Sometimes you just get lucky! As paddlers proliferate, classic first decents are becoming more and more of a rarity in the world-at-large. However, once again, our beloved Vancouver Island has come through for us! Jan, Jakub and I went to Harris expecting medium flows, and instead found it just a bit higher (gotta work on my model some more…) than our assorted testosterone levels. Thus disheartened, we decided to take a look at Hemmingsen Creek on the way over the pass to the Gordon. After stopping at the bridge over the lower canyon and being completly awestruck by some amazing drops with way too much water, we ventured towards the upper reaches just hoping for a glimpse or two down into the upper Hemmingsen valley for possible future reference. However, after a few stops and quick footwork by Jan and Jakub down to the river in a couple of places, we drove up to a nice boulder-garden section that was quite close to the road and looked an ideal put-in. Time to give it a go! What we found was no less exciting or beautiful than the very best runs so far discovered on the island. Upper Hemminsen is a jewel! I can’t really recall all of the drops (we’ll have to go back and learn them), but here’s a brief synopsis of the run: No portages, easy putin, incredible old-growth scenery surrounding a surreal canyon, no class V, but several bodacious IV+ drops, including one that was quite a ‘leap of faith’, and virtually continous III-IV all throughout. The section we ran is only a little more than 2 km long (by road reconing), but packed with fabulous stuff. The ‘leap of faith’ drop was about a 10-12 foot horizon line with sheer walls on both sides that made adequate scouting virtually impossible. Definitely some ‘pucker-factor’ involved in the decision to enter the drop just above it, but man are we glad we did, as the canyon just got better and better! The only down side was the take out, but it really wasn’t that bad, especially given the quality run. Anyway, we’ll be back soon!

2010 UPDATE –> Thanks to recent logging in the valley, 2 major logjams now interrupt the Hemmingsen canyon. The first is an ever-increasing lumber pile at the ledge drop with a large undercut on the left side. This one is no longer runnable, and is portaged most easily on the left. The second is in the airplane-turn rapid right above “leap-of-faith”. As of December 2010, it’s still possible to bump down the right side, carry around the narrowest portion of the logjam, and put in at the base of the wall on river right leading to the pool above leap of faith. However, if this one moves downstream, it’ll be big trouble since the walls around the entrance to leap of faith are sheer/vertical.

Also of note, we’re using a new take out now that’s just upstream on river right of the manky section under the lower bridge. This adds about 4 km of class II-III, but is a much easier hike that the original river left takeout below the canyon.