05. Upper Clear Creek ("Kermits")

The Kermits (or Upper Canyon) stretch of Clear Creek is a great after-work run full of quality, continuous class IV creeking. The section runs through the clear creek season (generally mid-May through mid-July) and is the hardest commercially rafted section on the river. The run begins across the street from the Two Bears Tap and Grill (which used to be called 'Kermit's Bar and Grill') near where highway 6 meets I-70 and the action starts just downstream with two of the hardest rapids, Beaver One and Beaver Two. These can be easily scouted from the road before putting in, but Beaver One is either boofed on the far left or down the middle tongue. For Beaver Two, enter center then cut left. After the beavers, the river picks up very into very continuous read and run class IV. Once the canyon narrows and you see your first blind horizon line, you have reached the meat of the run, so make sure to be on your toes. This horizon line marks guide ejector and you will want to boof right. The boof will land you in a medium pool that sits right above Double knife, the steepest rapid in the run. You can follow the channel of the river, but you want to enter on the right fallow the channel to the left, and then drive back to the right at the bottom punching two large holes. This then leads into some more class IV read in and run followed by devil's elbow, a  big left-hand turn in the river marked by a large boulder on the right. The rest of the river is read and run class IV and ends with a 5-minute flatwater paddle out. While this run is fairly straightforward, it certainly isn't very clean. There are pin spots, undercuts, and often times wood all over the run, and the river is shallow and sharp. Most hazards are very easy to avoid but make sure your head is on a swivel. From Idaho Springs, take the US-6 Golden exit and park below the water tank. People generally put in across the street from the two bears restaurant and take out at the Clear Creek open space parking lot just below the intersection with Hwy 119. You can add on a couple miles of class III by continuing down 'Middle Clear Creek' and taking out at the Mayhem Gulch Trailhead parking lot.