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The rapids on this run follow a Lord of the Rings theme. The drops are in order of the Hobbits adventure and the drops correlate with their challenges. If you are familiar with the story, you will have an idea how far along you are on the run by the names of the drops.
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Stream:
[Italicized portions of the report are Nate Merrill's commentary, who was on the trip where we completed the run.]
After a complex shuttle, and short hike in, paddlers arrive at a small class I-II creek bed with barely enough water to float. Upstream is a 12'er, downstream are a number of easy log portages. It is best to make haste through this section, as it is easier to save time here than later on.
As we were gearing up and about to put boat to water, I remember turning to Cruser and asking, "Is this a bad idea?" His response wasn't entirely what I was hoping for: "Um. Maybe. But it's happening." Needless to say, Jacob's epic hike out the previous winter had me on some pins and needles.
Less than a mile into the run shallow, low angle slides will appear. At this point be on alert for the first falls. The creek will make a left then immediate right, making this right turn will result in a run over the falls. An alert boater will find there are eddies where they need them. The portage is easiest with rope on the right, but has been done on the left. The landing itself is deep but had a barely visible log in the landing on this trip. This was the first taste of the challenges to come.
Weathertop
A couple more views of Weathertop
Photo: Ryan Scott
Below here a short ways is a class III slide and the next rapid is the first class V. It looked portageable on the left, but don't be tricked into going very high or you will be cliffed out. At low flows we boated/portaged our way at river level.
First notable rapid
Soon is the first big falls, it has three tiers, only the second and third appeared runnable. We portaged high on the right, but this was not favorable. After the portage we discovered roping the boats down the first falls on the right, then ferrying over to river left above the second falls would lead to a much simpler river level portage. It also allows for a boater to scout the third drop from the lip.
I ended up doing a rappel down to the base of the last falls in this series while others lowered their boats down and proceeded to tackle the long hike around. After seeing this fall from the base, I estimated the drop is closer to 45 feet it height rather than the 60 foot drop we'd estimated from high up on the canyon walls. If you follow Jacob's portage directions above, you'll have ample opportunity to decide for your selves.
Rivendell
The lip of the first (marginal) drop in Rivendell
The second and third (runnable) drops of Rivendell
Having already completed the gorge that had turned Jacob back the year prior, I was feeling pretty good at this point. We were making good time and the drops were all classic affairs (although we weren't firing). I remember taking a rather long break below the gorge and eating a bit of food while resting up for the next stage of our journey. Looking back on it, this was one moment where we really could have saved our selves some time down the line. We may have been lulled into a sense of complacency with regards to daylight seeing as we'd just completed what we expected to be the hardest portage.
Below here is a pretty manky section that would be fast and eddy-less with more water. It starts with a 25' slide into a narrow sluiceway. This turns the corner and enters some brush and pinny stuff, then some runnable boulder gardens with some wood.
Moria
This section bogged us down as a group and reminded us that every part of this creek has bite, both on and off the water.
It's worth noting that there is an active landslide the pours into the creek from river right just below the 25' slide. We all portaged along the slide, however, Matt narrowly avoided serious injury when several dump trucks worth of rocks shifted under his feet and slid down into the creek. Portage with care!
Below here I think things were smooth for a bit with an easy slide at the base of an impressive river-right wall.
After spending such an inordinate amount of time and energy making our way through the brushy mank upstream, it felt great to be running some rapids and making down stream progress. The wall that is featured in the photo above is really a sight to be seen! A sheer, slanted slab of rock that is easily 300 feet tall that shoots directly up from the creek.
Below here a creek enters on the left, marking the lower gorge. The next horizon line was supposed to be the first of the 20'ers. There was an eddy on the right above the first falls. The first drop is a twisting 40'er that looks runnable, with a runout that feeds right into an abrupt 50'er. The 50 looked deep from above, but Nate was collecting boats in the pool below and had his doubts. To portage the two drops, we roped them down on the right side of the first falls and scrambled through the woods to collect them. This left us needing to get to the left for the second part, which led to a classic "scary ferry". This required being propelled into the base of the first falls and paddling like mad to make it to the river left eddy. Keel went last after pushing us, so wasn't able to get a push but still made the move. Thanks Keel! After this we pushed the boats off the second falls where Nate and Matt collected them, then did a moderately exposed traverse on river left.
This is right around the point when the trip took on a more desperate nature. With daylight burning fast we found ourselves standing at the lip of a second intimidating gorge. As we stood on the patio and looked over the edge of the first drop, we could tell that the portage around the gorge was going to take a good chunk of time and I think everyone was starting to feel the looming threat of a cold night out on one of the darkest days of the year. From this point on, we all adopted a very workman like mentality when it came to down stream progress. Looking out over the gorge and not knowing just have big the next horizon line will be was a feeling I'd not yet known in kayaking.
The Two Towers
The scary ferry between Tower 1 and Tower 2
A few short slides led to the next horizon. Matt and Nate had already scouted, and Nate said I shouldn't scout this one, just go with the water and tuck. I was a bit skeptical, but with a twinkle in his eye Nate said "trust me" and got into his boat. I followed and using that beta cleaned up on the funnest drop we ran that day.
Gondor
The bottom set in Gondor was class V+ made worse by a raft stuck in the first drop. Keel and Nate think this drop is the creme de leche of the run, and has the potential to become yet another signature drop in the Columbia Gorge. It is a 25' pancake only drop, immediately (maybe time for a stroke) into another 25'er with a clean pool.
Minus Tiruth at the exit to Gondor
Photo: Tim Olsen
(Taken at summer flows)
The pool below.
This is followed by some boulder gardens and wood before the next biggin' (
Black Gate), a tough 40'er with a deep looking pool. The faster portage is on the left, but looked exposed to us who portaged on the right. Boats were also thrown here.
After reaching the start of the second gorge, the group had developed a pretty stringent guide for portaging around these large waterfalls. Almost every single drop on the top of the rock falls into giant basalt amphitheaters that require long, strenuous portages up and around. Imagine portaging Punchbowl Falls on eagle creek, from the lip, repeatedly.. without the aid of a trail! In order to speed up the process, the group would divide up into two groups when we hit a new horizon. 2/3 of the group would begin the long walk immediately sans boats, while the remaining 1/3 would hang tight. Once the 2/3 had made it to the bottom, the folks at the top would huck boats and paddles off to be corralled at the base of the falls. As the 2/3 drained boats, the 1/3 would complete the hike. This kept everything moving down river!
Black Gate
Photo: Ryan Scott
This was run on a later trip by Dave Fusilli.
Following this was a fun section (
Shelob's Layer) of boulder gardens with some wood. Scotty led a charge through here to keep us on schedule. My second favorite drop was in here. This boulder garden saw us sneaking into a small channel on the right, then driving back center for a fun couple of moves. A swimming portage on the left followed awhile later and we were nearing the end of the hard stuff.
This section ends with
Doom, another ten foot log choked drop into a narrow landing that may go with more flow, but we were able to portage on both sides.
Doom
Below here its just a race against darkness, once you pass a green colored cliff on the left you have reached
The Shire and the PCT bridge is just downstream. It is possible to hike a mile on the PCT out to a road, but at this point you are only a mile of class II away from the end so if you have light you may as well take it easy and float to the vehicle bridge.
The Shire
Everything about the Top of the Rock grades out on an epic scale. Access requires a 2 hour one way shuttle which circumnavigates several nearby drainages. The road to the put-in tops out above 3000 feet and is snowed in much of the year. The drops are large and the portages are taxing. Weather patterns have necessitated both attempts to have occurred right around the winter solstice which dramatically decreases the amount of usable day light to complete the run (and you need every moment) An attempt on this creek should not be taken lightly! That being said, there are some classic drops in there and I personally look forward to watching folks start to pick em off. This trip was more of an exploratory mission to get the whole thing dialed in. As such, no one was really in the 'go big' mindset and we ended up leaving all the biggins un-run. I know that I can't wait to get back in there and maybe have a crack at one or two of the falls. Just be aware, if you do wreck yourself on Top of the Rock, egress out of the canyon won't really be much of an option. Go get em!
Video from Ryan Scott of
CRG productions
Rock Creek, WA - Headwaters Canyon - (Top of the Rock) from
CRG Whitewater on
Vimeo.
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Nate & Jacob
Flows: Rock Creek once
had a gage that was available online from 2008-2013. Currently only the gauge height can be ascertained, and that must be done in person.
Here is a rough correlation showing the relationship between the gage height and cfs.
G.H CFS
9.00 .......... 304
9.50 .......... 454
10.10 .......... 701
10.50 .......... 904
10.80 .......... 1,050
11.00 .......... 1,160
11.50 .......... 1,490
11.90 .......... 1,810
I believe the range is roughly 11'-12', with 11.5' being ideal. Yet with only a couple data points that is guesswork at best.
- The first time we tried this run on 10-30-2011, Rock Creek was raging at higher flows than the gauge could register (the online gauge did not read higher than 12' or just under 2,000 cfs). This was not a good first time flow, and a visual estimate of the flooding creek was in the 3,000+ cfs range at the gage site. The EF Lewis standby gage was at over 4500 cfs.
- The photos on this trip report were taken at about 11', or around 1,100 cfs on 10-8-2012. This gage is far downstream on Rock Creek, we probably only had a couple hundred cfs max in the headwaters which was a low, runnable level. The EF Lewis standby gage was at 2200 cfs.
The gage is found where Rock Creek flows under the Ryan Allen Rd bridge a short distance upstream of Stevenson. 45.6985, -121.9053
The readings stop at 10.10, but this ruler has been added to extend the gage. The inches start at the 10.00 mark, so this part of the gage reads as inches + 10 feet. The top of the metal is at 22" or 11'10" so a covered gage means high water.
There is also a rough gage on the right pylon of the bridge that extends the readings further if the metal portion is covered.
There are some nearby streams with online gages that can be used to guesstimate when The Top Rock will be flowing.
Here are some notes related to those gauges:
Ok flow with -
EF Lewis @ 4200 (dropping);
Washougal @ 5800 (dropping);
Wind @ 1800 (dropping)
Similar flow with -
EF Lewis 4000 (peak);
Washougal @ 4600 (peak);
Wind @ 7.5/1600 (peak)
Access: Look at a map, the take out is the highest bridge on Rock Creek near the PCT and Snag creek trail. This part of the shuttle is mostly along Red Bluff road. To get to the put in; drive all the way back down to highway 14, then up the Wind River Highwater to Stabler. After turning onto Hemlock Road and crossing the Wind River, turn right in a little over a mile onto NF-417 (just before crossing Trout Creek). Continue up NF-417 to the Upper Trout creek put in bridge, just after the bridge turn right. After a period of time the road will turn left (there will be a gated road to the right) and start going uphill. Follow this to the top of the ridge and turn left. Within a quarter mile a barely visible trail will be on the right at a small pull-off. You might notice a painted square on a tree here. Follow this trail to the creek, it will peter out at points, but intuition has gotten everyone where they need to go so far.
Needless to say, some pre-trip map work is necessary.
Snow Marker: The elevation of this corner coincides with the elevation at the head of the gorge.
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Background
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Rock creek has long been on the radar as a semi-classic class IV run in the CRG and the oft-hucked Money Drop. But until last year, no one had really explored the upper reaches of the drainage. Upper Rock descends through a canyon that rivals (and even outshines) the Salmon River which flows off the flanks of nearby Mt. Hood. ~Nate Merrill
After our
failed attempt last year, I was unsure if I was ever going to return to this section of river. I had seen the committing nature of the run in the form of 4 failed attempts at gaining access, hours examining topo maps, and an intimate experience with the canyon as we flanked its river left wall hundreds of feet above the stream for 8 hours in the dark last year. I was worried the lower gorge contained numerous massive waterfalls of a similar stature to the entrance falls that prompted our hike out last year. I did not think it was a good idea to commit to the run without scouting all of it by foot first. Hans was interested in the run and decided to do the leg work to puzzle together the lower gorge. He did some scouting this summer and his report of 5 clean 15-20 footers in the lower gorge made me reconsider and think this trip may actually be possible. This in my mind was not enough to make me jump on the wagon and give the run a go however, as I was not sure the first falls could be portaged, and on our hike out I witnessed "a lot of white" between the first falls and the lower gorge. The walls were massive, I did not want to put my family and friends through another fiasco, so told Hans I wasn't sold. However, the fire had been lit and he assured me that he could repel us around anything we came across and that the section between where he had scouted and the initial falls would likely be brushy mank, but nothing too big.
When all the stars aligned again, we decided to go in. We wasted time in the morning and after getting to the take out to set shuttle I knew there was not enough time to tackle the run today. We briefly considered hiking in from the bottom, but made the wise choice to save it for another day, running the "boof to bliss, pin to panic" section of Rock Creek.
Fast forward to this week and the momentum had grown. The research had been done, a crew consisting of the majority of exploratory boaters in the area had been assembled, and shuttle was taken care of. The seed had been sown, it was time to reap the consequences and rewards of our decision to commit. There were two meeting times, first the raft group, then the Portland contingent would meet up about an hour later. As the only person who knew access I needed to take the first group to the trailhead, then head back to collect the Portlandians. There was the expected chaotic start from such a large group, but eventually we all arrived at the put in after a short 15 minute hike along a convenient berry picker trail that offers the only reasonable access to this run.
Along the berry path/descent into Middle Earth
The word about an unsolved puzzle right in the heart of the Columbia River Gorge had certainly spread over the last year. As it were, we ended up with a rather large contingent of paddlers. In addition to Matt, Jacob, and I, we also had Keel Brightman, Ryan Scott, Brett Barton, and Scotty Baker. Hans Hoomans and his friend Eric from Colorado also joined in on the fun in a 13 foot raft. ~Nate Merrill
Getting an early start: 5am in Cascade locks
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Nomenclature
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Bree: The early challenges in Bree were not significant compared to what would come, but required gumption none-the-less. It is tempting to stay here where things seem routine, but if the journey is to be successful a speedy departure is necessary.
Weathertop: The next notable challenge on the journey, this one more significant than what was encountered in Bree. Yet again, increased difficulty will be faced downstream.
Rivendell: In the books, Rivendell is the first magical location the Hobbits find themselves. Rivendell is full of waterfalls both in the book and on this creek.
Moria: The location where the fellowship meets problems that slow them down for the first time. We had a number of issues occur in this short stretch when paddling the river, including a frightening swim and some paddlers riding down a rockslide.
Helms Deep: This is named for the large river-right wall found here, which is remeniscent of the large wall found in Helms Deep in the books.
The Two Towers: There are the two towers that the second book is named for (the middle book of the trilogy). Once these two waterfalls (symbolic of towers?) are passed, paddlers are about halfway through their own journey. Both towers are antagonistic in the story, and both are unfriendly looking waterfalls. (Orthanc and Minas Morgul are the names in the book)
Orthanc: This is the tower of Isenguard, the less evil of the two towers in the book, and the more runnable of the two on the stream.
Minas Morgul: The more evil of the two towers and the less runnable of the two waterfalls. In the book the original name meant "tower of the rising moon", at this point in the trip daylight was starting to be a concern for us on the first successful descent.
Gondor (Minas Tirith): A set of three falls, the first is friendly. The bottom double tiered set (
Minas Tirith) has an obvious but difficult line. In the book Minas Tirith is a many tiered city defended by the "good guys".
Black Gate: The Black Gate is one of the final obstacles to overcome in the story, and the largest. This is the final waterfall paddlers must face on their trip through this canyon, and the largest.
Shelob's Layer: In the book, Shelob's layer is a series of tunnels and narrow paths that the hobbits must travel through, an area that is the domain of a giant spider. On the river there are many obstacles in this section coming in the form of boulder gardens. These are not as challenging as the waterfalls upstream, but there are many and they can still have harsh consequences. One of the portages on our trip required crawling through a small cave.
Doom: In the book the crack of magma within Mt Doom is where the One Ring needed to be delivered to destroy it. Frodo struggles with his weakened mind to complete his duty. Once this has been done, the journey is nearly complete and the major obstacles are behind them. Now all that is required is the journey back to their home (The Shire). The final obstacle may not be as grandiose as the rest, but after such a tiring day a paddler may not have the volition to see to this final task. Once this final hurdle has been negotiated (paddled or portaged), the home stretch awaits.
The Shire: Once you see a small green cliff on the left the PCT trail is near. You have now made it to safety and can relax. You can hike out here or continue through the easy final mile.
Next was Heaven and Hell, both drops looked good to go with the top one being a tough double boof, first away from the right wall, then a rock on the left. I ran this and came through fine.
We scouted the main drop of Heaven and Hell for awhile before Alex and I decided to run it. 
Alex wanted to go first. He pitoned a bit into the left wall after the first drop but recovered in time to get far enough left to hit his line. He managed to stay in his boat and fight his way off the rock at the bottom to have a succesful run of his first class V drop! 
I went next and was a little worried about a second piton so I didn't hit the boof perfect but it worked fine and it was a super fun drop. 
Below here was a short manky class two stretch then the bridge. It had taken awhile to get to this point so we started making up time. We had heard that Three Swims falls sneaks up on you and is pretty close to the bridge so we where a little on edge but after a mile and a half we realized we had been mistaken and the boredom of low water rocky class two without extraordinary scenery set in. Eventually we made it to Three Swims and began the portage. I seal launched below the falls to tackle the final boulder garden. I had my only wobble of the day in the final hole which I dropped into with no speed and almost got stopped, but I made it through ok. Below here was one dangerous log that is hard to see before you are in the rapid, we all made the eddy on the right though at the right water level this may be a very interesting spot. The weird thing is there is no portage route. The walls are vertical, so the only way to do it was to swim to the log, get up on it, then pull our boats on and try and balance on the log or get in below and make an eddy on the right like Nick did. This spot would be awful at medium or medium low flows when the log is unrunnable still but the water is swifter upon getting back in the water or getting to the log. Be carefull next year because that log looks like its staying for awhile. Below here was one more fun slidey drop before the take out finally came into view. After this we headed to money drop to check that out. 
It was very big but very clean. I didn't realize what kind of a horizon line a seventy footer would make but its scary enough to make me certain I will never drop off something that big. 
We then checked out the upper falls and it looked better. 
At Money drop we saw one of the strangest things. Where the mudslide has been, the walls have become pretty vertical, and halfway up on a little ledge was a deer. It was stuck with a 20 foot drop to not vertical ground and no escape above him. 
We felt bad but there was nothing to do.