Eye of the Needle

The tricky part of this rapid is usually at the bottom. At moderate to high flows boaters usually run the rapid down the middle and veer left near the left shore to exit. At low flows the left channel exit is too shallow and boaters usually thread their way through the Eye of the Needle: three large spaced-apart boulders. Beware the "Birth Canal", the middle slot in this rapid at intermediate flows; advanced kayakers can run it but it's one of the worst raft pin spots on the river - tends to dissappear below 300 cfs. Boaters usually opt to cross the river from left to right to pass between the first two boulders located in the center of the river, then turn abruptly downstream to pass between the most downstream of these first two boulders and a third along the right shore. Across from the Eye of the Needle boulders, along the left shore, there is an eddy that provides a great opportunity to setup for the move. At extremely low flows (< 240 cfs), a large boulder appears in the middle of the Eye. Kayakers should be able to navigate to the downstream side of it, but rafters may have to play around with their weight in order to get over. At this flow, this rapid is pretty difficult, but the slow, shallow water makes it rather inconsequential.