Boulder Creek: Idanha/Detroit

Beta

Stream:  This is a short but sweet stream near Detroit.  Nearly all the notable rapids have some bedrock component with an unusual amount (for Oregon) of scoured down bedrock slides and ledges.  Wood is present, but if you pick the right routes there are no portages (as of Spring 2016, and still clean in Winter 2019).   I usually do a couple laps when I'm up there, going slow and scouting the first time, saw in hand, then taking a second lap straight through.

Typical Boulder Creek

After a short 1/4 mile hike along a game trail and a short off-trail descent to the creek (easy to follow in 2019) the trip begins immediately with a section of fun bedrock rapids.  It's probably best to shore scout anything blind rather than read and run your first time down if no one knows the run.

After the initial barrage of bedrock there is a short manky section before things return to bedrock.  Enjoy these fun slides but tread cautiously as about halfway down and around a blind right turn lies the largest rapid, The Venue.  You need to scout before turning the corner or run center moving right at this short horizon line.  Scouting/portaging/lapping is all convenient on river right.

The Venue

Photo: Nick Hymel

*There is another corner above this one that seems like it could be the lead in to "The Venue", but isn't.

There are only a couple of small rapids between The Venue and Hallpass.    The line at Hallpass is to enter right-ish and run the ledge/hole at the bottom center, keeping your nose up.  The move is not too challenging but that hole is backed up and should be taken seriously even though it's not a visually impressive rapid.  Safety is tricky but can be set.

Hallpass

Below here are more fun rapids, of all sorts.  It can be a bit blind and fast paced, but when wood free is all good fun.

The bedrock ends abruptly just upstream of an island with a large log blocking the right channel.

From here, you have a couple options.

Option 1:  You can continue working your way downstream.  There is some wood to be dealt with, and the class III whitewater is all bouldery.  If you are going for this route, my recommendation is to scout out the situation while running shuttle by walking upstream from the bridge on the overgrown road to scope out the Trash Collector, this small but problematic area will be obvious when you see it, a short distance upstream of the abandoned silo.

Option 2:  Take out before the island with the log.  There is a walk-able road on river right that leads to Hwy 22 near the bridge.

Option 3:  Regardless of whether you took option 1 or 2, you can continue down to the North Santiam.  Just be sure to look around the corner from the bridge over Boulder Creek before you paddle around that corner.

Once on the North Santiam it's a splashy class III big water ride down to the next bridge.

Flows:  Our reconnaissance trips were done with the Blowout Creek gauge (The most relevant I believe) at just over 200 cfs,  North Santiam blw Boulder Creek between 1500-2000 cfs, and the Brietenbush Gauge around 1,000 cfs.  That was a safe level for exploring Boulder Creek's blind corners and long slides with small eddies, but was hard on boats and that's not a flow I go back for.

Iv'e been back at 350 on the Blowout Creek gauge when it rained the night before and had good flows.

Iv'e also run the creek at 700 and dropping when it hadn't rained the entire previous day and it was in but lower than the day at 350.

The best flow was 600 after a night of rain, and you could go higher.

It just speaks to the fact that the ballpark gauge is just that, a ballpark.  If you aim for 500 cfs in Blowout, give or take a couple hundred after a night of rain your chances for enjoyable flows are good.


The good news is you can get a visual check before putting on.  For our 2016 trips, water was just barely spilling into the trough on creek left under the Hwy 22 bridge.  For a good medium flow, water was spilling over the rectangular support indicated below. The riverbed is comprised of boulders here, so don't be surprised if the streamed changes and this reference becomes obsolete.

*The creek will look low from the bridge, but if it looks like you can float your boat down here the creek should be at a good level.  

Below is a visual guide to the visual gauge.

Exploratory flow: No water over rectangular support, but water is splashing into the trough.
March 6, 2016
Blowout Creek Gauge:  220 cfs

A fun, low level:  Water pulsing over the rectangular support.

April 28, 2017

Blowout Creek Gauge:  350 cfs

Medium:  Water spilling consistently over rectangular support.
March 11, 2017
Blowout Creek Gauge: 600 cfs

The Gist:

•  If there is water on the rectangular support, there is enough water for the creek to be fun. 
•  High flows are undetermined. 
•  If water is not getting onto the rectangular support, you may still be able to run the creek if water is getting into the trough, but it will be scrapey.

After 5 trips to this creek, it's probably my favorite backyard style run in Oregon.

Access:  Take highway 22 east out of Salem up to the town of Detroit.  Within 5 minutes of passing Detroit you will cross the bridge over Boulder Creek (signed) near the town of Idanha.  This serves as a place to leave a take out vehicle, check the water level, and scope out the Trash Collector.  If you want to continue down the North Santiam, turn right onto Blowout Creek Rd and follow it to a bridge 2 miles after passing Detroit.

Photo pulled from google maps street view

To get to the put in return 0.3 miles toward the town of Detroit on highway 22 from the Boulder Creek bridge and turn right onto Boulder Ridge Rd/NF-2231.  Travel 1.3 miles up this paved road to where it makes a sharp 180 degree turn to the left.  Park near a yellow road sign before the turn and locate an overgrown road going off to the right, at the start of the 180 degree turn (50 yards past the sign).  The trail was well marked in 2019 and easy to follow.

If you are reading this in the future and the trail is no longer in good shape, here is the general path:  Walk the short distance along the overgrown road and follow the path of least resistance as it drops down from the road grade, then heads upstream quickly reaching an old game or logging trail at the far end of a scree slope.  After about 1/6 mile on this trail, it splits at a small ridge.  Take the steeper left trail over this ridge.  For the most part the path has up to this point been close to flat, but about 100 yards after the ridge the trail gets steep, then very steep, at this point* veer off the trail to the right and follow the path of least resistance upstream (more or less maintaining elevation) over to another small ridge that is followed down to the creek.  In 2019 the trail was all easy to follow.

*Where to leave the trail,  from here cross-hill to the next nose of land and follow that down.

  Put In   44.71, -122.0697

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Boulder Creek reconnaissance 

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It took three trips, but we finally got the logistics figured out for this run.  My first trip up there I didn't expect the creek to have any water and was just going to scout, but John Harmon sent me a couple photos from the take out bridge after he got off the nearby Bruno Mountain run on the North Santiam the day before.  Looking at those photos I thought that maybe it might just barely be runnable so brought my rock boat just in case and planned on meeting Steve Tegtmeyer to run the Breitenbush if the new creek wasn't runnable.  I scouted around a bit and saw a couple fun looking sections so when Steve Tegtmeyer showed up, we talked it over and we decided to give it a go.  He and I had a nice trip, but flows were at exploratory levels and we put in below some of the good stuff.  We had a couple portages near the end, so i decided to take out a little earlier the next time.  

The second time there was a much larger group consisting of Ross George, Brandon Lake, Nick Hymel, Pete Giordano, Ben Mckenzie, Jesse Shapiro and myself.  That time we decided to put in as high as we could float a boat in order to suss out the entire stream.  We did that, with the upper section leap frogging between fun bedrock rapids and wood portages.  It was a trying day, and the fatigue eventually caught up to us in the form of a dislocated shoulder in Hallpass.  The information we gleaned from this trip provided the knowledge needed to get logistics dialed for return trips to this unique run.

Hiking in on the information gleaning mission.

I made a mistake about which spur road to hike in on despite having the correct information relayed to me.  This meant we carried our boats further than necessary, dropping in on a tributary, meaning we began our trip with a couple extra portages.

There was some fun stuff in the upper reaches, but there were about as many portages as good rapids.

If this looks like fun, the upper section might just be your cup of tea.  

photo: Nick Hymel

Eventually we made our final portage and had over a mile of fun bedrock rapids, some of which are visible on google imagery, which is what got me excited about the creek in the first place.

Halfway down the lower stretch we arrived at The Venue.  Here there is a nice platform on the right where you can watch the show, from which you can then decide if you want to be a part of the show.  

Nick Hymel, center-stage

*The Venue comes around a blind right corner that looks like the rest of the creek.  If you turn the corner, you will be running the drop blind.  Look for a couple small eddies on the right just before the turn with green flagging and a root wad on shore.

A short distance below The Venue lies Hallpass, where fatigue combined with a rocky lead-in to a backed up hole led to a swim and dislocated shoulder on our reconnaissance mission.  Impressively the boater with the dislocated shoulder, who is no stranger to pain, paddled the rest of the run after popping the shoulder back in himself.

Hallpass

Downstream were a few more fun rapids before the take out we have been using.  It is at the end of a long bedrock sliding rapid that splits at an island where the right channel has more water and ends in a ledge (there are a number of spots on the run that fit this description).  Just below here the creek bends right with a couple eddies on the left along a wall.  From one of these eddies ferry over to river right where there is a convenient take out.  Downstream of here is a small log spanning the creek as the stream transitions to boulders for the duration of its course.  From the take out eddy you can walk downstream and away from the creek to a flat area which can be followed a short ways downstream to the take out.  Or you can paddle/portage the final 100 yards of the creek to the bridge.

Nick took some helmet cam footage during the reconnaissance mission that I put together.

For round three, I was able to locate an ideal put in that provides the most bang for your buck; with no portages and many bedrock slides and rapids including both of the named rapids.    If you are looking for a longer day, you can walk from the take out described above on creek right down to the North Santiam River and get about a mile of splashy class III down to the Blowout Creek Rd bridge.  There is a nice wave just above the bridge on river left that is fun to surf at the levels required to run Boulder Creek.   The turn off to this bridge is about 1 mile back towards Detroit from the highway 22 bridge over Boulder Creek.

Trip two (photos from this report) was on March 6th, 2016


I think the Blowout Creek gauge will reflect flows the best in Boulder Creek.

I would recommend a slow first lap to figure things out, then a second, faster lap.  Or combine this run with Sardine Creek, French, Brietenbush, Secret Stash, Cedar, Bruno Mt, Opal stuff, etc.

          -jacob

Boulder Creek; Siletz drainage

BETA

Stream: While logging is an important and necessary industry in our state, I often wonder what Oregon's Coast Range might have looked like before Big Timber got ahold of it.  

The Valsetz region of the Coast Range is one of the most heavily logged areas in Oregon, but there is one watershed in this area (Boulder Creek) that is still on public land and remains largely unmolested near creek level.  Access is tough, and the run is challenging so not many boaters get in there.  For those that do and have the capacity to appreciate the place for what it is, it is a special trip.  

The ideal put in for Boulder Creek is at the confluence with Bridge Forty Creek, though access to that area is not available to most.  A lower run starting near the confluence with Little Boulder Creek is the likely alternative.  The run starts near Bridge Forty pretty small with some class III-IV and wood.  Within the first mile the stream becomes a sheet of bedrock and turns to the right, at this point eddy out left to scout Boulder Creek Falls.  This big falls has been run twice so far by Matt King and Ben Mckenzie.  The lead in is intimidating and the right side lands on rock.  The whole thing drops about 50' including the lead in.  Aside from the intimidation it has a good line and landing zone.

Matt King is in there if you look close.

Below the falls things clean up a little, with many class IV(IV+) rapids and continued wood hazards.  The further you get downstream, the better the rapids become and the less wood there is to deal with.  The best section is downstream of the confluence with Little Boulder Creek.  

Give yourself as much time as possible on this one, you are in a deep canyon for the second half and will be fighting daylight regardless of how smooth your run goes.  Bring food, water and your sense of adventure.

  
Flows:  You need at least 4,000 cfs in the Siletz for enjoyable levels, 6,000-7,000 cfs is a nice medium.

Access:   The section from the confluence with Little Boulder Creek (44.933920, -123.670526) down to the confluence with the North Fork Siletz (44.920561, -123.696239) is going to be the only section of this creek accessible to most boaters.  If you decide to do that run, I recommend continuing down the NF Siletz to this point:  44.892501, -123.716100 for an additional 3.5 miles of good fun on the NF.

If you want to check on current access, contact the BLM NW Oregon office and ask about access to The Valley of the Giants. You take the same route to Boulder as to the VOTG, crossing Boulder Creek less than 2 miles before you would get to the VOTG trailhead.

To get to the area, first cache the map onto your phone.  Google does not acknowledge the road along the NF Siletz as existing, so you will need to read your map the old fashion way once you reach the turn headed north up the NF Siletz.

Take Valsetz Road out of Falls City, or if it's a weekend you can drive up the Siletz from Moonshine Park.  Find your way along the logging roads to this turn, and head north: 44.878294, -123.708203  From this point Google Maps will not be useful.  Continue on the road, passing by the optional take out down on the NF Siletz here:  44.892354, -123.716192.

Continue upstream 3-3.5 miles until you cross the bridge over Boulder Creek.  Then, refer to the following map to access the lower section of Boulder Creek.  This lower section is still available to boaters most any weekend, and if coming in from Falls City on weekdays too any time fire danger is not high.

If you want to paddle all of boulder creek, putting in above the waterfall, continue reading.




"The Oregon Coast range is a mountainous version of the Bermuda Triangle.  Gates appear, open, and close randomly.  The famously incomprehensible road system is constantly evolving, so maps are only marginally useful.  Even those who are experienced in land navigation can soon be hopelessly lost without a GPS.  Tourists are regularly swallowed up by these mountains, and sometimes they don't survive the experience.  Needless to say, for those who love adventure, this is a special place."

             ~Jason Rackley; Oregonkayaking.net

For the above reasons I won't be giving step by step shuttle directions.  A summer scouting trip for access is recommended.  If you try to figure out the shuttle for the first time the day you plan to run the creek, you will run out of light.   Valsetz road to the Valley of the Giants has historically been open to the public on weekends when there is no fire danger, expect every other road in the area to be gated and closed except during hunting season.  Though even that option may disappear in 2017. (2019: Valsetz Road is still open). 

Put in:  44.93, -123.6292
Take out:  44.9206, -123.6962

If you can't figure out the shuttle route, there is also the option to hike in from the take out along what the maps label as "jeep trails" along the north side of the creek.  Below are two maps showing those trails.

Click on the map to enlarge it.

The hike is under 4 miles, and after the first mile looks pretty flat.  I do not know the condition of the "jeep trails" other than that around the falls they are good for walking.  I would not be surprised if in some areas they were overgrown.

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Trip Report
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This was my second time down Boulder Creek in the Siletz drainage.  It is an enjoyable but logistically challenging class IV-IV+ run with a tough 50' waterfall that can be portaged.





Paddling in the dark can be very enjoyable under the right circumstances, or it can be very dangerous under the wrong circumstances.  This trip had a little of both.

The first time I did this run with Matt and Eric Harvey we needed to hike in 2 miles through the snow and had to charge on the river to get out before dark.

Photo: Matt King

Snow has a way of creating elegant situations.

Photo: Matt King

This time around everyone was once again pretty excited about running this rarely paddled stream.   All nine of us in fact ( a large but doable number given everyone knew most of the others pretty well).  The meeting time of 8:30 in Monmouth turned into not leaving Monmouth until after 10.

We were in good spirits on the long drive into the NF Siletz drainage.

We ran into another group of boaters doing what looked sure to be a fun run on the NF Siletz.

Shortly down the road we encountered a log across the road that we had beta would be there.  Dan had the foresight to pack a manual chainsaw.

  Time: 11:30   AM

We continued on and made quick time of leaving a car at the take out where Boulder Creek enters the NF Siletz.  We embarked on the long shuttle drive (a little under 15 miles on arterial logging roads).  We didn't need to resort to a map or GPS but having one in the trunk was a comfort.

During this period we encountered logs 2, 3, and 4 that required attention.

  Time:  2:00 PM

        

We reached the put in parking spot and did the 100 yard walk through the woods into Bridge Forty Creek.  Putting on we encountered a rapid that required scouting and safety.  The hundred yards from the top of this rapid to Boulder itself took 20 minutes due to the small tributary and many boaters.  It would be easy enough to walk straight to Boulder by veering left from the vehicles and skip Bridge Forty Creek.

First rapid, an interesting section of rock and water.

2:25 PM

Upon reaching Boulder it was apparent there was more wood in this upper section than the last time I was here with Matt and Eric.  Everyone started talking about the wood and getting nervous.  The first 200 yards of Boulder really set a precedent as people become timid about hustling downstream due to the abundance of dangerous wood in the creek.

It was not long before we arrived at Boulder Creek Falls.  Many people quickly decided to portage this tough drop.  In the end only Ben Mckenzie was interested in paddling the falls.  He took the same line that I had seen Matt take 2 years earlier which was a right to middle move.  Its a tricky lip with an even tricker and highly consequential lead in.  Ben greased the line.

3:15 PM

It was after 3:30 by the time we were paddling away from the falls and tensions were already mounting.  Below here the stream cleaned up significantly but the woody section from above the falls was still vivid in everyones minds.  We moved slowly through this section and scouted often for wood.

At one point Ben was easing himself under a tree that came loose and landed on him, requiring assistance to hoist it off.

As tributaries came in we started running some quality whitewater and spirits rose a little even as fatigue started to set in.

We had a pin that took some heroic action by Joe to rectify.  This pin put everyone back on their heals.

5:30 Finally Little Boulder came in on the left and I knew that we were in bad shape time wise with dark arriving at around 6pm, but the large group was finally getting into something resembling a rhythm.  We started moving a little quicker and the added volume was welcome, making for some pushy rapids and some holes.

There was a quarter mile long section of pushy boulder gardens that proved to be the tipping point from holding on, to nearing loosing it as a group.  I was chasing down an IK as I entered another rapid and chose to pass the craft instead of try to coral it.  Sam along with Ben arrested it downstream in the first pool we had seen in some time as I headed upstream to check on the paddler.

As I headed that way I saw another boat floating downstream along with its captain.  Ben and Sam once again collected our friend in the pool and the gear as I continued upstream.  The IKer along with two other paddlers made the prudent choice to efficiently portage this rapid.  By the time we were all moving again the light had changed as it was close to dark.

We were in what I remembered as the final gorge.  We had two wood portages in here, at the top of the first portage it was already 6 o clock, the time we had hoped to be off the river by.  We now knew every minute of light was more than we were counting on.

First gorge portage 6:10

After the second portage it was twilight.

Oddly enough, even after the obstacles we had faced and the lack of light, people pulled it together and for the first time we were really moving cohesively as a unit.  I looked back to see everyone in our team spaced evenly and charging ahead as stoically as they could muster.  Had we been moving at this pace and efficiency the whole time, light would never have been a problem.

As twilight faded we encountered the final boulder garden of the run.  I knew if we scouted it we would be running it in the pitch black and saw a line through it so I kept paddling.  The wood situation was worse at the bottom than I had been able to see from above or remembered and two people had close calls.  This was the hardest decision of the day, but I still feel it was better to boat scout the rapid with the last minute of twilight than to run it/portage in the complete dark.

It took a couple minutes to get the group back together and some team encouragement was needed to get everyone back in their boats.  People pulled themselves together for what I remembered as the last rapid (a slide into a hole).  Alex and Ben gave good beta and everyone came through well.

A minute or two after that rapid I took this video.

A ways below here I had a conversation with the unrelentingly positive Sam Causey where he pointed out how now that the rapids were class II, the setting was nearly romantic.  I knew what he meant and relaxed a bit on the 15 minute paddle from here to the take out letting the trip soak in.

Before long I started hearing cheers of joy as people saw the taillights of the take out car (Lucas had hiked back to the cars after breaking his paddle on the first rapid and was about to drive upstream looking for us.)

Everyone regrouped at the cars and the nerves and fear washed away instantly as relief began to set in.

The shuttle went smooth as could be hoped for in the torrential downpour, and everyone took turns recounting the days events.

While from the outside it is hard to see a trip like this as a successful one, those who have been in this situation know that you end up learning a lot about yourself and your friends and while you don't generally seek out that type of ending, there is still a lot to be enjoyed.  On this trip everyone on the team had their roles and executed them when they needed to, Go Team!

  I thought we had got away with one on this trip, little did I know Boulder Creek had left me a little surprise for later that week.

Daylight savings will be a welcome extra hour of light in the evening.

Flows the day we were there averaged in the mid 6k range on the Siletz.

Happy Adventuring,

      -jacob