Before/between/after class paddles at WOU

Following is a list of after/between-class runs I utilized while attending school at Western Oregon University.

-Little Luckiamute (Camp Tapawingo to Falls City Falls)  Mostly II-III with one or two class IVs that get rowdy at high flows.  There is an odd braided island at the beginning of the gradient.  The channels change regularly at this islandy part, sometimes they go, sometimes not.

-Luckiamute  (About 12 miles upstream of Valley of the Kings) The first mile is pretty action packed III-IV depending on the flow.  The first mile is the best, followed by some easy floating.  There is also a nice ledge rapid just above one of the take outs that has an anthropogenic channel cut around it, presumably for the fish.

-Rickreall Creek. (Starting 1 mile above no trespassing sign on Martin road into the park in Dallas Oregon)  One class III-IV rapid and some interesting II-III.  A fair bit of bedrock for such a low gradient run, word is all the logs they used to send down the creek when that was standard logging operation practice scoured the creek to it's base.

All of these are mediocre runs with wood present (typically none to one portages), but i have enjoyed them all none the less, and none were too much work to keep from returning often (while I lived close by).  While two of those runs do make it into the back of guidebooks, the info is limited so you get the joy of figuring out the nuances for yourself.

Last week my roommates joined me on one of my adventures to Rickreall creek to film and see what kayaking is. I also needed to tune-up a few things for the little White, not sure if this creek really provided the best opportunity for that but it's what was available after class.

This is a short clip of me trying to have as much fun as possible on a class 2 creek.

There is a sign in the video that clearly states no trespassing. I have talked with the city of Dallas and they allow hikers, bikers, hiking kayakers, etc. up this road, just no vehicles except during the month of November.

Rickreall Creek Oregon from Jacob Cruser on Vimeo.
*mob rules is actually by black Sabbath, not the doors.

-Jacob