Little Luckiamute: In to town

BETA

Stream: This section has a write-up in the back of Soggy Sneakers but gets little attention.  It doesn't have the best whitewater, but it does have whitewater and is roadside.  I ran it a number of times while I was in college because it was close by and I could jog/scooter the shuttle between classes.  If you are a class V boater the drop below the take out might interest you.

I usually started at camp Tapawingo, but it is possible to start at the white gate at the take out for The Gorge section.  Below the Tapawingo bridge is a short bit of class I-II before the creek drops away through several steep and braided channels.  Sometimes the top had to be portaged.

Below here it's class III or IV depending on flow with some flatter parts.  Watch out for wood but there was never enough to bother me.  Before reaching a decommissioned park there is a steep rapid that is pretty intermediate at normal flows but on one high water trip it was not and the person I was paddling with took a heinous swim and lost their gear.  They were pretty shook up.  I'd rate the drop more IV+ that day with some real holes.

Below the park the creek eases off and it's splashy class III at high water and technical class II at low water until you pass under another bridge.  Below this bridge things build slowly back to class III-IV depending on flow and there are a couple ledges with solid holes at high flows.

Work right as you approach Falls City Falls, the eddies along the bank over there are plenty easy to catch but you wouldn't want to miss them and if you enter the lead in too far left you might not be able to stop above the Falls.  Fortunately it's easy to scout the take out before putting on from Falls City Falls park and I'd recommend doing that.

This is the end of the trip, but you won't be able to help but look for the line at Falls City Falls.  It's a pretty serious and messy drop, but if you decide to run it taking out at the foot bridge behind Fink's Market is easy.

  
Flows:  I take a look at Falls City Falls from the take out to gauge flows for the run, located here: 44.867172, -123.438568. 

Pat Welch has an online estimate, I usually look for 400-1,000 cfs for the Little Luckiamute to be in but have run it both higher and lower.  Iv'e paddled it a hair under 200 before.  If levels are rising I don't want to see that gauge above 500 or so though, in fact if levels are rising fast I usually avoid this stretch. This river doesn't get more fun, just more stressful at high water.  Rickreall or the main Luckiamute are better high water options that are nearby.

There are three rocks at the falls that can help you get an idea what kind of flows you have.  
-  If flows are going over the yellow (L) rock, you have enough water to paddle the river. 
-  If water is going over the blue (M) rock, you have good/medium flows.  
-  If water is going over the orange (H) rock, you have high water. 

Too Low

This was taken at a low, runnable flow. 

Photo: Adam Edwards

Medium

High water.  Iv'e put on at Camp Tapawingo twice at high water and it was stressful both times.  Priscilla had a life adjusting swim on one of those trips.  Using the lower put in makes this section more reasonable.  Watch out for some large holes in the half mile above Falls City Falls, and make sure you can stop above it.

I have not paddled the river this high.

Access:  Drive into Falls City Falls via Falls City rd, a short way past the High School and near the end of town is Fink's Market.  Pull in here to grab your food, water, beer, etc for the day.  Drive another 100 yards past Fink's and you will see a bridge, cross over the bridge and turn right. There is a small gravel parking area on the right in about 100 yards with some boulders and sometimes a port-toilet.  This is the take out, where you can assess flows and check out the eddy situation for taking out above Falls City Falls.

To get to the put in cross back over the bridge and immediately turn left, then veer left again in 1/4 mile.  The road becomes gravel, continue about 3 miles to a right turn into Camp Tapawingo/Black Rock Mt Bike area.  You will shortly cross the put in bridge where you will find ample parking.

* For a shorter/easier run once you hit gravel continue only 1.5 miles to what used to be a park on the right (but is blocked by boulders in 2018).  This can be used as a put in.

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Original Write-up
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Plan B: Falls City Falls

One of the first things I did upon arriving to college freshman year at Western Oregon University was to go check out the waterfall that was in the neighboring town of Falls City.  Driving there and asking locals to its locale I found it looking pretty marginal that day, but maybe at a different flow it would go?

I have returned to that falls many times since that first trip at all variety of flows.  I had never felt inspired to run it.

Last weekend my roommate Pat and I were trying to get to the Valley of the Giants, but got turned back by snow.  I figured we were driving right by Falls City Falls on the way back so might as well take another look at it.

I knew right away that it was runnable on this day, the flow was perfect and I had the feeling.  All I had was the IK, but sometimes I feel better in that thing anyway.  I scouted for half hour or so then had Pat drop me off half a mile upstream to warm up and remember how the IK handled.

Arriving at the falls I scouted for a few more minutes and then headed to my boat.

The line went exactly according to plan and can be viewed below.  I never thought I would run this drop and it was surreal to paddle towards it and then away from it.  Another personal boundary breached.

I think the online estimate was about 700 cfs and stable or dropping.



   -Jacob