Overcoming Fear of Whitewater

lowangle al said:

Now I only fear pinning my boat, getting beat up swimming a long rocky rapid or drowning.

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I should also have mentioned a hidden rock in standing waves.

Whitewater doesn't scare me. It's the rocks and trees that are hiding in that water (very common around here) that scare me. That was the demise of Walt Blackadar on the nearby south fork of the Payette. If you don't know who that is, you should, and it should give you pause.

I have a rule about not paddling anything I'm not willing to swim in. Age and injury have resulted in me not being the strong swimmer I once was, so that has me staying out of anything greater than class 3. And even some of that is sketchy.

Some good questions...

GDahl said:

1. What was the highest class WW you've paddled thru on a wilderness trip?

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I'd say 2+. A 3 was considered, but I chose to line around it.

GDahl said:

Have you ever capsized in a rapid/had injuries or canoe damage?

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Capsized, yes. Injured or damaged, no.

GDahl said:

2. Did you have any instruction before going on your 1st solo back country trip with WW?

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I've seen it said that anything less than 3 isn't really whitewater. By that standard, I have never been in whitewater on a solo trip. Neither have I had what I would call formal instruction. I'm unlikely to run anything higher than 2 when solo with a tripping load.

Steve in Idaho said:

Whitewater doesn't scare me. It's the rocks and trees that are hiding in that water (very common around here) that scare me. That was the demise of Walt Blackadar on the nearby south fork of the Payette. If you don't know who that is, you should, and it should give you pause.

I have a rule about not paddling anything I'm not willing to swim in. Age and injury have resulted in me not being the strong swimmer I once was, so that has me staying out of anything greater than class 3. And even some of that is sketchy.

Some good questions...

I'd say 2+. A 3 was considered, but I chose to line around it.


Capsized, yes. Injured or damaged, no.


I've seen it said that anything less than 3 isn't really whitewater. By that standard, I have never been in whitewater on a solo trip. Neither have I had what I would call formal instruction. I'm unlikely to run anything higher than 2 when solo with a tripping load.

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Thanks Steve, for providing your thoughtful input.

Steve in Idaho said:

Whitewater doesn't scare me. It's the rocks and trees that are hiding in that water (very common around here) that scare me. That was the demise of Walt Blackadar on the nearby south fork of the Payette. If you don't know who that is, you should, and it should give you pause.

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It is definitely the unseen obstacles that prowl my nightmares.

I looked up Walt Blackadar and with all due respect, he was a kayaker . According to the accident report of his death, there were known additional risks. They were warned of an obstruction in the rapids, but did not scout it. Walt was still recovering from shoulder surgery; his strength and mobility were impacted.

This is from American Rivers Accident Report.

That said he did some first descents and was a highly skilled white water kayaker.

For me, at least up till now, whitewater paddling and wilderness tripping have been two different things. I really haven’t been on a trip where the two overlap. I regularly paddle class II/III rivers solo in my whitewater boat, and tandem in my tripping boat (float bags, not gear). The biggest river I have done in the tandem is the Dead at 1800 (class II/III), and we made it down fine.

Of course, taking out the float bags and filing the boat up with gear makes a huge difference. I’ve done some quickwater/easy class I in a loaded boat, but that is about it. It’s hard enough to recover a tripping boat with float bags in it, I can’t image trying to recover one filled with gear in a significant rapid.

Hopefully that will change this year. I’d really like to do the St. John this spring – two class III rapids. I’d also like to do the St. Croix which has smaller rapids, but more of them – at least from what I hear.

We'll see...

I think you need to change more than your gear. You'll need to change how you run rapids, by doing back ferries and going slower than the current and avoiding the big stuff. I think that when you make not flipping your highest priority that you won't flip, at least with your skills.