Stellar Descents rafting the Holmes.

To Get There: Pay Attention Folks. First you head down towards McBride, BC. (you keep right at the junction after Mount Robson). Watch for a bridge across the Holmes River. There is a pull out on the right immediately after the bridge (however, you actually want to hit the pullout immediately before the bridge, if your coming from Jasper...the River Left Side). From here to get to the put in you have to drive on an insane logging road (all logging roads are insane in BC!) Head up the river left side, and follow the logging road. A radio would come in handy here for sure, but we've never had one (its somewhat active). Follow it up for about 16km until you cross a bridge. On the other side of the bridge get into the driveway on the left. Here you will find a kind of insane hermit. If you ask him I'm sure he'll let you park there. He is rightfully quite concerned about people getting hit by logging trucks. Walk back to the bridge and you can either launch off, or scramble down to the river. If the gentleman, doesn't let you park in his driveway, if you continue up a few hundred metres further, you should find somewhere to pull off. The put in is a 16 kilometer bike shuttle up the rain slicked logging road while your buddy freezes to death at the bottom, unless you have two vehicles; just a personal note.

The Fun:

The upper portion of this river has almost continuous boulder garden type rapids, class 3 or so with one class 4. Detailed descriptions are useless, because most rapids are similar. Keep your eyes pealed for logs, and be careful what channel you take, as they can have logs scattered about. Near the end of the run is the Falls. It’s class 3+-5 (more or a rapid really). An obvious horizon line is present there, and you can walk around it on river right. Below it’s mostly a float tell you get to the road bridge.

Watch for logs and have fun!

Spencer Cox.