After an intense few weeks up in northern BC, we headed back to Whistler. After a few laps on the Ashlu a team of us decided it was about time to go on another adventure. After 2 trips down the Stikine we thought we deserved some class 4-5 read and run multiday action. The Clendenning seemed like the obvious choice.
The gauge for the Elaho read 150-180cms (a nice high flow) on the diurnal, perfect. Little did we know that the unusually high alpine temperatures would spike the river to over 250cms! The team which consisted of myself (Ric Moxon), Ryan (Baby Bird) Lucas, Sam Rickettes, Riley Best, Brandon Willms and Rich Kemble rose to the challenge and made it to the bottom safe and sound!
The white water was next level, the class 4-5 had become un-runnable class 6 (portage fest) and the class 4 had become class 5+. Eddies were virtually non-existent and rapids ran back to back. A swim was NOT an option. Adrenaline was pumping the second you pealing into the main flow!
The scenery however was mind blowing! Words cannot describe so I am not even going to try. Check out the photos. We were even able to walk under the glacier. Unfortunately there are only a couple of photos of the team kayaking as we all wanted to be in our kayaks, sticking together for safety!
The Large Burn proved to be the tool for the job yet again! Awesome kayak.
