Throwback Thursday - June 25/2015

Of course we can run the Red Deer - we have done the Kicking Horse.

This has been heard so many times for a long time. 

The Red Deer River is rated a class #3 river while the Kicking Horse River that flows through Golden B.C. is rated as a class #4. First, we have to know what the class difference means. For a definition of this rating system please refer to the Scale of River Difficulty.

Most of the driving in Alberta happens between Calgary and Edmonton. People are exposed to the calm Class #1 Red Deer River drifting under the bridge outside the city of Red Deer. Somehow people think that that section of the river defines its entire length.

Over many years we found it was often worthwhile to get out and scout the rapid called the big Rock. Many people did. Once while checking out the Big Rock rapid we met other paddlers who were doing the same. We exchanged some comments about the complexity of the rapid and the care required to avoid a swim. They responded that they had paddled the Kicking Horse so weren’t concerned about this rapid.

This set off an alarm bell!

Once they departed back to their raft we looked at each other and one of us guides commented “I think we are going to see the dynamics of a flip”. 

We decided to walk nonchalantly back towards our raft. We watched them to see when they launched their raft and were committed to running the rapid. We quickly ran back to a good elevated spot that offered a wide view of the coming carnage.

This was going to be entertaining! You could examine the way the raft moved through the water and slowly turned over sideways and spilt its contents. They were a solo raft that hadn’t set up a safety nor were they prepared to. They all got a long swim. It must have been almost 1 km.

It is important to learn from others mistakes. We learned how not to run a rapid and the importance of safety. We relearned that just because you run one river you can’t assume you can run a different one. There are always those unexpected surprises. Just don’t get cocky around water.

Big Rock rapid is gone. The river has found a new path down the valley floor and the water doesn’t flow over the Big Rock anymore.

New rapids have been created with the resulting new challenges. A river trip is always fun and interesting