Adams 2020

Surf’s up on the Adams River September 2020

Hard to beat the September long weekend on the beautiful and very fun Adams River. What’s not to like about warm water, lots of adrenaline and good laughs.

This was traditionally the official RCABC’s AGM and wrap-up summer weekend where large numbers came together to cheer each other through the canyon and swap summer adventures. Many will remember camping at Dan Dunn’s farm, eating fresh corn and square dancing to Brian Creer’s calling. There is something for everyone from paddling the North Thompson or Shuswap River to running the Adams or hiking into the canyon and watching the action.

It was a small but mighty group that met up on Saturday morning. We spent the next three days running the river in different combinations of solo and tandem. Every day was a new adventure with water levels dropping slowly over the weekend. Everyone made it through the canyon upright at least once.

The put-in at the weir ensured a quick warm up or cool down – hit the eddy high on the right or ride the wave train. Jet-ferries at the weir were warp speed and the waves were best at the high level on Saturday and bucking bronco as the river dropped. Options for running the rest of the river include DR (down river) which gets you there in about an hour or playing the various spots with good surfing and jet ferrying over two to three hours. We chose the play option and surfed to our heart’s content at the half dozen great wave sites on the way down the river.

The canyon is definitely the highlight. In past years (lower water), it has been a contest to see how many eddies you could hit on the way through. However, this year, they were mostly non-existent except for the first one on the right at the entrance. To make it in you had to bounce off the big wave in the first drop to have it kick you around. One boat chose to find out if there was a second eddy below. They made it in but it was a bubbling pool that blew them out and over. It was fun while it lasted.

The action continued below the canyon with playing in some great surfing waves. We met a solo paddler in a razor-thin squirt boat. Check out squirt boats online. Who knew it was a sport with its own World Championships? The boat is literally below the surface of the water most of the time. We watched as he entered the rapid from the eddy and slowly submerged into the water, spinning enders and twirling his paddle on the way down. We now understood the full goggled look as he and the boat re-emerged 10 to 20 metres downstream after 5-10 seconds. Not to be outdone, a couple of our canoes did their own squirt boat imitations on the final day submerging from the canyon.

Thanks to Janice for capturing the third day on film with some great shots in the canyon and on one of the surfing waves. Thanks also to Brian Salter from Summerland who got some interesting video footage. These will be posted at some point.

Jack’s campsite is a nice spot close to the take out and about five minutes from the beach. There is lots of space for tents and a huge communal fire pit with a big grill and chairs all around. The days ended with a swim and nightfall around the fire built by Kara under a starry sky.

Mark your calendars for next year and let’s make this a big club event. We will organize a big corn party like the old days. Be there or be….

Adams River participants: Leigh Burton, Kara de Lange, Alison Hart, Michael “Max” Maxwell, Janice and Carey Robson, Brian Salter and son-in-law Josh.

River Levels:
Sat Sept 5 – 75 cumecs
Sun Sept 6 – 74 cumecs
Mon Sept 7 – 74 cumecs

Submitted by Alison Hart