The first put-in is actually on the East Fork of the Sixmile. It doesn't become Sixmile proper until it merges with Canyon Creek, 2.5 miles down stream. From the first put-in the river meanders a mile or so with occasional class II sections until Gulch Creek merges on the right.
Let's take a look at a simple map of this first section of Canyon 1
Map of first section of Canyon 1
Keep in mind that the arrows on the ovals represent the direction of rowing, not where the front of the boat is, or even the direction that the boat is moving. When the arrow is pointed upstream, you are to row that way to slow your descent and often to manuever to one side of the stream. When the arrow is pointed downstream, you are to push the boat downstream to gain momentum.
At this point the stream makes a hard left and falls into Seventeen Ender Hole named after a kayaker who had to swim after so many recirculations. It is also called Thirteen Ender, but I doubt anyone was actually counting. The first time I ran this section I went right through the thing at high water. I did not come back for a long time! Stay away from this hole, rafters. As soon as you see the creek on the right, back ferry into the left bank to avoid the right side. It's the meanest stopper in the upper canyon, which fortunately only plugs the right two thirds of the river. Keep pulling back with your back end pointed to the left as you round the corner directly above it. At low flows rocks appear on the extreme left just above the drop which will force you to go farther to river right than you would otherwise like. Continue to stay as far left as possible without getting stuck. As you approach the drop, turn your bow down stream and push hard to quickly get away from the left bank. Paddle assist would be nice at this time. At low flows avoid the shallow rocks on the far left at the bottom of this drop.
At mid to high water there is an additional couple of large waves before the start of the gorge. It is best navigated by doing a back ferry towards river right as soon as you get past Seventeen Ender.
