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!

Th

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.

Bhutan

November 2nd finds us flying into Paro, checking into the Namsay Resort hotel, and then heading to the trailhead to Taktsang, the Tiger's Nest Monastery. It's quite a hike from about 8,500 feet to about 10,200 feet. I didn't do the last down-and-up to get to the monastery itself, but I got quite a view. It was late in the day, and I was one of just a few of us who got back to the bus before dark.
Next day, November 3rd, is our first day of boating. I pick out a blue Jefe. It's the boat closest to what I'm paddling currently, the Remix 69. It's Liquidlogic, it's a creeker, and it's blue. What more could I want?
We head to the Paro Chhu. Not everyone is paddling: some are taking a cultural tour. It's a pretty straightforward run, pool-drop with a nice share of class 3 rapids. Land Heflin, Willy Kern, and Jed Weingarten are our river guides, the Tarkio Team. Chencho is our cultural guide. Toward the end, there's a class 4 'portage'. The only decent line is far left, requiring a tricky boof, with maybe 70 yards more rapids below. The guides run our boats through, but all the clients walk around. We enter a little gorge, into shade, and I'm chilled down by the time we see the three chortens marking the take-out at Chhuzom.
Next day is the start of our trek. We're up pretty early and head up to the National Museum trailhead, at about 8,000 feet. Many donkeys and drivers are waiting for us there. Up we go, relentlessly gaining elevation. The trail follows a dirt road for quite a ways, and then snakes off into piney woods. Eventually we're at the saddle at about 11,500 feet, with Jele Dzong up a ridge to the right and lots of prayer flags up the ridge to the left. We drop down a bit to our camp in a meadow below the dzong.
Next morning it's cold and frost is everywhere. We have a very nice visit at the dzong as we pass by. We are told there are 18 monks or novices living there at 11,700 feet. The trail is reminiscent of the north side of Mt. Hood - up and down, through pines and rhododendrons. Eventually we get to our camp at Jangchhu Lakh, a large soggy meadow we shared with a yak herder, at about 12,500 feet.
That night I had bad fever dreams, chills, and wake up feeling shot and with a noticeable fever. I take 500 mg of azithromicin and drag myself out of my sleeping bag to head straight down the mountain. Fortunately it was essentially all downhill. Land accompanies me, along with 3 Bhutanese and a donkey with a saddle. I never resort to riding, but by the time we approach Tsaluna, I am walking for about 15 minutes, and then resting for about 10. Bhufen picks me up and takes me to the hotel Dragon Roots in Thimpu. Willy is already there, afflicted with the same thing. The Xplore Bhutan folks check on us, bringing a doctor who diagnoses us both with respiratory infections, fortunately not the H1N1 flu that we were concerned about. I crash in the hotel for the entire next day.
November 8th I'm feeling somewhat better. We head out over the Dochu La for Punaka. The view at Dochu La is magnificent. The air is clear and we can see a whole range of snow-capped peaks of the Himalaya off to the north.
Our paddling destination this day is the Pho Chhu, doing a 5.3 mile class 2 run, with a marginally class 3 rapid near the end - beside the Punaka Dzong. The river itself is reminiscent of the Klickitat, both because it is milky from glacial run-off and because it is one big gravel bar after another. Many great cormorants are on the bars, and toward the end, we see on the cliffs the hives where the bees are on the outside.
Although the original plan was to stay at a safari-style camp on the Mo Chhu, we head to the Zangto Pelri hotel to accommodate those of us who are feeling poorly. Besides me, Willy is still dragging and Scott and Adrienne both have coughs, although they never seemed to go through the acute stage that Willy and I did. Still, we have our dinner at the camp, which is all set up.
Next day we head for the Mo Chhu, the other tributary that joins the Pho Chhu at the Punaka Dzong to form the Puna Tsang Chhu. I'd heard enough of Land's gradually escalating estimates of the difficulty of the rapids in the first part of the run to opt for the paddle raft in that section. Good thing I did. Bob and Dede started out to kayak, but Bob swam right away, losing his boat and paddle. Willy led Dede down and she did just fine. It was fun being back in a paddle raft - I think the last time I paddled one was on the Kennebec way back in 1992. A 16 foot raft with 4 thwarts, it was pretty heavy with 10 total passengers, and only 8 with paddles. Land is an expert paddle captain, taking us through several class 4 drops before we see our kayaks right below an S-turn. After a lengthy stop, we're off again. More challenging than the Pho Chhu, this section of the Mo Chhu had several solid and interesting class 3 rapids, plus it was just plain busier. One of the last drops features a pillow on a mid-stream boulder, with the water dumping off to the left. Although I'd given folks lots of room, I was surprised to find three boats, one upside down, in the middle of the line. This forced me into the nasty, boily eddy on the left - oh, well, it's always practice for big water.
We take out at the safari camp, and, after snacks and drinks, visit the Punaka Dzong. It is immense, well worth the visit. The shrine area had been recently re-done and was spectacular.
Next day it's back to the Pho Chhu. Part of our group is going to paddle raft the class 5 section above the class 2 kayak run. It looks like it's going to be a full raft, so I decide to wait at the kayak put-in. It'll give me a chance to do a little video of the group coming down through the last rapid. Plus, I'm getting so I need a little quiet time.
It's a little smaller kayak group today, and paddling is more relaxed. My run past the dzong is definitely cleaner today.
That evening we go to Y.T.'s hotel in Lobesa. Y.T. himself is there as host, and he is very cordial. Still dragging, I excuse myself right after dinner, but many stay and drink and take in the music, which I never even heard.
November 11th finds us heading back to the Mo Chhu, for pretty much a repeat of two days earlier. In the paddle raft, we run 'the portage'. It's changed from 2 years earlier - less of a ledge drop, just bouldery. Bob is kayaking this time, sandwiched in between Willy and Jed. There's just 6 of us in the raft today so it's a lot more maneuverable and consequently more fun.
There's a bony sneak at the log jam rapid, so we stay in our boats there. Then at the pillow rock, I make sure I have space, and hit my line right on. We take out at the second suspension bridge and head up over Dochu La to Thimpu and the Dragon Roots hotel.
Next day is our last day of boating, on the Wang Chhu, the stream that runs through Thimpu. After winding down a precarious road from the main highway, we're on the water pretty quickly. Willy tells Bob, Dede and I that we can find our own lines, although I seem to be the only one who really enjoys doing so. The stream is really busy, mostly class 2/2+, with a few interesting 3's from time to time. At one point, we see a big troop of monkeys. While cautious, they mainly just watch from the steep hillside. Soon after that, Willy explains to me how to identify the take-out. I take this as a go-ahead and simply head down on my own. It's quite a bit further than I expected, but eventually I see the three chortens at Chhuzom. It was relaxing to be paddling solo. Then it's back to the Namsay Resort in Paro. I crash after dinner and miss the dancing that was presented as entertainment. Judging from the pictures I've seen, it was a shame to miss this event.
Morning dawns with a low overcast, and we are wondering if our plane can land! Fortunately, patches of blue begin to show, and the plane is right on time. Glancing around the waiting room, I see that I am not the only one who is ready to get on to the next part of his life.

Clackamas

A second trip in two days with the LCCC. Canoes and kayaks, one with Alex having 'gone over to the dark side' or 'finally seen the light'. Another really nice day, easy to say as I look now out my window at 60F drizzle.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OxByTrz3pds

White Salmon Again

Canoes and my kayak this time. Weather was great, saw a bunch of kayakers and about a gazillion commercial rafts.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=APwubQqRO7Q

June Creek - Clackamas

So we ran the June Creek section at relatively low water. It was fun, but very continuous and moderately challenging. We boofed over one river-wide log and limboed under another. Flow was 673 cfs on the Three Lynx gauge.

Pacific City

I took my Prijon Athlete down to the beach last week. No suprise, but it reinforced my belief that it's not an idea surf kayak! The break at PC goes to soup right away most of the time, so unless I was really into pearling, there wasn't much point in going out. The last day there was a section of the break that stayed glassy for a long time, so I got a few good rides. And - there was no contention. No boards or other boats were anywhere near me.

I did have a nice paddle on Sand Lake.

It was actually really crappy weather, so I might just as well been in a boat. In case you're interested in paddling there, time it for high tide! It was shallow enough in some places anyway. It's hard to imagine how nasty it would be to boat when the tide is out...

Middle Fork #2

We had great weather on this trip - maybe a little hot once in awhile, but really great. A 15 minute rain shower on the 5th day reminded us that weather is not always perfect, but we were ready to cool off anyway. Although the water level was great for the small boats, it was bony enough that the rafts had problems the first couple days. Sulphur Slide, The Chutes and Powerhouse were the repeat offenders, and I think there were a few more problems.

We bank scouted Sulphur Slide, Powerhouse, Lake Creek, Pistol Creek, Tappan Falls, Cove Creek (Tappan 3), Weber and Rubber. Everything else was read and run, although we did some careful boat scouting.

We had a great group for this run. Bob was able to get quite a bit of video, although that was not a priority. The video clip is of me running the first part of The Chutes. When I see clips like this, it always seems like I'm hardly paddling. When I was on the run, it seemed pretty busy.

After three Idaho trips in a month, I was ready for some time off from paddling.

If It's July, This Must Be Idaho

So off I'll go tomorrow morning for my second Middle Fork trip this season. It'll be down to about 2.2 feet on the gauge, a low level I haven't experienced for 9 years. I am looking forward to it - warm weather, read-and-run boating, and generally a low key atmosphere. The recent posts on the idahowhitewater yahoo group suggest that the problematic rapids - Lake Creek, Tappan 3 and House Rock - will be mellow. I hope next year you can join me.
Last week I boated the Main Salmon, a really enjoyable trip. It's definitely bigger water, but mellow enough to enjoy. We had wonderful weather - dry, perhaps a little too hot. A family trip, we had 5 teenagers, one of whom was an amazing whitewater kayaker. Next year, maybe it'll be my own family...

Idaho This July

Not much time to write. I just got back from the Middle Fork Salmon and will head to the Main Salmon in an hour. The Middle Fork was the DAK, supported by Echo. Every trip like that is different. Gauge level was about 3.1 feet, very nice for kayaking and rafting.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LkOlLIwuX6Y
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UO7d1MOlFIU
Then it'll be back to the Middle Fork for a July 25th launch.

Otters show up again

Otters came again yesterday. It looked like one adult and two, maybe three, pups. They were simply hanging out down at the shore. While they were there, they caught at least 3 fish - it was pretty hard to video those events because they were usually pretty chaotic, and an otter tends to swim underwater when it has a fish in its mouth. It was pretty funny watching them - this long video is just a fraction of what was going on. One other thing - they were coming up in the tall grass and brush, doing something. I could tell by the way the grass was rustling, but the otters were hardly visible, so no video.

There was something about the pups, the curiosity, the occasional hesitation, and the hyper-activity, that made them seem like all young animals. Very cute.

Clackamas Time

Wednesday we were out on the Clackamas. It's still got lots of water in it, 1,030 cfs at least. The water was delightfully clear and the weather fantastically pleasant. Just a very good day.
We ran from Sunstrip to the take-out just below Toilet Bowl. It didn't look like there'd be much action at Bob's, and the take-out there is a rock scramble.
The Five-Oh Wave was good at this level, although the upper wave was the good one. You had to drag your boat up over the rocks to get in the eddy, and then it was difficult getting onto the wave, with a funny cross-current pushing you back. The wave below Armstrong provided some action, but I stayed out of it and just took pictures.

Otters!

It's always exciting to see otters when you're paddling down the river, but today I saw some simply in the back yard.

There were three, eventually. This is the same rock that an otter hauled-out on years ago. When this rock is dry, it is my indicator that the river is really low. The otters were chowing down on a fish. Later I saw they had another one. I believe the fish are shad - bigger than the fingerlings, but definitely smaller than steelhead. I love those otters.

Yesterday I paddled down from MP 7. A number of shoals were quite the nuisance, requiring 'gorilla' moves to get past, but some of the class 2 drops were more like 2+/3, so that was fun, at least for me. Don't worry, I won't try to get any of my friends out on the Washougal when it is this low...

A sign that there are some fish in the river, there were a number of herons and kingfishers looking for lunch. Also I saw three different families of mergansers. They are always so skitish. I did my best to move around them, staying to the far side and not looking directly at them. Peaceful coexistence.

Jarbidge-Bruneau

We launched June 1, with the flow at 1,100 cfs and rising, in spite of the advice in SS to put in as it is dropping through 1,200. There was a rattlesnake right next to the launch ramp as if to say, "Welcome to the Jarbidge." A little light rain fell as we went 10 miles down to our first camp. I find it quite stressful leading a group of 2 other kayaks, 1 OC-1, 1 OC-2 and 1 IK on the twisty fast Jarbidge, since each boat seems to maneuver differently and each tends to go at a different pace. Eddies are small, with overhanging juniper, and there are practically no eddies that the entire group will fit in. That night it rained a lot, and the river came up 4-5 inches.
Second day we get on the water at 1:15 in the sunshine and soon get to Sevy Falls, which we had agreed to all portage. One look at the log jam at the exit leaves no question that portaging is the smart thing to do. I catch the eddy on the left to portage, which is straightforward to do, but requires raising the boat about 50' and then carrying it downstream about 150' to get back on the water. Everyone else chooses to portage on the right, catching a small eddy just above the tongue and getting out onto loose earth to line the boats down and carrying them over a much lower obstruction. During this process, one kayak starts sliding on the loose earth and knocks others down onto one of the people wrangling the boats. The IK gets loose and goes through the drop, fortunately not pinning on the lower logjam. The OC-1 paddler is quick to get in his boat and chases the IK down right away. We continue down through the Tonsmeire Torrent section and camp at Cougar Creek. In the evening, there is a big thunderstorm, with rain.
In the early morning, I hear that the river is quieter. When I look, I see that it is incredibly black and extremely low, maybe a foot lower than last night. By about 8, it was coming back up and rose to about the same level that it had been at the night before. A little fresh looking wood floated by. I had already convinced everyone to lay over and let the river drop some, so we did some hiking and hanging out. The most intrepid hiker went up a gulch on the upriver side of Cougar Creek and got on top of the rim rock, saw a bighorn sheep, but did not go all the way to find the elusive arch. That evening, about 7, three Barker outfitter rafts came by and camped across from us. They said that there was a landslide about a mile above us, causing a double drop of about 20'. They lined 2 rafts and ran 1, tearing the floor out of one. It took them about 5 hours to pass. There is another thunderstorm that evening. It turns out, except for the time the river was dammed, the flow ranged from the mid 1,300's to the low 1,400's cfs that day. Just 100 cfs makes a noticeable difference in the Jarbidge and Bruneau.
Fourth day we get going in the sunshine. The level is down maybe 3-4 inches. We're careful portaging Wally's Wallow on the left, and one of the kayakers runs it very well, using the right hand route. Wally's is much cleaner than I've ever seen it. We scout The Maze and all run it well except the IK which flips halfway down. Thankfully, I'm able to bulldoze it to the left bank quickly. Fortunately I recognize the entrance to John's Jollies, and we get out and scout it on the right. The OC-2 and IK portage on the left, but those of us who run do it reasonably well. It's late enough that we camp at the Hobbit Camp in the junipers about a half mile above Jarbidge Falls.
Fifth day, I see the water has hardly dropped at all - at least it didn't come up! Water was high enough that we lined our boats along the cliff down to the portage eddy at the Falls. The eddy was hardly there at this flow. We start portaging at 10:30 in the sunshine and are done in sunshine by 12:15, but ominous clouds soon form. In light rain, we stop at Indian Hot Springs for lunch. Below the bridge, we meet a party of rafters just putting in. They say that the flow is 1,100 cfs and the weather is forecast to be 'shitty' this day and tomorrow, but to improve on Sunday. Assessing the situation, I declare to our trip leaders that I will hike out at Roberson Trail if the level has not dropped significantly by the time we get there. My reasons for this I will be happy to discuss face-to-face. We were able to run the left hand sneak at Cave Rapid. We sped up a little to pass the raft group. Our target camp was at Cave Draw, and I thought I knew where that was. I got out a little ahead, and when I got there, no one was in sight. This stretch of the Bruneau has few solid landmarks. After waiting a while I paddled enough further to find an obvious landmark, indicating that I had probably passed Cave Draw. I paddled back upstream a ways (try it in the Bruneau sometime) and stopped at long swift reach. After an hour or so of not seeing either party, I camped. Turns out two members of our party came down with a nasty virus that left them incapacitated.
Sixth day, that morning, the level was down about 1 1/2 inches. I waited until 11:00, then took off, having food for only this one more day. It was actually very pleasant paddling, having only myself to be concerned with, and pretty easy water to deal with. It just had to rain, a steady drizzle from about 12 to 3. I camped at about mile 52, another small camp, but when the sun came out about 4 I was able to dry things out a bit. About 8:30 that evening there was another nasty thunderstorm, then in the middle of the night it drizzled for a while.
Last day dawns with blue sky and the sun coming out. Water level was down about 2 inches. I took it pretty slow getting ready, writing my name and phone number on a few more things and securing everything in the boat very carefully, but still I was on the water at 9:19. At Five Mile Rapids, the water seemed somewhat, but not grossly, higher than previous trips. Later checking the gauge, I saw that it was 'only' 940 cfs compared with flows in the 550 to 720 range on previous trips. Having run it 3 times before, I recognized some of the drops and knew the general nature of the rapids, so I was able to boat-scout everything. Fortunately, the water was high enough that I could sneak the entrance to Wild Burro on the left. That day Five Mile seemed more like Ten Mile; the rapids just kept coming. So I get to the take-out at 12:33 and see a bull snake waiting for me on the ramp, as if to say, "Welcome back." The sun was still out and I was able to dry my tent and much of my gear before heading off in my Subaru.
Recalling some of my enjoyable solo backpacking trips on Mount Hood, I had long hoped to do a solo overnight paddling trip, but I had always thought it would be on the Rogue or the Lower Owyhee, not the lower 32 miles of the Bruneau run.
The rest of the group got off the river safely the day after I did.

John Day - Service Creek to Clarno

Memorial Day weekend we ran from Service Creek down to Clarno. It was easy to simply rent a raft at Service Creek, so Cindy and I rode down in luxury. Katy and Chris paddled my indominatable Mad River Explorer.

The flow was actually pretty high, around 5,000 cfs. This flow made for easy rafting, but the canoeists lined the first couple drops.

First night we ended up on the gravel bar at Priest Hole. My concerns about 4WD access were justified when we heard drumming almost all night and were serenaded by 'Sweet Home Alabama' at 4:30 in the morning.

'The kids' did a phenomenal job of running Burnt Ranch Rapid and it seems like maybe that got them hooked on canoe paddling.

We laid-over at the first camp in the Big Bend area. There was good hiking up the creek draw and the fishing was not too bad either.

The weather was great, the water was high but moderate; we had one of the best trips ever.