Thompson River BC Whitewater Kayaking 2015
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- čas přidán 21. 08. 2024
- This video is about whitewater kayaking on the Thompson River in British Columbia, Canada. I included lots of scenery shots.
From these scenery shots, you can see that this area has arid country and fairly lush country in close proximity. For example, the normal run from the Frog to the confluence with the Fraser River is only about 10 miles long, and the put-in is in the arid country and the lush country is just across the Fraser River from the take-out.
I think the Thompson is one of those rivers where people might question whether it is a class III or class IV. I'd call it a IV. If you were swimming in the whirl pools, you'd likely discover an unforgiving side to this river.
The Thompson is an especially fun big water river. It typically is at a very good level around the first of September when the weather is great and the water is warm. There are a lot of things that add to the enjoyment of a Thompson River trip besides the whitewater like the scenery and the hiking.
Almost all of the substantial rapids are in the upper road side portion of the run, although even in that section it would be quite a scramble to get from the river to the road in many places. It's not the kind of road side river where the shoulder of the road is the river bank.
This river has lots of big eddies. You often have to paddle through big back eddies on the flat water just to keep going downstream.
I first went there about 20 years ago. I was there on Labor Day Weekend in 2015 and it seemed like there were fewer white water kayakers than there were on a typical Labor Day Weekend 20 years ago.
A good level for the Thompson is around 16,000 to 24,000 cfs. Actually, I suspect it is good below that range. I kayaked on it one weekend about 20 years ago when the level was around 32,000 cfs, and it was less fun because the rapids were flatter. The Thompson gets way higher than that each summer, and it typically falls through the ideal range in late summer or fall, which is when the weather is great. So, if your schedule is flexible, you could boat on the Thompson River at your favorite level every year, by just waiting for it to get down to that level. If you're locked into going on Labor Day weekend, it might still be a little high then or maybe even a little low in a very low water year.
If you want to surf the waves I was surfing in this video, I'd recommend a longer old school type kayak because you'll probably need some speed to catch them.
I hope you enjoy my video.
I paddled this 40 years ago. We went every year from Calgary on the September long weekend. I will be going again from Federal Way, WA, just south of Seattle this year with Washington Kayak Club. I am 67 years old now. This will make me feel like I am 27 again. Probably did it 9 times over the years.
Your perception overflow brings back good memories. I used to paddle a large pirouette in the same colour! Paddled the Thompson many times when I lived in North Vancouver. Now live in Quebec near the famous Rouge river. Regards!
I went to the Thompson a lot back in the 90s, and then I started going there again in about 2015. It seemed like a lot more people kayaked there in the 90s than now. Maybe this is because most kayakers are better now and they're doing mostly harder rivers.
I bought a Perception Corsica Matrix back when they were making those. It cracked around the cockpit when it was still under warrantee so I got the Overflow for my replacement boat rather than a new Matrix. I've been paddling the Overflow all of these years. My boats last a long time because I mostly just do big water. I don't know how the Overflow compares to newer boats, but the Overflow performs as well today as it ever did (to state the obvious). I did own a big Pirouette back when it was still being made. I felt I could just "fly around" big water rivers in the Pirouette. Funny that they made an 11 foot long play boat. It was about 24 years ago that I owned the Matrix, so my memory is not super vivid, but I sort of think that may have been the best boat out of the Overflow, Pirouette, and Matrix. I also own the Perception Stikine, which is a pretty good boat if you are going to paddle on a lake with a white water kayak, and it's a good boat if you need a fast boat to surf some wave. I paddled in the Stikine for almost 2 hours today on flat water. Not to ramble on, but fun to talk about the old boats.
I'll Google the Rouge River.
Another fun river is the Clearwater River in BC. The way that river is between cliffs and surging is intimidating for somebody with my level of ability. It looks straight forward, but once on it, it feels kind of scary. It's a beautiful river.
that rock at 2:18-2:20 is called "the frog". that was a cool view of it when you paddled alongside of it.
Glad you like it. I was aware it's called The Frog. I love that place. I like the whirl pools.
@@robertnicholsonkayak6153 ya, i figured you did if you had run it. That tip is about 40' in the air right now, with low water. And barely any snow this winter could see the normal levels doen a fair bit this summer. But, that's better than record floods, which we've had the last 2 years.
Sounds like you live near there. I like to be on the Thompson at about 17,000 to 25,000 cfs (500 to 700 cubic meters/sec). I think it gets much higher than that even in low water years, and then it's just a matter of waiting for it to drop into that range. On a normal year, it's in the ideal range (for me) roughly somewhere from mid-August to mid-September. On a low water year, maybe it will get to that level at the end of July.
Nice video, I surfed skook this year and keen to find more standing waves and post more videos, do you know any waves that might be good for a surfboard?
Pipe Line Wave on the Lochsa River in Idaho is a great one for surf boards. There are lots of videos that are just of surfers surfing this wave. It's very close to Mile Post 113 on Highway 12. I also see surf boarders on the Clark Fork River in Montana about 40 miles west of Missoula near Exit 66 on Highway I-90. It's right below a spot where I-90, the old highway, and the rail road all have bridges, so the place is called Triple Bridges. I think the Pipe Line Wave on the Lochsa is considered the better of the two. Maybe these waves are too far from your home.
Thanks Rob, yeah I was thinking in BC in particular. I know the ones you're talking about though. I'm thinking waves like pink mountain or industrial hole. Only other wave I've surfed is the mountain in kananaskis, ab
Last time I was up there, I recall massive flooding. The water was almost up to the road.
I've always gone to this section of the Thompson in about mid August or later. I've wondered what it looks like in high water.
looks awesome. what class would this be?
I believe some of the rapids are rated class 4. There is a rapid called the Cutting Board that has an island in it. The right side of the island is class V, but few people run it. I never have. The first few miles of this run are near the highway, and all of the harder rapids are in that section. After the highway and river diverge, the difficulty goes down. I'd personally rate the rapids class 3 and 4. The 4s are not hard 4s, but I give them a 4 because of how big the water is. A scenario that would be bad is if a person ended up swimming in the big eddy on river right in Witches Caldron. The whirl pools are big over there, big enough to pull down a kayak. If you have a solid roll, you should do OK on this river. There is really no technical maneuvering required. Also, there are generally easier lines through the rapids. I say any debate over the difficulty of this river, at least at the late summer levels when I was on it, would be whether it is a 3 or 4, not a 4 or 5, with the exception of the right side of Cutting Board. It is a fun trip. Many years ago, I would see a group of kayakers from the Portland, Oregon area there, and they were all regular class 5 boaters, but they still liked to go to the Thompson.