Sixth Water

On a recent trip to Utah to visit Nick at Westminster.  We couldn't pass up the opportunity to take a day to head up to Sixth Water with a tube and borro wed playboat(Thanks Quin).  I have heard this called the best creek in Utah, and while I can't verify that, I would say its the best creek that I have done it Utah;)

It was really fun and Nick killed it in the K-mart raft.  This was my third time in a playboat (which I thought would be less forgiving), and it was waaaay too small.  But I forced myself into it and had an absolute blast!

          -Jacob

My first swim in 15

This is a long one with no picture.  Be forewarned.

Stephen Cameron recently posted his story about going thirty years between swims.  I thought I'd post my own little story about my first swim in 15.... minutes.

I had been anxiously awaiting my new boat from Dagger for over a month.  I had putting off going kayaking due to only possessing broken boats that forced me to hike out on 4 out of my last 5 trips.  I finally picked up my boat from Next Adventure and got ready for a fun warm up/get used to the boat trip on the Farmlands the coming Saturday.

I missed my alarm and was late, which I like to think is a rarity for me.  The White Salmon was the only thing running that day so the entire Pdxkayaking community was milling about BZ corner by the time I got there.

We finally got going and headed up to Steve's parents house, one of my favorite put-ins I have been able to use.  I paddled around the eddy at the put in a couple times and was absolutely feeling good about my new Nomad.

We regrouped above Little Lava, I boofed it landing in the eddy on the left feeling pretty good.  That is about as long as my enjoyment would last.  Steve and I decided to break ahead to get away from the congestion a bit.  We were in an eddy when Chris rolled in and told us his favorite move of the river was just downstream.  I watched him, then Steve make the move.  Then I followed pretty unaggresively.  I peeled out of the eddy that created the move ready to plop over a fun boof.

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This is the interesting part
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There wasn't much of a flake but I wasn't worried, just took a stroke and popped up ready to keep paddling.  I felt the sucking feeling below me and thought "whoo, that one almost got me".  Then the sucking increased and I realized I was going back in.  The hole was manageable but was flipping me over. Each time I would stick my paddle deep hoping to grab outflow, only to roll up still in the hole. I was hoping to work my way to river left into the outflow and saw my chance after my third roll.  I took a big stroke upriver and threw my weight into the current flipping intentionally(probably would have happened anyway) to get as much purchase with my paddle and body in the outflow as possible.  I had my paddle deep and felt the current pulling, I pulled up for a roll and just as my head started out of the water felt a searing pain and my arm twisted behind my back to a place it had never ventured before.

Fearing a dislocation, I let go of the paddle with my right hand and went for my skirt.  In hindsight I should have tried rolling on my left just using one hand(would have saved the ensuing adventure), but at that point I had been in the hole for what I was told later was a minute and was thinking more about air and my shoulder than what the consequences of my actions might be.

I came up and grabbed my floating paddle along with my boat.  Chris was right there pushing my boat to shore.  I let go and moved over to the canyon wall before the next rapid.  I could already feel the pain in my arm and was ready to be done, but there was more to do.  Another paddle came floating down which I grabbed, then another which someone else grabbed(lots of swimming on this trip).  The next bit was the normal scramble after a swim, but once I figured out my boat had traveled downstream out of sight, the situation began to change...

Being in the Farmlands my choices were to swim downstream through some class III-IV for an unknown distance until I found the boat trying not to get swept over Lava, or climb out.  I decided to climb.
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This is where it gets more interesting
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I made it about ten feet up before I realized this would be much harder than it had looked.  I still had my paddle with me and this was a cliff face.  The walls were crumbly in places, there were pine needles inches thick on the rocks, and good handholds were very limited.  I made it another five feet before making my first move that was not reverse able (by me).  I had to stay in each spot for about a minute collecting myself and plotting the next move.
  Not one step after the 15' mark was easy.  Two moves stood out.  The first being one where I had to throw my body wieght through the air and grab a pathetic looking sapling, hoping it wouldn't give.  The second was the final move I made.  I thought I had gotten stuck, when I saw a "what if" sort of move.  I thought if I did this one thing I would be home free, but it was sketchy as all get out and I am no rock climber.  I had to take off my life jacket to make the move as even the extra inch of paddling would rub the wall, pushing me back off the cliff.  I crouched down and made two separate moves under an overhanging rock ledge onto a 5" shelf covered in pine needles and sloping the wrong way.  I stood up and immediately a feeling of acceptance came over me.  I had made a move I could not repeat going the other way, and I had committed myself to a place I could not get any farther.  I was stuck on a ledge with a vertical 25 foot drop behind me, and a face level shelf in front of me with no hand/foot holds.

It was at this point I gave up relying on myself for the first time on a river and truly put my destiny in someone else's hand's.  Eric Arlington, Anna Herring, and Eric Harvey had all been waiting to make sure I got out safe.  I cannot properly thank them enough for this.  I gave the hand across the neck signal and Eric shouted he would be back with a rope.  They took off downstream and I was alone with my thoughts (most of which dealt with overcoming my irrational fears of how the rock would choose this moment to crumble beneath me, or the slightly more rational fear of my foot slipping/pine-needles giving out).  I watched another group of boaters pass.  I didn't call to them as I thought that would only make the situation more hectic.  I enjoyed watching them eddy out, peer down the next rapid, then run it together, totally unknowing of my presence only forty feet above them.

There was a dead deer in the eddy below me.  I felt there was a good chance he had died falling from the very cliff I was perched on now.  After about 15 minutes I was pretty comfortable.  Its not often I let go mentally, but I did here.  Stuck in the same position all this time didn't leave me much choice.  After what I am guessing was 45 minutes, I heard a whistle and Eric Arlington, Jesse Combs, Chris Arnold, and Shawn Haggin showed up with a rope.  From there it was a quick process getting up and out.

I ended the day and hiked back to Stephen's parent's house and did a bit of reading with Mt Adams in the background.

My shoulder is getting better, but odd things like skipping a rock still cause me significant pain almost two weeks later.

It was a good experience, with some lesson's I needed to learn thrown in. The most important was the extra incentive to stay in my boat next time.

Willy Dinsdale happened to be on the river that day as well.  While I never saw him, he tracked down my boat on his own and got it up to the road.  I really appreciated all the help this day, and not loosing my boat for good on the first day I had it out.

 Chris, Eric, Eric, Anna, Jesse, Shawn.  I know the others would have been there had they needed to be, and they have been before. But you guys were there this time.  Thank you.

    -Jacob

Down in the Ditch

It’s been 3 months since I last took any strokes in my kayak. After a fun fall boating season and after my Oregon Ducks finished up their season of home games in Eugene, I loaded the car and made the long move out to Colorado for the winter. Don’t get me wrong. The skiing in CO is second to none and I have taken full advantage of the amazing snow we’ve been getting in summit county, but it is not without sacrifice. I desperately miss the creeks and rivers of the PNW.

Since I can’t actually paddle just yet and can’t seem to get my mind off of boating, I decided I’d throw up a short post on the Grand Canyon trip I took a few months back. Despite the lengthy nature of the float, I’ll keep this post short. Besides, I couldn’t begin to describe all the nuances and experiences that make a trip on the Colorado River such a special experience.

This particular trip came together in pretty short order, when compared to all the preparation time that is usually associated with trips on the Grand. I won the cancellation lottery approx. two months before my launch date (Aug 28) The permit was for 8 people and allowed 16 days to float from Lee’s Ferry to Diamond Creek. Both my parents and my sister joined up along with Jesse, a long time friend and fellow rafting guide. Skip, Jeff, and Stephanie (good friends from college) rounded out the group. We had three 18 foot gear rafts (all provided by PRO Outfitters in Flagstaff) and two kayaks.

In a nut shell.

Granite, horn creek, and Lava were huge. Crystal was easy. The camping was amazing. The fire ants hurt. The side hikes are spectacular. The clear flowing side creeks are heaven on earth. And I guess I’ll let the photos do the talking from here on.

Author in House Rock Rapid

The Crew @ The Silver Grotto

Night Life

Go Ducks

Jesse making the move @ Horn Creek

Miranda and Steph @ Deer Creek

Havasu Blue

Pardon the commentary on this last video, my mother still has some soccer mom baked into her. Raft #1 is me, #2 is my Skip (this was his first rafting trip and first time rowing a raft), and raft #3 is my father. #3 got to to know the cheese grater very well.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f55wyeXZ4Eo

Until next time.

Nate

Bonnie Falls in a Tube

 Here is Nick tubing Bonnie Falls on the North Fork Scappoose last summer.

   -Jacob

Portland mini series

I'm sure most people have seen this by now.  Supposedly there is to be a 9 part mini series about Portland.  Pretty accurate I would say.


   -Jacob

Silverton Plateau Trifecta

I finally got to do the mini mission I had been thinking about since I ran Abiqua Creek for the first time last year with Ryan, Megi, and Steve.  My idea had been to run the park and huck sections of the three creeks all in one day (class IV version).  In my opinion, it is the best waterfall training in Oregon.  We took it easy and didn't run any of the big drops, but still fell over 150 feet in the air by doing laps on different waterfalls.  If you were feeling saucy, you could easily drop 300 feet in a day.  

After our trip to the Carbon failed for the second weekend in a row, I was up at 3:30 trying to think of what to do that day.  I checked the gauge's and the Butte Creek gauge was still over 200, meaning we could head to Silverton for some waterfall practice.  Anna was game and we met in Silverton, then headed for Abiqua creek, our first stop.  Loading up in her truck, it only took 20 minutes to get to the put in.  We geared up and hiked down the very abandoned road, putting in just above Momma Duke's, the first drop.  Anna went first so I could grab some video.  For a class two lead in, its a little deceptive.  It pulls boaters to the left and off a weird flake that doesn't set you up all that well for the drop.  You have to make a conscience effort to make the move to the right at the top.

Dropping Momma Duke's last year.

We each took three laps here, trying to get as dialed as possible.  We were debating doing a fourth lap until I mentioned there was another waterfall just around the corner, so we decided to get on with our day.  The next drop in my opinion is the cleanest 20 ft. waterfall in Oregon.  No video, but we both had great lines.  I 45'ed it the first time, then went back up to try for a tuck, only getting it partially.  Anna hit her line the first time and decided not to take the sloppy path back up on river right.

Ryan Cole Drops Peony Falls on another trip.

(photo: Megi Morishita)

We then headed off into the Mother's day mini gorge, sliding down a few fun and classy class III slides.  Eventually I saw what I had not seen last year, the entrance to Cattle Ramp.  This was the scene of a scary moment last year when Steve got a tiny eddy "just for fun" behind a log, only to look downstream and have his heart almost fail on him.  Below the last chance eddy he was in, the river funneled down an innocuous looking channel, before falling off a six foot ledge under a pile of wood.  This was a scary place.  This year I kept a watchful eye and we were able to get out earlier to scout this drop.  I brought some green logging tape with me (something I generally think is an obnoxious practice, though I felt this was worth the moral dilemma) and tied a piece of ribbon around the tree you don't want to go any further than.  It is hanging accross the stream and blocks downstream view.  Both Steve and I went past this log last year and immediately wished we had not.

Cattle Ramp

There isn't an eddy upstream, but I have only run this section at low water and we were easily able to hold onto the bedrock on the left and step out.  Be careful at high flows though, not sure this would be possible...

I had been hoping the recent high water would possibly have flushed the wood from Cattle Ramp, but there is actually even more in there now, forcing the short river left portage through a patch of Devil's Club.  We seal launched in just above Abiqua Falls, ate a snack at the lip (an outrageously cool place, please), then headed off up the trail to the road.  Its a bit challenging getting past the first bit onto the main trail, but with some teamwork can be done with relative ease.  From here its a short walk to the logging road, then half mile back to the car.

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next on the agenda was Butte Creek Falls, only ten minutes away.  We made the short hike down on the well maintained trail and began our huckfest. We dropped this 20+ footer three times each with an entourage taking photos the whole time!

Anna Fired away.

(all Butte Creek Falls photos by Tenzicut  of Down to the roots magazine.)

Hiking up for another go.

 Anna takes a look at the lead in.

 Workin' on that tuck.

Its a great waterfall, perfect size for practice and fun.

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Our final goal for the day was the Silverton Speedway.  It was 4 o' clock so we forgo stopping for snacks and head straight for the reservoir.  We ended up making it there with plenty of time.  We put on started paddling across the flat water before we saw the police car pull in.  He parked with a view of the spillway and waited for us to do something stupid.  We changed directions hoping he would believe we were just having a nice paddle on the lake.  He hung around for awhile and then he made the I'm pulling you over noise and said something on his bull horn.  We couldn't really hear what he was saying, but it didn't matter as he turned and left.  After he had been gone a couple minutes we proceeded to the lip of the spillway and over.  Huge props to Anna for firing this 60 foot slide site unseen!  "You can only run something blind once"! Thanks for that DeLeVergne.  Matt never lets us forget it :)

So that wraps up the Silverton Plateau trifecta.  The three major streams coming off the Silverton Plateau in park and huck fashion.  All within half hour of Salem.

For flows check out the Butte Creek estimate on Pat Welches site.  It should be over 200, 300-500 would be ideal as higher than that and I don't know what would happen on Abiqua with Cattle ramp and the Silverton Speedway developes a scary hole.

Butte Creek Estimate   

Kayaking is awesome.

video for analysis purposes.  Anna, I blew it both times and missed you running it.  If you pause the video you can see your position right before you hit.

   -Jacob