Wooley

Photos: Joe Kemper

BETA

 

Stream:  This run is remarkable in many ways.  It is a great combo of excellent, fun whitewater without excessive hazards in a pristine setting.  It is done either done by hiking up from the bottom, or at the end of Bridge Creek.  The hike up option makes this a run of classic quality in my view, with an adventurous feel, a combination I enjoy.   The hike begins at the Wooley Creek Trailhead, and is about 6.5 miles to the fork in the trail where you want to begin your descent to the river.  The trail will most often be out of sight of the river, but does offer shorter access points above both the first and second gorge sections with a short scramble to the river. The standard hike is to continue on the trail until it forks for the first time.  Take the right-hand fork towards the river and after a few hundred yards you will come to a fence across the trail marking the start of private property.  There is no clear trail to the river but it is a short and easy downhill walk to the river along the fence-line. 

 

The hike also has the highest concentration of ticks I have ever seen.  The last time I hiked the trail I wore long pants tucked into my socks and we checked frequently for the bugs.  Eventually we were able to spot them on the grasses lining the trail and avoided any latching on.  There is also poison oak, and usually some small trees down across the trail.  The trail winds up many tributaries, so progress feels slow, and while there are a few short uphill climbs, the gradient isn't significant after the first mile.  Having said all that, it is totally worth the trail obstacles to paddle this phenomenal run.

 

 

 

Resting at the put in.

The run is characterized by short steep rapids in a pool drop setting (at least at lower levels).  The majority of the rapids can be boat scouted effectively, and a quick bank scout at moments to check for wood, which is infrequent. The lines are straightforward enough that rarely will it be necessary for a group bank scout.

 

After the hike in, there is a short warm up before getting to the rapids.  They start nice and gradual, and before you know it you are in a wonderful rhythm of class IV-IV+ read and run bouldery rapids at low/medium flows.  

Or as I have heard, a more intimidating onslaught of large holes at juicier flows.  

Part of the beauty of this run is that aside from its aesthetic beauty, the whitewater is all manageable and can be sorted out without prior knowledge if you match the water level to your skill-set, and willing to deal with obstacles as they arise.

At the flows I was there, eddies were abundant, and most everything was read-and-run, but keep an eye out for wood which is sometimes in play.   One noteworthy rapid occurs at 8:15 in the video below.  There is an innocuous lead in to a flat-top shelf rock dividing the flow.  At low levels the apparent center line leads to a manky drop with several small sieves to avoid.  The left line, while blind, is much cleaner. Thankfully, sieves are few on the run. 

 

When you see the walls rising dramatically, you will be approaching the final gorge section, which contains the largest of the rapids. In 2022, there was a river wide log jam immediately below one of the first rapids in the final gorge, but with easy portage options. The gorge contains the only longer rapids on the run and serves up some excellent boofs. At moderate flows plentiful eddies exist still for scouting.  If you made it this far without difficulties there shouldn’t be anything to worry about, but egress from within the gorge would be difficult at best. 

 

I do recall scouting the final rapid, "Fat Lady", and as a result that was one of the few rapids we got a picture of.

Below Fat Lady, things ease off.  You can either cruse to the confluence with the Salmon, or if you want one last bit of excitement, you can walk your boat up to paddle Steinecker Falls, which enters visibly on the left in the runout.

 

I look back on Wooley as one of the more enjoyable days of boating Iv'e had.  

Flows:  I ran it with a group a bit under 2,000 cfs on the Somes Bar gauge back on March 20ish, 2013.  I thought that was a fun level, without much bite.  I'd probably shoot for 2,000 cfs again if I went back.  I have read that 3,500 is pushy and full of holes, plenty runnable, but more class V.  1,500 cfs is considered the minimum, but people still seem to enjoy it when they run it lower than that.

 

 

Here is a video from a group at about 1400 cfs.  

April 17, 2022

Access:  The take out and start point are easy enough to find, at the Wooley Creek trailhead (41.376093, -123.431889), 3.5 miles upstream from the turn off from Highway 96.  River access exists immediately across the highway from the trailhead on the Cal-Salmon (which is also used as a takeout for the Butler section of the Cal-Salmon). If you reach a bridge over the Salmon, you are just upstream of the trailhead, but can see the Wooley confluence.

 

The Cal-Salmon River (that Wooley flows into) is about 45 miles south of Happy Camp on highway 96 (which follows the Klamath River).

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Story/Notes
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Back in 2013 I had convinced myself that my Nomad 8.5 paddled better with weight in the back of the boat.  So for this trip I cut some foam out of the back bulk head, and inserted a grapefruit sized rock I found at the take out for the Butler Run.  I carried it like that the whole hike, only to show up to the put in a discover it was a cobbled bar, and I could have just found a suitable rock there and saved the weight on the hike.  Now that they make boats that fit tall people, I don't feel the need to add extra weight to the back of my boat.

Nose lift courtesy of the rock in the rear.