Every morning I check the CFS river level ("cubic feet per second" of flow) on the computer. It's measured every 15 minutes. That measurement reveals what faces the river will show me. At 50 CFS south of the camp landing there will be rock exposures and vortex rapids that are a treat; at 100 CFS the vortex is gone. It's all been gone here recently. It's been a long drought. Throughout the summer the river set new drought lows in 61 years of record-keeping. Kayaking was out of the question. Grass was growing where shoals had been; Deep spots had become fishing bonanzas if you could figure out a way to get to them. It was depressing to drive down to the river bank and imagine the water disappearing and the river bed simply becoming a long, sunken tree line. Then, last week, several days of gulley-washing, flood-flashing rains hit the area and the river rose to over 300 CFS. A great weekend for kayaking. In about 2 weeks the colors will dazzle for in small window of time, and by Thanksgiving the color will be gone. Strike while the iron is hot. (Earl, Chase, Miranda, Zebbie, Harper, Walt, Topie, Max)
