Input from John:
The increased water level made some surprising changes. Much was padded. The cobble bars where the river is usually bony were more runnable. The current was pushier. We had a few innocuous swims in the morning then a long swim and rescue below Robins. Robins was the rapid most altered by the increased flow. The holes on the right were wider and the pour over rocks on the left (the knuckles) were covered and the hole below was bigger. The reference to "knuckles" as a reference point was non-operational as they were gone. We had a flip and swim in the new big waves below Robins which went on for some time through the long tumbling rapid below. All escaped unscathed. The other noticeable change to the river at 1120 is that the big waves at the bottom right on World's End fills in. Still a nice ride but with less vertical and no crashing waves.
We're at the end of the summer wildflowers with only a few cardinal flowers and Joe Pye weed. The exotic Japanese knotweed was in full flower. It rarely sets seed so the huge drifts you see along the roadside have all spread vegetatively from a few plants, possibly introduced on road equipment. Think of all the wonderful native plants it displaces.