the shallow landing and had to hike out. Ok, actually now it has been run many many times. It only took like 4 years for the second person to try. Now people run it and get a very delayed boof. Sometimes people plug and are ok, I know that others have hit something that is less than 3 feet underwater on their runs. so buyer beware. The eddy is about 1 boat big and on the right. It is just at the end of the rock wall, in front of a big bush. There is also an eddy right across the river from it but portaging from it is not possible, both eddies are mere feet from the lip of the falls.
Chute and Falls (V-). Immediately below the portage is a chute which is run down the gut. The hole is a little stick and initiated tail stands on two of our group of three. Recollect, and run left to right down the 10-foot pour over drop. This drop comes with a very sticky hole at the bottom, and tends to recirculated to the left, under an overhang and behind the falls. To make matters worse, sometimes plugging it works best, sometimes boofing it works best, I think there is a matter of luck involved. Either way, this rapid would be bright to set safety on as just downstream is another class V rapid.
Watermelon Seed (V-). A riffle leads to another eddy on the right just above this drop. Enter left of center with a little left angle, boof down about 4 feet onto the rock in the middle. From this rock, launch center or left. Launching right will result in a bad piton or pin. Going to far left at the beginning and not making it to the rock will result in landing in a crack. Now go with the water into many holes, the exit of the rapid has ledges on either side of a mid-river rock, either side goes, the right can get sticky, and there is a fun boof on the left.
-This is the end of the first gorge.-
- Second Gorge (IV-). The second gorge isn’t really a gorge, but more just a set of rapids,
they tend to have very tight turns, and simple follow the water lines.
- Third and Forth Gorges (IV to IV+). These gorges tend to be ledge affairs, with many boofs
over drops 3-6 feet tall. Some of the rapids in them are long with many boofs involved, but
as I remember, they all go. At the beginning of the third one I believe, is a rapid which is
a little out of character. The river drops over a cascade and into a wall and makes a 90-
degree right turn. You have to go down the left of the cascade as the right and center lead
directly into a big piton rock.
- The fifth gorge is the biggest, cleaner than the first gorge but bigger in nature, and with
worse consequences. I would rate this gorge class V. I am not 100% sure of the order of these
drops but there are 3 main drops in it. I think I know the order…
Pocket Eddy (IV+). This rapid has two tiers to it, the first one you want to be heading left somewhat hard, as the pillow, hole, seem thing wants to push you right, which would then result in you getting pushed into a pocket eddy, this would not be pleasant. The cushion then drops off a bigger drop and into a big hole which is sided by a wall on the left.
I can't tell if the photo is this drop, but it is somewhere in here. It has been 3 years since I last ran it...
Chute Right (IV). A read and run lead in to a boof which must be taken with left angle and heading left towards a wall. Don’t go so far left that you piton the wall that is angled out at you, but don’t go so far right that you get pushed into the wall or pocket on the wall, this would suck. You can tell you are at this drop when there is a large tree spanning the whole river just eight feet f the water or so.
Chute Left (IV+). The moves here are only class IV+ but the consequences are severe so I added a little to it. There is a ledge drop which has a sticky hole with it, you need to hit the hole and clear to the left of it. The river immediately splits around a large rock, the left leads to a tall boof, and the right leads to a large sieve. Go left.
This is the end of this gorge
Double Drop (IV+). Just downstream of the gorge, after a few boofs, you come to a left hand turn and a horizon line. Follow the main channel (sneak line on far right bank) and head hard to the right. The drop has a four foot boof into/on a rock and then a larger drop into a hole. On the left and middle the hole is very large; on the right it is friendlier.
- PORTAGE Sieve. There is a rapid which doesn’t look like it is going to be big… could totally
get you if you don’t know it is coming, the left side is blocked by a tree, and the right
channel nails a rock and then most of the river drops into a sieve. Portage right, there is
a last minute eddy on the right as well in case you fall upon it.
Rapids start to get a little junky.
Just Below (IV+). Just below the sieve is a junky rapid which needs to be taken with hard left to right momentum. You go down the left channel, but hugging the rocks in the middle. The exit drop can be taken on the right side, along the shore.
Sieve on Right (V-). A lead in which brings no attention to it, turns into a long a boulder choked rapid. At the top of it there is a curler wave, head straight over the wave or to the left, just don’t go to the right of it as a third of the river drops into a sieve. The water calms, then drops over more drops, the last one should be taken on the far right under a brush overhang because the middle pitons a rock.
Slides Section (IV). The next section is slides and an occasional boof. Be aware that the last section of this has three boofs on a straight away, and then you are at The Crack Portage.
- PORTAGE, “The Crack.” The only unrun rapid on the run, it looks bad, get out on the right and
portage easily.
Left-then-Right (IV). A hidden rapid lies behind some rocks. You must shoot across the channel to the left, pointing upstream, ferry turn back to the right and shoot the right channel, the left channel looks clean but pitons hard. There is another drop below this which is read and run.
The paddle out from here is class III and class II, but very busy, many flips occur down here after a long day on the stuff above.
Take out: From 70 in Oroville take 162 East. After a little while, you will see a major intersection on the right, take Forbestown Road. Follow this for about five miles, and take a left on Lumpkin Road (Road 27). Follow this a long way, at a major low angle “Y” intersection take the right road. After a little further, there is another Y, this one more like 90 degrees, take the right road, there is a dirt lot in the middle. I can’t remember if this road is road 24 or if road 24 is a different right turn. Either way, take the right on 24, there will be a sign for Golden Trout Crossing and Lumpkin ridge. Follow this road down and over the river and then up the other side and down the other side over the ridge. There are two major forks on this road, stay left on boat, at some point the road turns into road 33, keep going. You will come to a road dropping down the left, there will be a sign that says “South Fork Diversion,” this is the road to the take out.
Put in: Go back to Lumpkin road and 24 intersection, turn right onto Lumpkin (27). Follow this road all the way to the Put in. Hike down near the spillway to get to the water.