Clear Creek and the art of speed portaging

After a weekend of guiding I set off on my way back to Monmouth.  It had been raining and I had my boat so i decided to check out a creek that I always crossed over on my way to and from Estacada.  I stopped at the take out bridge and took a look at levels, low, but definitely enough to float.  The one log I saw upstream didn't discourage me much, I was sure there would be a couple more just like it to negotiate before the day was out.  I dropped my gear off at the start of the hike and drove back down near the take out to start the shuttle.

The gate where I was to start my hike.

I changed and started the 3 mile hike/jog to the logging road where my gear was.  I figured I would arrive by six.  It was a nice day for the most part and the rain had shut off for my shuttle aside from one brief hail flurry.

Arriving at the logging road I set up my carry system to test it out and started the 1+ mile hike into a place I believed was going to deliver me just below the confluence of two forks.  After the logging road section, I took my pack off and started the schwack through the woods.  It started out steep and I used the rope once.  At one point my boat took off without my consent and yanked me straight down the side of the hill!  A stick jammed into my thigh, bringing me to an abrupt halt and my boat stalled on a tree.  Below it wasn't too long until the angle of the slope cooled off, allowing for a pleasant hike through the woods.  I used rope again for the last 50 feet to the creek.  I saw some logs but was pleased with my good fortune to have put in just below a log jam I would have needed to portage.  Little did I know at the time, I could have put in anywhere along this 1.5 mile section and I would have been just below a logjam I needed to portage.

The last pitch I used a rope for.

I took 3 strokes, dodged a log, turned the corner and came to another logjam without eddies.  I grabbed some grass on the side of the creek and walked the creekbed till it was easy to get out, then off into the woods.

My first 3 strokes.

Three more consecutive jams and I began to worry about light.  From here out I put my "dealing" skills to use and was making reasonable time for what I was doing.  The creek required perpetual decision making about which channel to take, or whether or not a log could be boofed or needed to be walked around.

Typical scene on upper Clear Creek.

There was one rapid that could be considered almost fun, a bedrock conveyer-belt class two that was 20 yards long with a class two slide lead in.  Aside from that it was just dealing with logs. For those driving by who take a peak or are running the lower section, the small class two above the bridge was the most challenging rapid of the day not produced by a logjam :(

I made it to the end before dark, then jogged the mile to retrieve my car.  Rest assured, I will never be back, but at least I know what is there!

Not too dark when I got out of there...

But this was the scene when I returned after getting my car. 

An aside:  I suspect the logjams were 75% anthropogenic, the logs were often cut and most of them had pink tape next to them, leading me to believe they were placed there.

   -Jacob

Milk Creek/ Zigzag River

On my way back and forth from school to my parents house, I often take the route through Molalla. There is a creek I had crossed over before in the town of Colton that had been catching my eye.  There are a couple small ledges next to the road and it seemed like a small, but paddle-able creek.  On one particular trip I stopped to check it out since it appeared to be running. I poked around, then gave Shane Conrad a call and we decided to check it out the next day. I didn't expect much, but it was something new to us so off we went.

When we showed up there were a couple local kids there on bikes who showed us a path to scout some of the "waterfalls" they knew about. They turned out to be a couple of three to four foot ledges, but they seemed interesting enough, so we put onto Canyon creek, which shortly confluenced with Milk creek. Right at the confluence was a fun class three drop consisting of a few bedrock ledge/slides. Below here was some class two and a log or two that were easily dodged. Soon, the bedrock reappeared on the side of the stream and we were scouting the biggest drop of the run the kids had referred to as the "Hult Road drop". It was straight forward anywhere you wanted to go off, but the left looked the most fun.  Shane went first, and discovered it was pretty hard to get as far left as we wanted over the shallow bedrock since we had scouted on the right and we both ended up missing out on the boof.

There was also the option for a log grind in the middle I hoped to do on our second lap, but logistical issues had us heading home after one. Below here was a fun section of class 2-3 bedrock drops with one long low angle slide. Eventually this section tapered away into gravel bars with some wood. There was one log around a blind corner I was able to get over and Shane able to walk, but for the most part it was a clean creek-bed. It wasn't much further to our takeout at Dooghe Rd. It turned out to be a fun little adventure that I may come back to if I happen to be passing through and short on time though I would certainly not set aside an entire day for it.

It is conducive to a trip on your own since the shuttle is easy and the whitewater friendly. Flows for us were 1500 on the Molalla gauge, but 2000 would be a good thing to shoot for, and the run may actually be pretty enjoyable if flows were much over 3,000 cfs.

 We took out where Dooghe road crosses Milk Creek, and put in where Hwy 211 crosses Canyon creek. My dad and his friend Rodd returned a year or two later and put in further up 211 a ways (near S Grays road) and took out lower.  This added a couple more ledges up top and some class I-II down lower.

The run on Milk Creek

click to enlarge

Milk Creek and the Zigzag River from Jacob Cruser on Vimeo.


The next day my dad and I ran the Zigzag River. People ask me what my favorite river is sometimes, and I usually just say "any river I haven't done yet".  Though every time they ask, the Zigzag pops into my head for a moment.  Its not a challenging run, in fact, none of the drops are even class four on their own. I just always seem to enjoy myself on this one though. The run is continuous, so your attention is required from beginning to take-out, yet it's easy enough that there is no concern and I often get into a meditative type state.

We call the rapid "26 moves" that starts just below the put in, and goes around a few corners before ending near Camp Creek.  We call it this because there are about 26 small moves, and it is highway 26 that moves you to the put in and take out. We don't have any names for the rapids below,  and I don't run it often enough anymore to have it memorized so mostly we just keep asking "is this the island with the wood?"

 The rapids below the road 21 bridge are a half class harder than those above, and have some hydraulics in them. My dad and I had an enjoyable run, and were surprised when there were no mandatory wood portages! Not common for the Zigzag.

     -Jacob