Nakusp is not Revelstoke / Creek Freak Week Report.

A legendary West Kootenay shuttle rig. Photo by Jess Rayner.

I'm in a small downtown Nakusp coffee shop. It's either my aging laptop or the wireless password that is not working. The afternoon coffee is a little weak and the day old muffin a tad expensive. With summer in full swing, this rural BC interior town has once again begun to swell with a seasonal onslaught of Albertan RVs, motorcycles, outdoor music growers markets, and beer league sports tournaments. Then of course, the occasional flash of colorful plastic precariously strapped to the roof racks or piled high in the rear bed of aging Japanese autos.

Nakusp is most likely a town you have never heard of.  A charming lakeside village holdout from BC's logging boom days, now left clinging to numerous seasonal attractions in attempt to get by, year after year. Retirement properties, mud-bog races, dinosaur rock music festivals, a rodeo and most iconically, a quality selection of both wild and developed hot-spring sites.

Nakusp, West Kootenay region, BC.

Unfortunately, Nakusp's abundance of high quality whitewater may never be included on this list of seasonal attractions. Having slowly caught the attention of local and international dirt-bag boaters, the scene around Nakusp continues to be credited to the larger town of Revelstoke located some 100 kms north on the opposite side of a long ferry ride. Examples of this error can be seen in the Bomb Flow crew's famed 2011 BC episode as well as Fred Norquist's 2010 BC interior roadshow where not only did Nakusp's better known St. Leon and Kuskanax Creeks get featured, but injured paddlers then proceeded to pick wild creek-side huckleberry plants by ripping entire bushes out of the ground. Not cool guys.

As you can tell, I get a little emotional when it comes to defending Nakusp and selling its hearty selection of whitewater goodies. So to remedy this situation, being one of two lone paddlers in residence here, I decided to host an entirely new event. One that catered solely to the creeks in and around the immediate area. With little to no pre-hype (aside from a short promo vid I pulled together), I named the event "Creek Freak Week."

Scouting "The Big One" - Upper Kuskanax.

Hosted in late June/early July after the levels had peaked, a small but dedicated contingent of area paddlers camped out to run the goods. Classic runs included St. Leon with its big and beautifully inspired ramp drops and near perfect pinball canyon and 25' waterfall finale.

Wyatt Riegel roostin' the top of the triple set - St. Leon.

Sean Boz in the middle of the triple set - St. Leon.

Wyatt Riegel grinding out of the triple set - St. Leon.

Wyatt Riegel, "Final Fantasy" falls - St. Leon.

Then there is the almighty Kuskanax with a relentless dose of roadside boulder gardens, separated by several large river wide ledge drops before entering into a lengthy deep canyon mosh pit that runs all the way back to town. The entire run amounts to some 15+kms of superior class 4/5 water and was run in sections a handful of times by various groups. In 2010 I had my scariest swim to date on this backyard behemoth and still continue to find new areas to pull the deck when levels are ripe for bootie ale. Thankfully, nothing of the sort happened during our inaugural Creek Freak Week event.

Sean Boz entering "Biff-Bang-Pow" (This part is "Biff") - Lower Kuskanax Canyon.

Wyatt Riegel - Lower Kuskanax boulder gardens.

One way to break up the Kuskanax. Sam Butler - Gardner Falls park n' huck.

Further north lays the perplexing Incomappleux Valley (AKA Fish River) with its explosive high volume rapids and a jaw dropping, collapsing roadside canyon crux that has only been run by a select few at various levels producing various results. During the week we were there, levels were more than high so we chose only to take photos and scout other inspiring tributary creeks in the area.

"The Collapsing Canyon" rapid, Incomappleux River.

Meanwhile, the upper Incomappleux boasts several days worth of highly remote class 3 to 6  temperate old-growth rainforest shrouded magic. In 2003 an international ski touring/mountainerring/IK2 paddling expedition met with tragedy, claiming the lives of three adventurers whose bodies have yet to be found. Doom and gloom aside, the mystical beauty of the Incomappleux continues to stir up campfire banter generating ideas of one day mounting a proper exploratory descent via hard-shell kayak. (UPDATE: We DID this in 2013).

A special spot in the deep woods - Incomappleux River Valley.

Situated deep in a canyon near the ferry south of Nakusp lays the Whatshan River. Long since diverted by a BC Hydro owned Run of River project, Whatshan's flows are fed almost entirely by Barnes Creek. Here one can find a healthy diet of do or die hucking as much of the Whatshan's impressive gradient happens over the course of 7 waterfalls, some of which have still yet to be tested. For this reason, the notorious Whatshan canyon sees few visitors over the season. Recent stories of wild descents include a post Creek Freak Week session of the canyon's premier double drop feature, "Hurly Burly."  And then there's a loose story of an unsuspecting UK team daisy chaining into the canyon's previously un-run "slot of death" only to emerge in the concluding pool, both in and out of their boats.

"Hurly Burly" in high water, aka "Hurlbert" during high water  - Whatshan River.

During our week, the season's extraordinary high water allowed for a rare opportunity to sample the upper Whatshan's "Hippy Hole" section. Situated between the Whatshan dam site and confluence with Barnes Cr, the Hippy Hole is a small roadside cliff jumper's hideaway that rarely sees enough CMS to float a foam boater. Before the great melt of 2012 came on, it's doubtful this section of the Whatshan has ever been paddled before - and oh what a treat it was.

Sean Boz opening up "The Door" - Upper Whatshan.

Sean Boz, "Petuli Drop" - Upper Whatshan.

Carl Jacks lookin down the pipe into the "Petuli Pool"- Upper Whatshan. Photo by Sean Boz.

Sean Boz, "Weed Trimmer" - Upper Whatshan.

With these and so many other high quality runs in the area, one can quickly see what opportunities exist for creeking in and around Nakusp. Longtime legends like Pingston and Fostall Creeks equally deserve their own photo write-ups, and in time, we will hopefully see more groups putting on these rare runs. Thanks in part to a strong local paddling shop and a few inspired locals, the West Kootenay creek boating scene is once again beginning to flourish. Meanwhile, the quaint, picturesque town of Nakusp will continue to chug along, offering forever expensive gasoline to the motor tourists, hosting a decent selection of friendly downtown business', the occasional job posting or real-estate deal, "Meet the local boys" friday night bar brawls and bootie beer waiting to be tapped should you choose to fire up Nakusp during Creek Freak Week next July.

Middle Pingston - Upper Arrow Lake/Monashee Mtn. Range.

 All photos taken by Carl Jacks, except where noted.