Sieve in Wam Bam, Thank You Ma'am

 

View of sieve from upstream approach.

There is a Dangerous Sieve located in Wham, Bam, Thank You, Ma'am, the marquee rapid directly beneath the Sentinel Pine Covered Bridge. An expert kayaker was pinned and lost his life here in September 2012.

The sieve is not readily apparent from on-shore scouting. In the photo at left the longer red line points to the sieve while the shorter yellow line shows the usual route down the rapid.

As of mid-2017 the sieve is still very much in play despite reports to the contrary. Specifically, it's on river left underneath the giant boulder that forms the left shore and alongside the tight 3-4' tall chute that forms the first drop of the rapid. Be careful—it's easier to mistake a second sieve/rock pile on river right as the hazard; but much more difficult to see the fatal sieve on river left. It's definitely there only a few feet to the left of the usual line.

This is a major hazard. Please note that there is a climbing rope attached to the rocks directly underneath the bridge on river right that aids a portage around the top two stages of the drop.
 
View of sieve from covered bridge. The second photo at left shows the view from the covered bridge with the longer red line pointing to the sieve with the shorter yellow line the normal route down.

 

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