Scouting the rapid under the warm buzz of the afternoon sun, I couldn't make out the feature we had traveled so far to experience. Thousands of feet deep in Hell's Canyon on the Oregon/Idaho border we were standing above the infamous and intimidating Granite Rapid on the Snake River. Adrenaline still high from our successful run down the first difficult rapid 'Wild Sheep', we knew making it through Granite safely was the key to our whole trip. Most of the year Granite is a nasty pour-over hole, that eats boats and maytags them in a violent frenzy before spitting swimmers downstream. At river flows above 18,000 CFS an unbelievably glassy massive green wave forms, with a narrow margin of entry and real consequences for carnage.
Peeling out into the current I was scared, the thundering roar of the rapid and doubt of my intended line wavered in my mind. With each stroke into the water I breathed, "follow the line, stay calm, be ready to roll" I told myself. As the horizon line cleared and I started to see what was ahead, the river accelerated into a breakneck speed. Glistening in light, the tongue of this mighty rapid gave way to the most beautiful, gigantic wave. I sped down the trough and screamed up the other side of the wave, it felt 50 feet tall. Looking back in the slack water below I was astounded at what had happened so quickly. Through all the doubt and fear I was hardly splashed.
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| Photo: TriBri1 (Not me). |