I: Dam to Pool

The first difficulty is getting safely into the river. As flows increase, the current in the put-in eddy near the dam gains strength, making it difficult to get into your boat and then to charge out into the current. The first two rapids can be scouted by walking along the trail on the East side of the river (a section of the Ice Age trail). Just below the first rapid there is a rock outcropping you can walk out onto scout both drops. This may be used as an alternate (though less than ideal) put in.

The first rapids has 2 main lines. The left line is to the right of a large rock. There are a few waves and one rock that pops up just before a large rock at levels below 1800cfs in the channel. The right line is harder to get to, as you need to ferry across a lot of water to get there. You then run the current about 15 feet off the right bank.

The second rapid in this first sequence forms a catch-on-the-fly wave at levels above 1500cfs which increases in strength to 4000cfs, but is still playable. The river splits, with most of the flow going straight into a boulder garden, and a lesser amount heading off to the right. This first section ends in a large pool before the next section begins.