Lake Creek, Colorado, US

01. MM 69 to Wills Gulch picnic area

Usual Difficulty	V+ (for normal flows)
Length	9 Miles
Avg. Gradient	137 fpm
Max Gradient	235 fpm

Gauge Information

Name	Range	Difficulty	Updated	Level

River Description

In 2003 Lake Creek ran at huge levels (almost 2000cfs) for almost an entire month, as a result I have heard that almost all rapids had changed, some dramatic - some minor. Most significant was Tombstone which turned into an unrunnable sieve, no ifs and or butts this is now a mandatory portage!!!

Lake Creek is a schizophrenic stream. 1/2 of it is meandering Class II, 1/3 is undefined continuous Class IV, and the rest is a handfull of sick V+ bedrock gorges. If you run the upper half be sure you scout the locations of Tombstone(V) and Toaster(V) before putting on, to ignorantly float into either could be fatal. If you run the Lower Gorge(V+,VI), make sure to scout the whole damn thing! Last but not least, do not forget to run Cauldron Rapid(V)! It's the second biggest drop, and lacks some of the scare factors of the rapids upstream.

The entire run parallels Hwy 82. The upper put-in is at milemarker 69, the take-out above the Lower Gorge is at mm 74.5, and Cauldron Rapid is at about mm 79.