Cheakamus River - Balls To The Wall

Vitals

Locale: Whistler, British Columbia
What It's Like: Extension of the Upper Cheak - great class IV-IV+ river running, and a bonus waterfall. A lot of wood.
Class: IV-IV+
Scouting/Portaging: Scouting is ok. Where you would want to portage isn't easy.
Level: Online gauge: Cheakamus River - this gauge is at the put in.
Time: 2-3 hours for a relaxed first trip.
When To Go: When the Upper Cheak is at or below 2.5 - wood is the limiting factor for flows, not water volume.
Info From: July 2009 at 2.45.
Other Beta: None.
Map: Click here for a map and here for directions.

Description

The Cheakamus River is synonymous with Whistler kayaking, largely because of the ultra-classic Upper Cheak section near Function Junction. Unbeknownst to many and maybe avoided by others because of tales of epic log jams and the Whistler waste water treatment plant, there is an equally fun and perhaps more adventurous stretch that departs from the Upper Cheak take out and ends at the confluence with Callaghan Creek. It's a little bit harder, a little bit more committing and it has a great waterfall for those so inclined. You can run it as a stand-alone section of whitewater if you want something short, but it's best combined with the Upper Cheak. This section is half a grade harder than the Upper Cheak and there is a lot of wood on the run, mainly held up in 3 or 4 gigantic log jams. One mandates a portage and another you can paddle under as long as the river is low enough.

The Cheak has an online gauge. The gauging station is at the junction between the Upper and Balls sections and it is accurate. Alternatively, you can physically look at the gauge. A good medium flow for Balls To The Wall is around 2.4 meters. I'd peg low water at 2.3 m, and the upper limit at 2.5 m. This section can't be run at high water because of the log jams.

Access is straightforward. The put in is the same as the take out for the Upper Cheak. Just west of Whistler, turn south at the Function Junction exit off highway 99. Following the river left logging road (Cheakamus Lake Road) first brings you over the river and then up the river left side. An almost immediate turn to the left brings you to a large parking area, a fire ring, a grungy camp site and gauge (down the trail). The take out is west down highway 99 from Function - just before you cross over Callaghan Creek, the Daisy Lake FSR turns off to the left. Follow the signs for Whistler Bungee. A short trip down this dirt road brings you to a bridge over the Cheakamus - the take out. There is good camping around here - the CalCheak camp site is along this dirt road and although you have to pay it is much nicer than the dirty site at the put in.

On the water there is not much to speak of at the start. Splashy water floats you past the Whistler waste water treatment plant (think sewage) - although the water quality does drop when you get past here it is still much better then many places that people have been known to go kayaking.

More easy river leads into the first rapid - Balls To The Wall. It's a sweet, easy waterfall with a tricky run out through a boily mini canyon. After this great warm up, a few bends in the river bring you to the first major log jams - right now there are big log piles on either side of the river - the first rapid, squeezed between the wood, is runnable but is pretty high consequence as the next rapid is fully (and maybe permanently) clogged with wood. Portaging is easiest on the right, and it has a tricky put in.

A few rapids in the canyon below the portage is a log jam that you have to paddle under that stops the river from being runnable at high water. After a strong boof over a fairly big hole, the walls fall away and the river eases to class II for a short distance. When the walls close up again get ready for the big finale rapid, and a sometimes tedious paddle out through a braided section that collects wood.

With that beta about Balls To The Wall, go and give it a shot - I don't think you'll be disappointed.