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| The author in Cornholio |
Nestled high in the Poudre drainage, where the water is always frigid,
there is a short, low volume creek named Joe Wright. This run is
ultra-continuous, yet really only has two distinct challenging rapids.
There are few eddies, so when you see one, take it and have yourself a
breather. The air up here is crisp and fresh, and although the run is
roadside, it has a nice wilderness feel to it after the first half mile.
The two rapids of note are both easily scouted from the road. On the way
to the put-in, pull over, just before the Larimer County Rd 103 Bridge that
leads into the Rawahs, to scout Carnito Canyon. Continue past the bridge a
¼ mile and pull over to scout Cornholio. Put-in wherever you feel comfortable
above Cornholio.
Once on the river you need to be dialed in fairly quickly. How quickly depends
on how high above Cornholio you put on. The river makes a sweeping right hand
turn as it drops into Cornholio. You want to be starting on the right and
moving to the center of the river as you pass just to the right of the tooth
rock marking the top of the Corn. From here you’re hoping that you are in the
right spot, because things happen very quickly as you drop down a short slide
and auto rocket launch of an eight foot shelf. Because the landing zone for
this drop is so skinny and shallow I would recommend at least medium to high
flows when running this one.
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| The author getting spun after the Corn |
After a short stretch of technical fast boating and one solid class IV drop,
you arrive suddenly at the top of your hopefully pre-scouted route through
Carnito Canyon. Start on the right as you enter into this mini-gorge. Get as
much of the fan-rock boof as you want, but don’t get to far left and be
prepared to punch a large hole on the right. After the hole, veer left around a right hand curve, and
then immediately get back to the right to avoid a submerged pin rock as you exit
the gorge.
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| Rando in Carnito |
From here, to the confluence with the Big South, the boating is all
shallow and fast, good technical creeking. When you come to a small
island, formed by a medium sized house rock, about 1 mile passed Carnito,
take the right channel. In the next drop after the island you want to veer
right as well. Always be heads up on this run. An ugly placement of a log
could definitely sour the mood. Combining this run with a run down Spencer
Heights will make a day out of it. If you time it right, you can claim
the High Poudre Triple Crown, by doing a Joe Wright/Spencer run, combined with
a hike in run on the lower section of the Big South. Another good option,
especially if you’re traveling from a distance, is to run the Big South one
day, and then to hit a Joe Wright/Spencer the next and make a weekend out of
it. If you get all of these runs in one day, including the entire Big South
run, you have accomplished the Super High Poudre Triple Crown (find out how
tough you really are…and probably how well you can find the portage route
around Poudre Falls… in the dark).
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| Carnito Canyon |
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