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.

Otra Vez

So what if I've paddled the Washougal 3 times in the last 5 days? Saturday I wanted to check out the portage at Big Eddy. Sunday we did the OKCC Intermediate Trip as described in the post at http://okccinfo.blogspot.com/ Check it out for the video if nothing else. I'm learning more about the best way to use my Pentax Optio. It is great but, like most everything, not perfect.
Sunday I ranged far afield and paddled from the Bull Run powerhouse to Oxbow. Bull Run was pretty big at 1,150 cfs. Fun, but Swingset had BIG waves. The Sandy was, well, Dodge to Oxbow.
Today, we just boated down from MP 7. At 5.29' on the WASW1 gauge, it's starting to feel low. There was still action at the Helicopter Wave, but the most fun was all the eddy hopping. Russ is recovering from his wrist injury and is looking good.

Tomorrow I leave for a John Day weekend. I'm rowing and the kids are canoeing. It should be exciting, with almost 8,000 cfs in the river. I'm looking forward to hiking during a layover day and just plain relaxing in the sun. Maybe I'll see again how much fun it is to solo my Explorer.

Rain Adds Water

Last night it rained, and the river came up more than 2 feet, to 7.70'. I had to look at Big Eddy, but we did not run it. The right hand line looked fine but powerful. We put in at MP 7. Flow was about 2,000 cfs.

There were a number of nice green front-surfing waves, typified by the one in the video, in front of the horse corral about mile 3 1/2.

I took a center-to-left line entering Cougar Creek, and I have to admit that it wasn't nearly as clean as I thought it would be. There's always next time...

Spins

Monday we paddled with 5.60' on the WASW1 gauge. Big Eddy was exciting - it seems like it always is for me - but we had good runs, basically following the flow down right of the Twin Rocks then down right of center.
The little play wave below the bridge was at a good level for spins. I've always found that it's easier to spin to the left than the right, but at this level, 5.60', I could spin both ways. My guess is that it'll be good down to 5.3' or so. Upon reflecting, I recalled that some of us ancient boaters refered to this feature as the "Helicopter Wave". It's been there for years. Although it is just a little wave, it is a good place to practice spins.
Ah, sunny weather!

Remix Rendezvous

Friday 4 of the 6 boats were Liquidlogic Remix's. Our crew was playful and found lots of interesting little spots. The wave right at the Mile 8 1/2 put-in was good for a few spins. I ran down the right side of Big Eddy - was easy getting down to the slot but it was pretty bouncy once I passed through the marginal eddy below the right hand rock outcropping. At the bottom of Big Eddy rapid the ender spot gave folks a chance to have some retro fun.

The class 2 rapid above the Mt. Norway Bridge was particularly playful this day. The bridge was a good vantage point for video. With the gauge at 6.44', the little wave below the bridge was not retentive, although it was fine for front surfing.

In Cougar Creek gorge, the wave above the creek was nice, but not easy to stay on. Then the reversal at the Rock Island was in, although it was not too retentive. Here, you want to be sure of your roll, because the rapid is right below.