Torrens River (III+ -IV)

May 16th 2004

After running the Red Willow River in low flow, Rob mentioned to me that Kelly Cowan had been looking at doing an un-run section on the Torrens River. I asked, "where's that?" "Up the Two Lakes Road", Rob said. Ugg, visions of muddy trucks, broken tranys, and being benighted flashed through my head. "Kelly mentioned that it is quite the nice run", no doubt it was! Next thing you know, we are in Rob's driveway prepping for a little adventure.

After organizing the 8 boats and enduring a 2 hour trek up the Two Lakes Road, we were starting to squeeze our oversized bodies into our stinky neoprene. Sherman Meadows, our takeout, is quite the nice camp spot and worth an overnighter next time.

After setting up the shuttle, we started the arduous trek up the quad trail to the upper put in. Managing a simple towing system was a must for this little journey. Some of us managed to travel light as the hike up did raise the internal core temps beyond a comfortable level. After about 30 minutes up the trail we were able to see one of the first rapids of the upper section, "Slice and Dice". After taking a 5 minute breather, we all continued to trudge up the narrow quad trail to a suitable put in spot. After bushwhacking down to the river's edge, we prepped for the bump and grind.

Initially, the river was quite shallow requiring a lot of rock dodging and pushing ourselves off of the river bottom. After about 10-15 minutes of leaving plastic on the river bottom, we came to our first little objective, "the ramp". This 4 foot slanting ledge ended in a deep flat hole with a slight cross current from river right. We all managed clean little lines down, including Kelly who went off backwards (I think intentionally!). Shortly thereafter we came to "Slice and Dice". Slice is a nice 4 foot drop into a deep hole with a tree on the river right side of the rapid. A nice pool preps you for the second half of the rapid dubbed "Dice". Dice is a slanting ramp at 20-30 degrees lasting for about 30-35 feet. This narrow slide was one of the nicer drops of this upper section, and worth a hike back up to do again.

Many ledges follow after including a 3-4 foot ledge into a "v" shaped hole dubbed, "Jim's Dilemma". Jim Myers ended up disappearing in his Dagger Showdown for a few seconds, and was an inch away from pulling the toggle, none the less he did keep his headspace and managed to re-emerge to see daylight.

A bunch of bumping and grinding brings you back to where the original put in is. Shortly thereafter brings you to one of the nicest endo holes I have ever seen dubbed, "The Retro Endo Hole". This pourover flushed the entire contents of the Torrens right onto your deck providing countless hours of entertainment. This is a great spot for a lunch and to do a little "fishin". Kelly, next time use a lure. After "popin" a few, we ended up trundling down multiple 2-4 foot ledges into clean little pools reminiscent of the Lower Highwood River in Southern Alberta. After negotiating the ledges, we ended up at a rapid which had a slanting rock back on river left. This rapid started off with a pillow up against the rock wall, a small turn around a pourover, and a small left turn into a small pool. One of the more technical drops of the entire run.

Beyond a few little playspots, we ended up at the brink of Sherman Falls. This 4-5 foot drop has multiple lines and was run from the extreme right to extreme left. Hiking up to do the drop, or even the seal launch off of river right is well worth it. Scout this drop on river right. The take out is just to the right about 100 yards down from Sherman Falls. Be sure not to venture further as you will be looking at the Class V+ section of the Lower Torrens.

Definitely worth a trip in higher water. WoooHooo.

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Descriptions

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Map

• 83L04 - Kakwa Falls 1:50,000
• 83L- Wapiti 1:250,000