Jaws
We took our time breaking camp and packing. We packed a little more gear on my raft because the rapids below would be a bit more difficult. I was still concerned about logs in the river, which are a typical problem on the Upper Sauk, but the run was cleaner than I had seen it in years.
We made it to the midway point, grabbed the remaining dry firewood, and took advantage of the facilities. We talked to several people we knew who were running the Middle Sauk, and then we took off.
Lee and Chris decided to scout Jaws, which is the big rapid on the run. I waited until they were halfway down and I ran it while they watched. I then waited for them to finish scouting and run the rapid. Lee had a minor swim at the bottom, but got back into his boat easily. He had another flip on the next rapid from running it too far left.
Once we got through all of that, we continued down the river, with a short stop for lunch. We passed the two Middle Sauk takeouts and headed onto the Lower Sauk. Almost immediately we ran into a sketchy rapid with logs in it. This took a little work, but we made it through easily.
A bit later, I came to a place where I had to make a choice, and neither option was particularly appealing. On the left, the water channeled under a low log across most of the river. Taking this channel would mean frantically getting to shore and carrying the boats around. On the right, there was a channel with logs in it, but there seemed to be a way through. I chose this way, and immediately realized I would have to duck under a log. Going under the log, I lifted it up, and a moment later it came down onto my head - not hard, but I was glad to have my helmet on.
The campsite I had hoped to get to was now upstream, so we continued on. The water moved fast, and many possible options came and went before I could get to shore. Finally, we rounded a corner and came to a big beach next to a rapid. We had a view of mountains, plenty of space to spread out, and a big log next to the camp to dry gear on.
We settled into camp just before a light rain started. We set up a tarp as a wall on the canopy to keep the wind and rain out, and had dinner. Just before bedtime, the rain came up a bit, but we were prepared for it.
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