For many kayak destinations, fall time means low water. This can mean that the only paddling options are the local class II-III runs or even that there are no paddling options. There are a few locations though where fall time means the classic creek runs finally get low enough to paddle. Where I live, in South Eastern British Columbia, just so happens to be one of these places. When fall time rolls around the Elk and Spillimachean Rivers finally drop in.
The Upper Elk is the staple, low water run for the East Kootenay region’s class V paddling community. In late summer as all the other local runs start to get too low we start checking in on the Upper Elk. This is the most challenging section of the river and several of the drops on it are constricted, steep and have severe caves at the bottom. Because of this the Upper Elk is not really runnable until it reaches very low flows.
The Upper Elk features several class IV and V rapids. The rapids are a mix of slides and ledges constricted through a narrow canyon. The run starts on the reservoir in Elko, BC. A few minutes of flat water brings you to the dam. Just downstream of the dam, the river descends down a slide into the start of the upper canyon (featured photo). The first waterfall is Horseshoe Falls. A technical lead in, followed by a 12′ ledge makes this a dream rapid while a serious cave behind the curtain of the falls makes mistakes dangerous. The biggest rapid of the run is Triple Drop. A sequence of three technical back to back ledges ending in a sticky river wide hole makes this one of the area’s most challenging rapids.
The run ends in a portage around an unrunnable rapid. A 20′ foot seal launch follows to access the pool above Leap of Faith. The ultra-classic 40’er lands in a huge pool so it’s an ideal waterfall to practice form on. After the waterfall the river continues on downstream through the Middle Canyon. This section of easy class IV creeking never gets too low and flows through one of the most beautiful box canyons in the world. The big down side to the run lies in the takeout. Every lap ends in a steep hike out straight up a 300 vertical foot staircase built into the canyon wall.
Less than three hours away lies the Elk’s fall companion run, The Spillimachean. Often called “Spilli” for short, this run drops quickly from a reservoir through two Kilometers of steep class V boulder gardens. Like the Elk, Spilli is way too high to run during most of the summer season. However, unlike the Elk, Spilli will get too low at some point in the fall but most years this doesn’t happen until October. The run also starts with a dam but below that it is much more continuous than the Elk. The hardest rapid, L-drop, lies at the bottom of a steep sequence of boulder gardens and ledges. The river narrows to a 10′ wide pinch with a hole across it, right before making a 90 degree turn off a 10′ tall ledge. L-drop is often portaged but offers the confident boater an opportunity to test their skills.
Just 20 meters downstream of L-drop is “Happy Ending,” a final clean 20’er to finish the run. Laps of the falls can be easily hiked on river right and it’s a great place to practice tricks like “leans” and “ear dips.” A short section of easy class IV boulder gardens leads down to the power station and the road. It’s always a shame when the water gets low but it doesn’t seem that bad when you’ve got Upper Elk and Spilli in your backyard!
The Kayak State 