Trip report written by Dean Lihou.
The flow was around 1650 CFS at Kerby
 |
 |
 |
Travis |
Dean |
Cole |
The weather couldn’t have been better for this trip. It was everyone’s first trip down the Illinois and we were all giddy for the almost 70 degree sunny days. We got a late start coming from our camp at the Smith so we didn’t get rowing until about 1:30pm. At the put in we ran into one other group of four rafts which we ended up following for a brief minute after our lunch stop but never saw them again after they stopped. The shuttle company also informed us there were two other groups that started before us whom we saw at the campgrounds but never saw again after we floated by.
After waiting for what seemed like forever for Travis to rig his boat we shoved off into the fun. I hadn’t read up on this river but Travis had a map with rapid descriptions and mile markers which proved helpful. Our plan was to scout what we couldn’t read and run. From the start I was amazed at the beauty. And after floating the North Smith the day before and Oregon Hole Gorge run on the main Smith before that and the Cal Salmon the day before that, to say I was amazed is meaningful. I was also surprised at the size of the waves and holes. I wasn’t really expecting the river to be as wild as it was. This was Cole’s first time paddling an IK so it caught him off guard too. He had paddled a regular kayak a few years back so it took some getting used to for him. We paddled a few rapids and made it about an hour and half down the river before we were ready for lunch.
Shoving off from lunch we ran a few more rapids, one of which Cole flipped the IK in. After a graceful timid run down a Class IV rapid Cole decided he wanted to take a break. We put the IK on the front of my boat and I rowed him down the river like a Queen while he drank beers and relaxed sitting in his IK turned barcalounger. After a few more miles we passed the camp where we saw the first group and then proceeded to find our own camp. We ended up finding a great Sandbar in the rocks that worked out perfect. Travis made up his famous Rice, Vegetables and Sausage cooked in a really good beer for 2 hours and we all want to bed happy.
Up early because Travis can’t sleep past six am and has a bad case of ADD we were moving earlier than I expected. This ended up being good because we had about 19 miles of rowing ahead of us. After throwing the Frisbee around for a bit we shoved off at about 10:30am never to see any other people. At this point we rolled up the IK and Cole became my bow Paddler. He helped out in Green Wall and a couple others but for the most part it was good practice for when I bring my grandma next time.
Green Wall. We came upon Green Wall knowing what it would look like from the books description. We stopped at the first place you can scout to take a look. Determining we could catch the next eddy down and get a better look we hopped back in the boats. Travis went first and I followed close behind. Not picking a good line Travis missed the eddy and ended up with a clean, albeit stressful, run down. I caught the eddy and picked my line. The run went according to plan all the way till a poor move at the end. I had Cole in the front of my boat and after dropping in the top perfectly we lined up for the straight line to just right of the last hole. The plan was to have Cole do one forward paddle form the left side to square up against the water coming off the wall as we skirted past the hole. His paddle stroke was more powerful than expected swinging us off center to the wall. The boat went up sideways and cole got sucked into the water. I stayed in the boat and quickly pulled Cole back in the boat as we cruised along. You can see the play by play in the pictures below thanks to Travis missing the eddy and being able to get out and shoot with his camera.
After Green Wall it was smooth sailing. A bunch more fun rapids. A few beers and a BEAR! Yep. I couldn’t believe it. As if National Geographic put him there right next to two waterfalls. It was so cool. At first he looked as though he was staring us down but after a few minutes of watching him he went back to digging up the dirt for snacks. I’ve never been able to be so close to a bear not fearing him. It was amazing.
A friend did our shuttle and ended up putting our car at the confluence of the Rouge so we had a few extra miles of rowing and waiting for Travis. I couldn’t have asked for a better trip. By the end we had seen so much beauty we would joke when looking at gorgeous waterfalls and say to each other “seen it”.
