K’íka·c’é·ki Falls

K’íka·c’é·ki Canyon is spectacular start to finish, and it crescendos before its walls part and the river relaxes. K’íka·c’é·ki Falls is the final and most challenging rapid in the canyon. Scout from river left (also portage on the left, although there is no defined path and some blackberry brambles to avoid: go high). K’íka·c’é·ki Falls has two parts: an upper ledge followed by a steep, hole-studded rocky drop. A short pool separates the two. The upper ledge can be run left of center where it is a true ledge about three feet high. It can also be run on the river right where the drop is more gradual and feeds into the same pool formed by the ledge. No matter which line you take, get yourself lined up to exit the pool and head into the steep crux drop below. The defining visual feature of the drop is a large, round-topped boulder right of center near the bottom of the rapid. Obviously, you'll want to avoid this rock and you'll need to be to the left of it (the far right channel is junked out rock). The best line is generally down the center of the drop, avoiding the rooster tail rock on the far left that's visible only at low flows. There's a decent hole in the middle of the drop that will tail-stand a kayak and even give a raft a hard hit. It's more or less unavoidable, so line up for hit, maintain control, and regain speed on exit. There's a bigger and sticky hole just ahead, and it spans most of the river. Options are to break through the hole or try to quickly head right to avoid it; this will have you driving very close to the round-topped boulder that is so prominent. No matter the outcome, you'll be dropped into the runout pool and will have exited K’íka·c’é·ki Canyon. K’íka·c’é·ki is the Shasta name for the larger region through which this section of the Klamath flows (it is also sometimes called Bogus Country, named after headman Bogus Tom). The rapid is the shortest but steepest of all the rapids in the canyon--and perhaps in all of K’íka·c’é·ki--earning it the name K’íka·c’é·ki Falls.