It was obvious that the water had been 4 or 5 feet higher in the put-in area. Huge changes had occurred in the creek, due to the shifting of gravel and old log jams to create new jams. Gone was the easy portage required after the first few riffles. The log jam that created the need for walking was mostly blown out, something I thought would never happen since the logs were packed in so tightly. A lot of drift blocked access to the original portage route, adding some length to the drag. A huge tree that had been lying across the channel just upstream of where the portage was supposed to end was gone and a new log jam had formed downstream of that spot. We kept dragging the boats until we got past the new jam. Launching below the jam required a slide off the forested gravel bar into swift current (watch that upstream edge!). Another portage was required a short distance further on due to branches and small trees in the channel and a blind turn. At another spot we had to take a shallow route, involving bumping into and sliding over rocks bigger than footballs, to avoid being swept into a large leaning tree. The spot with the deadly looping root (see photo) appeared to have changed into a longer chute; I couldn’t tell if the large root was still in place. The mesh bag fastened to a tree at that spot was still in place about 10 feet above the water, an easy-to-see warning sign. There we slid over some tree roots to get down the alternate route on river right. Just after passing under the bridge nearest the put-in, there was a blind turn with a very strong eddy on the right and overhanging branches and swift current on the left. A tree had fallen across the creek and sat about 18 inches above the water (at the high end), out of sight unless you caught the eddy. One more portage was necessary about a mile downstream of the second bridge you paddle under; the tree there was a lot easier to see in advance. A large log jam with a sneak route on the right just below that bridge had vanished completely. Running the falls turned out to be more of a slide than a vertical drop if you stayed about 10 feet from the right bank. The last two miles had a few nice whitewater chutes and some huge, migrating gravel bars like you might see on the lower Buffalo River. This section would be an excellent place for a field trip for those studying the geomorphology of a meandering, alluvial stream. At one spot the creek is in the process of cutting off a bend by shooting straight across an isthmus about 30 feet wide.
The entire run was very demanding of your paddling skills at the water level we had due to the GREAT number of rocks that had to be avoided just under the surface. A lot of them were sharp, but I didn’t see any significant damage to my boat. At the water level we paddled, I would rate the creek a Class II++ and not suitable for rec boats because of all the rock dodging that was necessary. Here's a photo of the falls:
WHOA BABY!!! by CaptainAleve, alias Mike Coogan, on FlickrFull info on the creek is available at
http://class2arkansas.com/west-gaffords-creek/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Mike