Steep, continuous and committing with various slides and drops.
Class
V
Scouting / Portaging
Prickly
Time
3-4 hours
When to Go
Winter - In when most other things around there are too low
Satellite
First known descent by Sage Schmaltz, Sophie Gilfillan and Lucas Hately in Spring 2025.
This run consists of a super steep, stout canyon (0.8 km long and drops ~75 m of elevation) and a beautiful 30ish minute paddle out . The canyon is super stacked and nonstop.
Scouting Double Tap from above
It starts off Double Tap which is a cool drop with an island in the middle and on river left there is a double drop sort of thing (10-12 ft tall). On river right there is a waterfall (10-12 ft ) into a tight slot that is doable, but you would need to be very on line.
River right side of Double Tap
Lucas Hately running Double Tap
This is followed by a small slide hole boogie rapid. The next horizon line is slippery hotdog which also has two options, on river left there is a series of 2 smaller slides, and on river right there is a stout drop/slide. It is possible to scout or portage both channels from the center island might be hard to get on the island when the water is higher but it was no problem at this level (Browns at 10, stick gauge at 6.5),
Blurry Photo of the top part of the river right channel on Slippery Hot Dog
Eddie out asap on river left after the entrance to scout super sexy slide.
Scouting Super Sexy Slide from river right (scouting from river left is easier and better)
Bottom view of Super Sexy Slide
Blury photo of Sage running Super Sexy Slide (top half)
Blurry Photo of Sophie running Super Sexy Slide (bottom half)
The river joins up and quickly drops into a ~100ft slide. There is a bit of time to deal with a swimmer before Jingle Pot Slot which consists of a slot drop on the left with undercut banks or you can run center and there is a super fun double drop.
Midway down Jingle Pot Slot from river right
The center line looks manky but is quite fun. Charge left to avoid a nasty hole backed up by a big rock. To scout eddie out river right on the left hand turn after Super Sexy Slide. Next is upper entrance slide, which consists of a slide into a backed up hole, go center and charge left.
Scouting Jingle Pot Slot from river right
This is followed by a fun little curler boof on the left. To scout, eddie out on river right after Jinglepot Drop (just around the corner). Around the next corner is the lower entrance slide, and is not worth scouting; run center through two wave holes and then move right down a small, slidey hole thing.
Bottom view of the upper entrance slide (the entrance slides are at the end of the canyon due to a hiking in error the first time around)
This is the end of the canyon; from here, paddle a class II boogie rapid and then a half-hour paddle out to the take out bridge or to the ocean, where you can paddle a little further and take out right at the liquor store (49.5251663691617, -124.84815684737005).
General Notes - Be prepared for lots of prickly bushes when scouting
Access Considerations - To access this run, you need the gate to be opened; the hours are posted on the gate. On the weekends the gate is open from 8 am - 4 pm. The road is not bad. There is a rope set up to lower boats down.
Put In Notes - Drive up Buckley Bay Main about 3.5 Km. There is a small turn off on the left (https://maps.app.goo.gl/Ppo3pbsntG9HJPpy7). Park here and walk down the overgrown road on the left. when the road starts to bend walk into the forest to the rope (https://maps.app.goo.gl/6Dr72ECXNBHZGVKe7).
Take out notes - Take out at the Island Highway Bridge (https://maps.app.goo.gl/PgyPsGQXMQNSZYjS6), or paddle out to the ocean and paddle to wherever you decided to park.
Visual Gauge Notes - There is no online gauge for the Tsable. A good indicator for a medium flow is 10 -12 cms on the Browns River and dropping. It could be done lower or higher. There is also a stick gauge on river right under the Tsable River Trestle (https://maps.app.goo.gl/XtdLit7VSF7eWgeV6). Look for around 6 and a half for a medium flow.
