Upper Collawash (Big Dog)

Jesse Shapiro, Priscilla Macy and I ran the "Big Dog" section of the Collawash after the Clack fest and found that the run has changed a fair bit and is a good run.  Possibly one of the better sections of whitewater in Oregon.

A young Newt at the put in.

The core beta for this run is captured well in both Soggy Sneakers and a trip report from Oregonkayaking.  The report here is a 2014 perspective of the run complimentary to those descriptions, the biggest difference being the improved wood situation and the change to the Churn.  The second large logjam is no longer a portage and there were only 2 mandatory portages on the whole run.

We paddled the 4 miles of class two broken up by a log portage and one small but tricky rapid before arriving at one of Oregon's largest log jams.  The class II moves along well enough, and the classic Oregon greenery helps.  On the second trip I paddled the last 1/2 mile of the EF Collowash at the start of the day, so got some nice class IV rapids in before the class II began.  The maps show an alternate approach that would drop a boater in just below the large logjam noted in the guidebooks.  This approach would be faster, but require more effort.
* A map showing this approach is included at the end of this report.

Andrew in the exception to the rule in the class II paddle in.  

Speaking of the mega logjam, the portage is a simple affair as the logs are large and sturdy enough that a nimble boater can do the whole portage without taking their boat off their shoulder until the final 15 yards in under 10 minutes. We started center and worked right, it was neat to see so many logs piled together in one place.  We did feel the logjam might be smaller than it used to be when the original guidebook description was written.

It is still a large logjam,.

 We put back in and paddled another hundred yards, then drug our boats across a grass covered island to the river left channel to avoid another short log portage.  Other routes across the jam are available.

The grass was tall and my irrational side kept checking for the Compsognathus from Jurassic Park.

On our second trip, we recognized the jam coming up and portaged early on the left, this took about half the time and effort.  I'd go left every time in the future.

Shortly below here Dickey Creek came in on the left.  The alternate access would be at about this point.  Oregonkayaking.net describes this next section well as "eerie".  The large, dead trees rising out of the water and slow current create this effect.

The sentinels

 Shortly below the "sentinels" the river eases to the right and there is an obvious horizon line.  This first class IV ends in a moving pool making for a fun and straight forward rapid.

The next horizon line is "Big Dog", a large class V rapid that is the first of the rapids in this stretch to have changed for the better. The log in the bottom left chute is no longer there, turning this into a good rapid.  Running far left the whole way worked well, be sure to take a peak around the corner as another smaller rapid waits just below.  As the guides mention; scout left, portage right.

 

Photo: Andrew Bradley

The Churn seems to have changed since the original descriptions.  It starts off with a lead in and the ledge with a pin spot, below which we eddied out to scout the second part which was a challenging boulder rapid dropping 15 feet or so over 40 yards.  I do not recognize the Oregonkayaking picture of the second part of the Churn, we believe a landslide has occurred; the resulting rapid is still good.   Take care to mind the holes, the first one provided a solid rodeo for a member of our group.  This section reminded me of Upper Canyon Creek, OR.

Kory Kellum take his turn in the first part of The Churn.

Below here the gorge offered one more class IV rapid and the seriousness of the rapids eased slightly but everything is still really fun.  However, don't let your guard down.  The rapid pictured on Oregonkayaking described as being just above "The Cave" surfed another member of our group and caused a swim. This drop through the cave has a class V-ish feel. The large log jam described on the Oregonkayaking site in this section has been altered and we were able to paddle under it on the far left.  "The Cave" itself was clear of wood and good to go, being mindful of the undercut left wall.  A few more class IV rapids keep you entertained to the take out bridge, though I recommend heading the advice on OregonKayaking and continuing down through Boulder Dash and taking out at the first tributary entering on the left.

Kory dashes through the boulders.

By the time we reached the take out bridge we had forgotten the class two paddle at the top and were all smiles.  Truly an enjoyable run for the adventurous boater.

Some more good news is the scouting and portaging is no longer as difficult as it used to be, the landslides must have settled as we felt moving around on the bank was not an issue.

After wrapping up, its easy to tack on Pegleg Falls and Blister Creek Falls before heading home.

Kory Kellum: Blister Creek Falls

Footage: Andrew Bradley

FLOWS:  We had 2200 cfs on the Clackamas at Three Lynx in 2014 and thought that was a nice level, but I think levels were a bit funky.  The  Oregonkayaking trip report was done at 2500 cfs at Three Lynx though there was more water in the Collawash on our trip. We noted the Hot Springs Fork was contributing very little water. Low flows would be trashy due to the landslide nature of the rapids.  We returned at 3,000 cfs or so and dropping in 2018 and the run filled in and was more of a strong medium.  More hydraulics and less rock.

ACCESS:   Take Out (There is a right turn onto Collawash river rd/NF-63, 4 miles past Ripplebrook on the Clackamas River hwy, it's another 5.5 miles or so to the Farm Creek take out below Boulderdash, then another 1/2 mi further to the guidebook take out): 44.9659104709281, -122.05527024831231

Put In (near Elk Lake Creek trailhead):  44.89766813327258, -122.00639656112921

There are three put in options up near the Elk Lake trailhead access:  The first is the regular put-in at the bridge.  This is hassle-free and gets right into 4 miles of class II floating.

The second option is on the East Fork Collawash, and involves 1/4 mile of class III-IV boulder gardens to start the day.  This requires a short bushwhack in off the 120 rd.

If you have the time, and the wood situation isn't too bad, hiking up a bit over 1/2 mi to run the final gorge on Elk Lake Creek is definitely the most exciting start to the trip.  That gorge has 2 large ledges, a clean 20'er and a couple boulder gardens.  It's worth scouting whether the ledge located here (44.88913539295887, -122.0126375620346) is runnable first though, as to portage that drop is rather involved.  

The final access option probably isn't going to get used often, if at all.  And then probably only if a group is short on time, or really opposed to a class II warm up.   It's a steep and challenging way down to the river through the woods, but does get paddlers to the water below the large log-jam, and right at the start of the whitewater.  Whether a steep bushwhack down to the river is better than 4 1/2 miles of class 2 and a logjam portage is a personal choice, the option is there.  

Short-on-time alternate access option

        -jacob