About Meat Grinder
Low Flows: At flows up to 2000 cfs, the entrance is Class II. A right-of-center entrance sets you up for the most technical part of the rapid. As the rapid picks up gradient, there will be two offset holes in the middle of the river. Split these holes moving left to right. Downstream in the center of the flow is a shallow rock that creates a rooster tail, known as the Death Star Rock by many outfitters. At normal flows, it creates a flat wrap hazard for rafts. Avoid this feature by moving to the right. At this point, the river begins to bend to the left. Keep a left angle to get back to the center of the river and off of the right bank. There are many eddies and boulders along the right bank you want to avoid. The run-out is a fun wave train with a larger wave to hit in the middle at the end. Downstream is another read-and-run class II rapid referred to as Son of Meat Grinder.
Medium Flows: At flows above 2000 cfs, you start to see bigger waves and laterals coming off the right side. The line is similar to flows below 2000 cfs, without rocks posing a hazard, instead the large waves have the potential to flip rafts.
High Flows: At flows above 5000 cfs, large lateral waves coming off the right bank also form in the aforementioned Son of Meat Grinder.
Video and street view courtesy of Tributary Whitewater and Trailview Studios