Willamette Landings, parts 12 & 37

The last day in July found six of us launching on the Willamette at Marshall Island Access, near Junction City - in 3 tandem canoes. A short day took us to Blue Ruin Island, a decent enough camp, although it had little shade. Part of my master plan for the trip was to camp at sites not accessible by road. Another element was to camp where we'd pass toilet facilities relatively early in the morning...

Next day was long, 19 miles, and we camped at Sam Daws Landing. Here there was a little more shade and swimmable water. All night we were serenaded by combines and grain trucks. Fortunately, all of us had ear plugs. We passed Irish Bend to see a large group of day paddlers and many folks who had driven in for the weekend. As nice as it is in many ways, this is a camp I avoided.

We arrived in Corvallis pretty early on Sunday. Paddling just went along very smoothly. I have to say that the Willamette is still a favorite river in my heart, no doubt because I grew up on its banks in Corvallis and even rowed on the freshman crew when I was at OSU.

Wildlife sightings mainly consisted of the many osprey hanging out by the river. Of course there were some bald eagles too, and we saw quite a confrontation between some ospreys and eagles. Most remarkable of our sighting was a live freshwater mussel that moved maybe 1/4 inch every 5 minutes or so!

If This is July This Must be the Main Salmon

July 16th found six of us at Corn Creek, launching on the Main Salmon run, with 12,300 cfs on the gauge at White Bird, almost the exact same time and flow as last year. This year I was rowing a 16' raft from All Star, a pleasant, relaxing and expeditious change.

Eighteen miles the first day took us to our reserved Big Squaw camp, a tough one to find since it seems like it's a quarter mile below the creek after which it is named.

Nice camp, but shade came pretty late.

Salmon Falls and the hot springs came the next day as we headed 15 miles down to camp at Bailey, just below the rapids and maybe a mile below Bargamin. Again, shade came pretty late!

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Well, I'm signing off with an observation that the editing features in blogger are really poor - frustrating to me...

Washougal Again

It was such a nice sunny day Sunday it was wonderful to paddle.

Clear water, good company, what could be better? Maybe more water!

What's Going on Now

So it's been a while since I've posted. Paddlers close to me know that I've had a couple surgeries in the last 2 months. One was serious, the other not so.
Most of my paddling lately has been on the Washougal, from MP 7 down, a couple times through Big Eddy, and once from just below Big Eddy. I'm still having fun.
We had a great trip on the Molalla a few days ago. It was a little on the high side, and what with my slightly delicate condition, we ran from below Baby Bear to that take-out about 2 miles below Glen Avon. Goldilocks was quite something - fun until the house-sized boulder appeared in front of me and I had to decide which side to pass. Right it was.
Then last Saturday I paddled Oregon's (Clackamas County's) Salmon River with the LCCC. It was totally busy. We had a lot of fun, but not everyone was up to the challenge. What was billed as a 2+ run with a 3 was more like a 3 run with a 3+/4. No worries. I admit that I got a hypothetical demerit by passing through a log jam that I should have scouted. It's funny how the water just draws you down when you can see the possibility of a line. It wouldn't have worked for the canoes...
Then it turned out to be 9.7 miles - a long ways when you're watching for lines and hazards all the time.

Pretty High Water

Well, the water was in the grass at our launch point at MP 7. Usually it's a seal launch down a foot or two at this point. It was pretty clean running left in the rapid above the Mt. Norway Bridge, but the holes on our right were enormous. Things were pretty washed out on the way down to Cougar Creek. Here again, the run was on the left.
Down at the Rock Island, the boily eddy on the right made it a little squirrely getting back to the left for the drop past the ledge hole.
But one of the real fun parts was the wave at MP 1. My Remix fit in it really well, then Curt in his Mamba got a great ride. Both of us were humbled to see Ann shred it with her borrowed Rocker.
The WASW1 gauge was reading about 9.1 feet.

Big Eddy Again

Friday it was nice and sunny and the river was at a moderate level so it was hard to avoid paddling again.

We were able to sneak Big Eddy at this stage, passing to the right of the big rocks on the right, and then moving back right of center. What looked like a like reversal on the scout was a significant hump of water seen from the river. I went just to the right of it and got right on line. I think this hump is formed by the rock that you want to cut left above when the water is lower. This day the WASW1 gauge read 6.57 feet.
The little wave below the Mt. Norway Bridge was good for front surfing, but not very retentive. I couldn't manage a 360. There weren't any other good play features. The day before, with the level at 7.57', the wave at MP 6 was great!
All three of us caught the eddy on the right before ferrying across and running left past the entrance to Cougar Creek Rapid. It was a bit of a challenge to make the ferry.

Back to the Washougal

Well, I've paddled the Washougal 6 times since I got back from Bhutan, mostly just down from MP 7. It's easier doing a bike shuttle back to there. After the crowd in Bhutan, it was nice to paddle solo a few times.
The last couple runs have been down through Big Eddy. It's low but still a challenge. I thought I'd be catching some eddies in there, but I just cruised through both times. The eddy on the right, across from the Twin Rocks, is not as solid as it used to be. Rocks below have shifted and it simply doesn't hold as much water. A critical move is right out from the eddy, having to make a sharp left at a little reversal. Interestingly, both of the boats that caught the eddy on our second trip ended up going too far left and flipping. Fortunately, both boaters rolled up.
Now that the water is so low, it is interesting to see how many rocks have been moved since last season. They're not big changes, but they've changed some of the optimal lines. It's nice to have a different river to run! What do they say, "You can never run the same river twice." So true.
The Kelly's Hole stretch is still busy, as is Cougar Creek, but at these low levels, there's a lot of floating. Anyway, it never ceases to amaze me how scenic the Washougal actually is.