Usually the best course when running a gravel/willow/bulrush bar on the Verde or Gila is to take the first, highest channel with the steepest gradient, then hope it stays open. As I passed the mouth of Tangle Creek, my instincts told me to stay high, not drop in early, and then I’d probably get pretty close to the bottom of the bars before having to drag, line or portage.

This time my instincts were good. It’s like tree skiing: you just trust that an opening will come along. Good luck finding a similar line. I ran high through the bars, hung up once but easily pushed off into a new, narrow channel, and finally came to a fairly solid weir of vegetation. I lined and pushed through this and was in the clear. As I followed my channel on down, I went past the main channels coming in on the left. Sure enough, they were completely closed by downed willows. There would be a serious entrapment hazard here due to the push of the current in the main channels, whereas my side run was pretty easy to work in, not enough push to give me trouble when I was walking around in the channel.

Below that it was lovely class II, sunny wilderness to the Sheep Bridge. Not much later came the slack water. The lake is at full pool or close to it, so I had to paddle about nine miles, with some headwind naturally. I was lucky to find a tolerable camp. Almost the entire lake shore is blocked by rafts of flood debris.

All in all, an interesting adventure. I was also lucky that the night temperatures were cool. All that water in the sloughs is going to produce an epic mosquito crop as soon as it warms up a little. They were already starting up at the lake.

Happy paddling,

Bryan Burke

bryantburke@hotmail.com