The Fun: If the water is high the fun starts in the pool below Overlander as it gets to be very hard to paddle across to the entrance to the canyon. If the Water is low you will have to wait until Carom Shot has a couple of available options. At high water you will already have had some fun by this point and Carom Shot will be flat. Cruise through the canyon and check out the scenery on your way to Wonder Garden. Hop out and scout on river right or river left, or both, there is a huge sieve in this rapid that you should identify before running it for the first time. At high the line is way different than at low so check it out if you haven’t been on the river at the current level.

A short flat section leads to a nearly river wide hole which is the start of the next hard section river. Scout if you are not sure but right seems to work and left as well but right is easier. Snake your way through the next rapid; there are plenty of mid-stream eddies, at low water, so you can boat scout as you go. At high you will be through before you know it and be headed towards two big holes on river left. Low or high, skirt these holes on the right side and cruise into the wave train leading towards the entrance to Terminator.

On river left, mainly at low water, there are eddies on river left to stop in so that you can scout. At high you should know that scouting is very difficult and that you are going to probably rock through Terminator only having seen it from Hargraves Bridge. The entrance rapid into Terminator is horrible at high and still bad at low, the easy way is to snake left and then, at low, hit the eddy, on river right, above Terminator. At high the easy way is to go left-ish and hammer up onto the diagonal coming off of river left. Don’t go too slow or you will end up being pushed into the hole at the bottom. Don’t go too fast though or you will end up skipping over the diagonal and landing in the eddy of doom. If you hit this eddy paddle out the middle, not the top. At the top you will just get stuffed back into the eddy repeatedly.

After Terminator there are some big holes to avoid and then you will run the rapid left of the house size rock, at low, and cruise to the end. At high you will run the rapid left of the house size pour over that is created by the house size rock and cruise your way to the end.

If the water is medium there is sometimes a massive surf wave under Hargraeves Bridge but be wary there are also some monster holes waiting for their turn to kick you ass.

Sean Allen

Start the day, and season, off right, Overlander Falls at incredibly low flows. Photo: Keith Allen

Sean Allen in Carom Shot at low flows.

Terminator at really low water.

Overlander Falls almost as high as you want it to be