hit the big wave at the bottom.
Then one day as I was scouting the rapids a rafter said, "there's an easier line over on this side". I watched his raft enter to the right of the old line and take a clean, straight shot through without having to maneuver at all. The problem was that he entered by passing over a submerged and shallow-looking
rock that any right minded driftboater would avoid, and had for fifty years. I dismissed his line as o.k. for rafts but too dangerous for driftboats.
The next year I watched Mike McLucas, guide and owner of The Oasis cafe in Maupin come around the corner blind in an empty boat and two dudes in front and never even stop, just swung right over that rock and into the slot without missing an oarbeat. I had to try it. The question was, would a fully loaded,
rock-sticking aluminum boat catch? The answer was, yes, and no. In lower water a heavily loaded aluminum boat would hump down over the break and catch only momentarily, immediately washing
cleanly free. In higher water, and with anything less than a full load, one clears. The more amazing thing was that there is actually a trail of current one can follow from above so that one enters at exactly the right point without guesswork, even more critical in this case because the entry point is even more hidden than the old one.
Thus was born "the new line through Whitehorse". Within three years no one was taking the old line anymore. Most of the ignorant and drunk are either dead, or rowing more forgiving rubber rafts. The toll at Whitehorse in boats and lives has dropped dramatically, almost to zero.
Whitehorse rapids is still a formidable piece of water, but really nothing to get frothed about. I will actually take a passenger in a loaded boat to hold down the bow. There are still some mistakes you can make lower down. Boxcar is now more of a worry, especially if there are any paddle rafters within a
mile, which there virtually always are during the summer. Forward paddling rafts and back rowing driftboats are as miscible as oil and water in the same rapids anywhere near at the same time.
But the point is, OhShit! Rock is languishing. No one shouts out the name in the thrill of discovery. Now people ask you to point out OhShit!, then grumble in disappointment because it looks so small. I always then suggest they try the entry point further over to the left, between those two exposed rocks.
