The Wig-Wam

Class: IV (V)

Quality: 4

Location: Elko, East Kootenays, BC

Trip-Time: Half to Full Day, the shuttle takes an hour one way

Level: Visual, it can be roughly correlated to the Elk at 100-200 cms but this is not a reliable gauge for the level

Put-In: 49.284340, -114.954481

From Elko get on the highway towards Fernie. About halfway to Fernie you will see the first bridge over the Elk visible from the highway. This is your turn and the rest of the way is on logging roads. The bridge leads to a “T” intersection. Take the right turn and then an immediate left turn at the split. A few Kms will bring you to a four way intersection, go right here. Continue straight through any intersection until you reach a split in the road. Take the right option to stay on the Wig-Wam forest service road. You’ll pass a gate right before you get to the put-in on Lodgepole Creek, if this is open you can drive down this to put in directly on the Wig-Wam. However this gate is locked until June so most Wig-Wam runs start on Lodgepole Creek.

Take-Out: 49.179064, -115.167802

Take-out is easy. Just take out at the highway bridge on the Lower Elk.

If you put in on Lodgepole Creek, paddle for a few kilometers to get to the confluence with the Wig-Wam. The whitewater builds as you head downstream. At low water the rapids are mostly class III/IV manky boulder gardens but at medium and high water these are pushy class IV/V big water rapids. After several kilometers of this you’ll get to the landslide rapid. You’ll know your there because the river takes a big left hand bend into a deep canyon with a massive landslide on river left. Get out on the left to scout because this rapid is constantly changing. When I was there last it was a huge river wide hole with no sneak option. It can be portaged on river left over the landslide and at low water there may be a sneak as well.

After getting to the bottom of the landslide rapid you just have one more big rapid called “Cannabis Corner.” Supposedly it got this name because back in the day the locals would get out and get high after the landslide rapid because they had forgotten about Cannabis Corner. Then, after being roughly reminded about this long rapid, they would proceeded to forget about it again because of the weed and so the cycle continued until it was dubbed the Cannabis Corner. A kilometer of flat water brings you down to the confluence with the Elk. Enjoy high water on the Lower Elk to finish off the run.