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Caption: Box Canyon Running the Clark's Fork of the Yellowstone
Caption: Rated as "one of the definitive multi-day class V kayaking trips in North America" by American Whitewater, the Box Canyon of the Clark's Fork is a river respected for its scale and danger.
Chris Korbulic checked in with a report of the classic whitewater trip.
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Caption: While the Box is considered one canyon, it can be broken up in to a few distinct sections by the gorges it cuts into the (scroll) bottom of that canyon. Early on day 2, we enter the first major gorge, walls towering 2000+ feet directly from the water.
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Caption: The campfire cast: Matt Swanson, MD; recent medical school graduate; first time in the Box. Brenden Cronin, USFS (scroll) river ranger; one pot meal gourmet chef. Seth Swallen, Sethsquatch; Yellowstone trail crew; Box veteran. Seth would go on to complete the whole run twice in one day after we finished our three-day trip.
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Caption: Reading water is arguably the most important skill in whitewater kayaking. It takes years of practice and experimentation in all kinds of situations to become an expert, and reading brown water like this is one of the most difficult cases. Luckily the sun was out to give contrast to the surface features as the sediment prevents viewing many of the nuanced water features usually critical in reading water.
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Caption: Calendar Falls: One of the most wonderful feelings on the river is exiting a committing canyon safely and looking back (scroll) upstream, gaining a little more understanding of what you had been locked in to.
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Caption: A final series of portages around unrunnable cascades leads to the final exit of the canyon. There is no grey area about the portages in the Box; you walk, or your (scroll) chances of survival are low. Here though, the entrances to the portages are inviting and look like any other runnable class IV whitewater on the river so it is critical to have detailed beta or paddle with someone who knows exactly where to exit the river and start portaging.
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Caption: The Clark's Fork exits its final canyon into a foreign landscape, having started in the mountainous sub-alpine and finishing in arid desert. The Nevervan was there waiting, ready for another very legal, reasonably paced, calming drive through Yellowstone and back to Idaho.
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Caption: Words and images by Chris Korbulic.
Read the full story: http://blog.eddiebauer.com/2015/07/24/chris-korbulic-runs-the-box-canyon-of-yellowstones-clarks-fork/
#LiveYourAdventure #whitewater #kayaking #river #yellowstone #rapids #adventure #wilderness