Photo: Emile Elliott
Gladiator Creek: Middle
3 miles (+4 on lower section)
Once the bedrock appears, diligent scouting (right bank) is recommended as it is not long to the waterfall, and rapids lead up to it.
Vesuvius Falls
Photo: Priscilla Macy
Portaging Vesuvius can be done with a rappel on the right at lower water, or a throw and go appeared possible as well (get as far out into the middle of the pool as possible if you jump).
Adam Edwards repelling around Vesuvius at low water (1.8').
Below Vesuvius the rapids continue. While they begin to ease in difficulty for awhile, the abundance remains consistent with a mix of small boulder gardens, ledges and surf waves.
The rapids kick back up at Ludi, a long parade of fun class IV rapids. The Ludi have plenty of variety and is my favorite stretch on the whole creek. Everything is scout-able from the shore, and aggressive boat scouting can get you through too if that's your style. You can even put in here if you want to skip Vesuvius.
The start of the Ludi is marked by a rapid that requires a move to the left and through the small bedrock pinch Joseph is floating through.
Jacob Flock part way through a multi-part rapid of the Ludi stretch.
Photo: Dax Kirkwood
As the Ludi fade away, be on the look out for the creek to be diverted left by a low outcrop of bedrock at the end of a sliding straight away of easy bedrock, and into Venator, a 5 foot drop into a carnivorous hole. This is one spot in particular where aggressive boat-scouting could backfire.
Taking a look at Venator from the low bedrock outcrop that diverts the creek left.
Spearing to the right.
Photo: Priscilla Macy Paddler: Chris Korbulic
Just downstream from Venator is a straight away leading to the bridge marking the beginning of the lower section of Gladiator Creek.
Emile's Video from our first time down the Middle section in 2014.
Flows: Refer to the Gladiator gauge page or the main page for flow specifics, Vesuvius is best at or over 2.5' but the rest of the run can still be fun down to 2' and can be run lower (1.5' is too low for most everybody though). If it's low, it's probably best to skip Vesuvius, and just paddle the Rock Quarry Section.
Access: As of 2020, walking in is allowed during the rainy season. When driving up the access road you will quickly cross a bridge over Gladiator Creek, this is where you take out. To get to the start of the Hall, continue up this Fire road to a gate. At the end of the day it's an easy 1/4 mile walk up to the gate from the take out bridge so no need to set a vehicle shuttle.
From the gate the hike is 6 miles, 4.5 miles are relatively flat, 1.5 miles is an uphill slog. If you are running the middle section, you will be paddling 7 miles. The wheely-walkers are ideal for this hike, also bring food and water.
- From the gate at the bottom of the road, it's about 3 miles along the mainline to the put in bridge for the lower section, staying right towards the creek if in doubt. There are mile markers painted on the trees to orient during the walk and you will be on the mainline until the bridge.
- To get to the middle put in, cross this first bridge, and it's a steep mile up to a quarry with no turns. A few minutes past the quarry veer left at a "Y" (it's not the first turn) onto a road marked "waterhole", this road leads down to the put in bridge in under 1.5 miles.
If it's your first time, it wouldn't hurt to print this and carry it with you, but a phone with GPS capability and a cached map is better.
Overview
Note: If you don't want to run Vesuvius Falls, you can take the first left after the rock quarry for the Rock Quarry Section onto an overgrown road that will lead to a nose of land you can follow to the creek at the top of Ludi. This makes for a fantastic day of IV/IV+(V) boating and is the option I most often take when paddling the creek.
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Ebbinghaus Horizon
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By the time Emile, Ben and I ran the Middle section of Gladiator for the first time, I had been to this creek 5-10 times for scouting and boating and had a number of failed attempts at kayaking the middle stretch. I had seen Vesuvius at very low water, and had hiked around it to see if a portage with a kayak was reasonable (it wasn't). This hike dropped me and my hiking partner back to the creek well below the falls so I didn't get another look at it. Standing at the top of the falls before heading off into the woods, it had looked about 30' tall.
When Ben, Emile and I finally got in there with a good amount of water in the creek, we were again standing at the top of the falls thinking it looked about 30' tall. Ben, the most proficient waterfall runner in our group agreed to go first. He had a good line, but adamantly signaled we needed to tuck. After we were all in the pool below we understood why, looking back up at the falls from here our estimation of the height now ranged from 40-60' depending on who you asked.
For a few years the thought of running this drop had kept me from going back. I just don't have the technique required to safely run waterfalls I need to tuck for so don't like to roll the dice with my back (which has already fractured once) on drops in the 30+ foot category. However two trips in 2019 have reinvigorated my enthusiasm for paddling this creek. On one trip we just put in below Vesuvius, and the other we repelled around it (though I'd like to throw-and-go next time). So now that I know dropping Vesuvius is not mandatory for paddling the creek, I need not fret anymore about going back to what is almost certainly my favorite creek in Oregon.
-jacob
