Seeing 200 cfs on the USGS satellite gauge, we drove down to have a look. The gauge is above the bridge on

Glenwood Springs Road. Brown water ran over broken ledges just below the bridge. We found a put-in on private but unposted land on the NW corner upstream. I was quickly on the water, while Ellie stayed ashore to look for hikes.

Both banks were forested. The right was USFS land, while the left bank had a few cabins. Murder Creek runs fairly straight SE from there toward its junction with the Little River. There were no more rapids for about 3/4 mile, but then a class 2 series of broken ledges appeared. A canoe-like craft was pinned vertically against a rock at the top. It seemed unlikely that anyone would spill a canoe before even getting into the rapid. Maybe a flood tore the boat from a cabin mooring. I had no difficulty threading the chutes.

There was another mile of forest and flat water before the next rapid appeared, framed by rocky slopes on both sides, and with Baker Branch entering through a notch on the left. The USFS now owns the left bank, and some of the right. This was a more challenging rapid, one of those I am reluctant to disparage as a class 2, because it did not have open chutes or easily recognized and negotiated routes. Peering over the top, I found a tight, rough route left of center. Smaller, easier ledges followed, and then Murder Creek subsided again into flat water for almost another mile.

Rock bluffs on the left signaled the approach to the final rapid, a ledge crossing the entire creek. I could see a USFS overlook high up the left bluff. The ledge appeared to have about five feet in total drop, with more in the sloping approach. Even with almost 200 cfs, I did not think there was enough water to just boof off anywhere, so I looked for a sloping cross-chute I remembered from the Will Reeves photo on the AW site.

The problem was a very strong tailwind. I needed to get through shallows between rocks on the approach to find the top of the chute, but the wind kept blowing the Synergy sideways. By the time I saw where the chute entrance must be, I was blown too far left. Going down next to the left bank was my only option, and I couldn't even do that cleanly. A rock spun me around, and I finished the drop upright and dry, but backwards. I ferried back and forth to see the ledge from below. Quite scenic and impressive, though it offered no holes or waves at this level.

There was another mile plus of flat water to the $3 boat ramp on the west bank above the Hwy 441 bridge. Cabins dotted the right bank. The river bottom forest on the left bank was marked by Weyerhauser signs; in fact it is now USFS land. I spotted Ellie bushwhacking, so I pulled over to have her board and ride down to the take-out. Murder Creek often exceeds 200 cfs in wet months, and I le

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