Next up is "Rapid Transit", which I think some folks originally called "New Speedway Boogie". You want to enter this one right of center, with a bit of left angle, punch the hole at the beginning, and hold on for the wild ride! If you get bounced to the right, be careful not to crush your elbow on the wall, and if you end up left duck under the undercut!! Either way, you have a big pool to roll up in at the bottom. In this tiny picture (sorry) you can sort of make out Kevin Colburn running a right of center line.

The next drop is walked all of the time now. I think you'd have to be nuts to run it without the wood that's in there, but it has been done. Depending on the day and the level you might be able to scoot your boat through the far left hand slot and make it through without getting out of your boat.

When you slide through the scoot through route, you're instantly in "Groove Tube", one of the most unique rapids I've ever seen. You just slide down the ramp as far left as you can get with a bit of left angle, enter the curling tube of water, and emerge from the pool ten feet or so below. The main hazards on this one are: 1. hitting the rock on the right which makes the tube and pitoning; 2. hitting the rock on the right, flipping to the left and crushing your face on the wall on the way over the drop; 3. running the rapid too well and landing flat enough to hurt your back. A painless run on this drop is pretty tricky! Here's Chris Bell cruising into the tube.

In the last couple of years people have been running a couple of other lines through this one that miss the tube. One is right off the ledge in the center, and the other is down a far right slot. Either line is good, just give it a good scout before you go.

Do not fail to eddy out below Groove Tube. "Sunshine Falls" is right below, and trust me, the consequences of missing the eddy are VERY PAINFUL, not to mention not good for boats. You want to take the second available eddy on the right after landing the Tube, get out, and scout or carry.

Sunshine is the most difficult of the rapids on the Green, and possibly the most consequential. Water pours about 12 feet onto a shelf of rock, and then flushes through a small slot and out. The line to miss the rock is a very fine one, with very little tolerance for error. It goes like this: boof hard right into the eddy beside the rock that all the water pours onto, spin around in the eddy or in the cave underneath the rock you just boofed behind, known as the "Room of Doom". Make your way out and flush through the final slot and on down the river with the bulk of the hard stuff finally behind you. Here's a shot of me running it in a kayak for a change.

Here's a great shot that Trip took of me exiting the Room.

After Sunshine, most folks chill out, but the fact is that some of the best whitewater on the river is yet to come. Sure, it's not huge class Vs, but it doesn't have to be to keep me entertained. The scenery is not too shabby from there down either, and you can finally relax enough to look at it!

The first drop you come to is a 5 footer just below Sunshine. Everybody pretty much runs this one left to miss the big undercut, but lots of folks try to boof it. There's rock in the bottom, so boofing can hurt! I get far left and then run straight down it to avoid the back pain. Here's Teresa Gryder giving it a go. Photo by Chris Bell.

After that there are plenty more class IVs that I don't have photos of. The list includes one I call "Baby Frankenstein", which a lot of folks call "On Any Other River This Rapid Would Have A Name". Then there's the Triple Cracks, Pinball (also known as "Colonel Dick's"), and the Green River Rodeo Hole (don't let the name fool you).

Then there are three rapids in a row with great boofs. The first - "All American Boof," has a bad sieve that has opened up on the right, so be careful! The second one of we call "the naked lady boof", thanks to a sunbather I startled when my boat landed one time. The third is a river wide shelf that some of us know as "Bill and Lean's Excellent Adventure". It went like this: Bill was trying to hot dog a 360 off the 5 foot ledge while throwing his paddle, and landed stuck in the hole. Lean, generous soul that he is, threw his paddle over the drop to Bill. A little overzealous on the throw, the paddle sailed well over Bill's head. What was he supposed to do?...dive for it? Anyway, without a paddle it was only moments before Lean joined Bill in the hole, where they were both soundly munched until the tandem swim ensued, much to the delight of the large party watching the show!

Next drop is "Baby Sunshine", a drop similar to its namesake except only 3 feet high, and with no rock to be crushed on if you miss the boof. A great way to get back in the groove before the final onslaught of rapids.

After Baby Sunshine, "Toilet Bowl" picks up the pace a bit with a boof to the left or right through a pretty big hole. After that, prepare for the last scare as you run through "Hammer Factor", also known as Fishtop Falls. The idea on this one is to enter a bit right, and drive LEFT to ride the ramp around the hole and avoid crashing under the GIANT UNDERCUT ROCK that looms above this drop. The consequences aren't that bad if you do go under, but it sure is scary! I saw Brad Brock crash into the hole and melt down 7 - 8 seconds in his Freefall LT one time. He came up with wide eyes and no helmet...the hole had sucked it off!!

After that enjoy the final scrapey couple hundred yards, 'cause after that it's back to the car and the world outside the gorge....unless the release is long enough for another run, of course!

Hope you enjoyed the tour!

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