Opal Gauge (in Elkhorn)

The Little North Santiam @ Mehama gauge is far downstream of the "Opal runs" that kayakers from the area like so much.  It's a useful gauge, but there is often discrepancy between gauge readings and actual flow.   For example, last Sunday it was reading 680 cfs  and dropping when I left my house in the morning.  The low water cut off is generally considered to be 700 cfs.  We ended up having a pretty medium flow, one I would have generally associated with 900-1,000 cfs on the gauge.

The day before the gauge was 1,600 cfs and dropping when I left my house and the stream felt like what I would normally associate with that flow.

A few years ago I noticed a gauge much closer to the "Opal runs", right at the take out for Opal Gorge in fact.  There is no online reading, but Mick Evans has set up a Facebook page to report that flow on.  If that reading interests you, following that page will give you updates.  I am also collecting data here and will pull from that Facebook page.

The Elkhorn gauge, at the Elkhorn bridge.

44.8358, -122.355

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In the meantime, the first big rain of the season is always an exciting time for  boaters.  In Oregon, Opal Creek is one of the most highly sought after rain fed runs and people flock to it early in the season. 

Here is a video from Nick of opening weekend 2016, where we did a mine to Salmon Falls run at 6' on the Elkhorn gauge (I consider 5' to be the minimum flow).  6' is a nice flow for Opal Gorge where the run is not any harder but the lines open up in the main drops and the in between rapids are more fun than usual.  If it gets much higher The Undertaker needs to be portaged on the right. On the main run nothing is harder (Big Ugly is even easier) except for Big Fluffy, which handed out some swims and a low percentage of upright lines.



Opal Creek and Opal Gorge from IKNick on Vimeo.

November 6th, 2015@370-300

350

350

Elkhorn

No Coffee down there, T minus 1600 feet.

All photos: Emile Elliot   

Elkhorn is too woody upstream of Big Twelve Creek to be worth running in my opinion.  From there down a few large rapids with wood still need to be negotiated before reaching the final canyon which has some nice boating and is described on Oregonkayaking.  Crunch N' Munch requires some creative portaging when flows are up, Razorback is just downstream and should be run center/right, erring to the right.  Getting to the creek is the largest obstacle to overcome.  We have it on the list this summer to try and figure out access via Big Twelve Creek, it looked to have some clean drops on it.  When we ran Elkhorn, we put in near the end of the road on the north side of the drainage (NF-201) and ran out of light shortly after exiting the final canyon section.

The access road is at about 4,000 feet and often snowed in, the following pictures are from tripcheck and these locations can be used to assess whether the road to Elkhorn will be drive-able.  We had no issues with snow on the road when we did the run.

Day after we ran Elkhorn, similar to the day of.

 The snow conditions where we put on Jan 19, 2015 around 3800 feet, near the end of NF-201 at the junction with a spur road.   44.8153, -122.2886

                                 

The hike in was steep and brushy, but doable.  Dropping 1200 vertical feet, there was only need for a rope at one cliff band.  Lucas part way down the hill.

There were a couple of stand out rapids above Big Twelve Creek, but too much portaging to see a return trip from anyone in our group.  It's unfortunate the wood is there because the creek bed is high quality.

 Ben, motivated as always picked off one of the rapids the rest of us chose to walk.

Eventually we passed by Big Twelve Creek and the stream got a little larger, if we return it will be via this creek.  At some point below this confluence we came to a rapid we had been on the lookout for, since we had heard Willy Dinsdale's story of having one of his top 3 worst swims in this rapid.  We dubbed this rapid "Wet Willy", in light of that sans boat trip Willy took through this rapid when running the stream at higher flows with his brother Ben.  Helmet Cam footage of that event can be seen at the end of the following video.

the 2014 workingman's blues from b/w dinsdale on Vimeo.

At the lower flows we had, the rapid was more manageable.  Though most of the group still portaged. 

The top ledge of Wet Willy.

Only Ben ran the sieve drop at the end of Wet Willy (11:20 in the video).

 Below here be ready to get a little creative until you are below the "Potato Rapid".  There are a few good rapids in this section, also many difficult rapids with large boulders and wood hazards.  In this section Ben caught the scariest eddy I have seen caught in person, mere feet above where his channel went underground.  

It wasn't all a wood fest, there were clean sections of Elkhorn below Wet Willy.  

One of our favorites was a unique triple drop called Blind Luck. signaling the start of the Oregonkayaking section.  Its hard to see around the corner after the first two drops, but it was clean when we were there.  Scouting from the left is harder, but would offer a view of the third tier.

Emile enters Blind Luck

 All of the portages on the run were low difficulty aside from Crunch N' Munch, though they add up after awhile.  Below the Potato Rapid (read Oregonkayaking report) its read and run to the take out with a couple of wood hazards.  As I mentioned earlier we ran out of light just below Potato Rock and ran a half mile of class IV in the dark before stashing the boats and walking to the road.  Ben finished the run in the dark and the recovery team who came in the next weekend to retrieve the rest of the boats (Joe Kemper, Anna Herring, and Emile Elliot) was surprised he hadn't gotten stuck in one of the two log hazards below where the rest of us walked off.

The boats were patiently waiting right were we left them when the recovery team went in the next weekend to retrieve them.  We have learned that when hiking out, it's best to ditch the boats near the creek.  In the past we have tried to hike them out, only to ditch them in the dark part way through the hike and struggle to locate where we left them.  It's much easier to find them if you leave them near the creek where landmarks are easier to come by.

We had 2,000 cfs which we felt was the minimal flow to be considered "in", though it has been run as low as 1,100 cfs.  The Dinsdales had 4-5000 cfs and called that medium high.  Does this mean 3000-4000 in the LNF@Mehama is medium?  Maybe.  If I go back I would shoot for 3000.

The section I would consider returning to.

  If you enjoy this type of trip, try to figure out access via Big Twelve Creek.  If you do not enjoy adventure, you will not enjoy this creek.


If you do the run, be ready for the unexpected, Elkhorn is full of surprises both good and bad

 We even saw a unicorn!

At the end of the day Elkhorn is a tough day of boating, and a magical place.

Now most of the pictures were of the good stuff, so before deciding an Elkhorn trip is for you take a look at the following video Anna created highlighting the tedious portions of the trip.

Memories of Elkhorn Creek from yakkeranna on Vimeo.

     

       -jacob

Little North Santiam: Classic Opal

Photo: Priscilla Macy

BETA

Stream: This section of the Little North Santiam River (usually referred to as Opal Creek) is one of the best whitewater trips in Oregon.  There are miles of fun and forgiving class III-IV rapids and 3 stand out rapids (two are class V-ish).

After a short walk in along a gravel road you reach the put in at an abandoned and barricaded mine.  Most people put in just below Hypoxia a short ledge with a hole backed up by an adjacent channel.  Paddlers coming down from the upper section usually sneak it over the shallow part on river-right.

                                                                Photo: Priscilla Macy

  The river is busy from the get-go with some pool and drop II-III separated by calm pools.  The water clarity is such that you can see the river bottom on a typical day.  Paddlers quickly pass by Gold Creek coming in on the right as the class II-III+ continues. 

Below the rapid above (smear the right wall at low flows to avoid a piton) is a gorgeous regrouping pool and then the whitewater really begins, with numerous boat-scoutable class III-IV rapids with fun boofs and unique lines.  This is a run where it is more fun to follow someone down who knows the run the first time because the rapids are not big enough to warrant a scout, but there are some small bugger rocks you are likely to bounce off of if you are boat-scouting yourself down at lower flows.

There are a couple stand out rapids before Big Fluffy including a rapid ending in two large boulders, be sure to dart to the right of them to avoid a small sieve in the center.  Too far right though and you may find yourself pushed into the right wall which has a small but generally benign pocket.

Another notable rapid is this ledge, proceeded by a deep pool between beautiful walls.  There is some nice cliff jumping here and provides an excellent place to take a break, it really captures the essence of this beautiful section of river.

Jesse Shapiro paddles back into the ledge for some enders.
Photo: Priscilla Macy

More pool and drop class III-IV continues down to Big Ugly, which is proceeded by a small rapid that pushes paddlers close to the right wall.  As you pass the wall the river turns 90 degrees to the right, the small horizon line at the end of the straight away is Big Ugly, which can be scouted right or left but is portaged right.  The left wall is the obvious hazard and becomes more of an issue as flows drop.  There is a sneak option on the right at some levels.

A boater snaking by that left wall at the bottom of Big Ugly.
Photo: Priscilla Macy

The next rapid below Big Ugly is a slot through a channel against the right bank.  Start left, driving hard back to the right through the slot.  It's easy and forgiving, but occasionally flips lackadaisical paddlers.  

There is a short bit of class II before the walls rise back up and the river disappears into the lead in at Big Fluffy, it is easy to eddy out on the right just above the horizon.

                                                              Photo: Clinton Begley

Scout and portage (via a seal launch) Big Fluffy on the right, this is where most of the pictures come from that people associate with the Opal Classic run.

The green boat is at the spot most people seal launch from.  Make sure to aim for the center of the river if seal launching, falling off to the right/downstream can result in a nasty piton.

                                                                Photo: Priscilla Macy

To run Big Fluffy I like to run the entrance ledge wherever is clever, then as I approach the pinch along the left wall I make sure I have momentum and angle to get to the left wall as I come through the pinch.  I then scrape (if levels are low) along the left wall until I am about 6 feet above the lip, at which point I drive back to middle and get in a left stroke to keep my nose up.  If you follow the current, you will find it pushes hard into the left wall.  

                                                            Ben Mckenzie gets it right
                                                              Photo: Lucas Reitmann

 The hole spices up at high flows and is not afraid of dishing out beatings and swims.
  I like to take the line drawn in the photo below at all levels, even when it requires scraping over an exposed shelf at low flows.
                                                           Photo: Lucas Reitmann

Things are a half class easier below here but the whitewater keeps rolling along, a small rapid with large boulders has a hungry mid stream sieve that is not obvious from above.  When you see those boulders, make sure you end the rapid on the far left.  


                                           Scouting the rapid with the sieve below.

The next innocuous spot is about half a mile to a mile below the bridge where Cedar Creek enters from the left.  Nondescript boulder gardens are the name of the game as the river makes a gradual left and the main flow crashes into a pile of boulders, make a strong move to the left or right of them, or sneak along the right bank.  This is one place where following a veteran is nice, fortunately the consequences for a mistake is just bouncing into some rocks.  Rolls can be unpleasant here.

There are a couple of long class II-III rapids below here and then the Little North Santiam pools again and bends to the left above the finale, Thor's Playroom.  

                                                                 Thor's Hammer
                                                              Photo: Priscilla Macy

The entry drop out of the pool and into Thor's has a number of options, nearly every time I take the second door from the right but don't let that keep you from checking out the other options.   Door two is through 2 soft ledge holes, I recommend a right stroke off the top one.

The current picks up again after the entrance and drops away through a fun flume run down the tongue with some offset waves.  As you slow down from the flume you will find yourself floating slowly (at normal flows) towards the final drop, a fast tongue into a ledge.  Eddy out on the right before dropping over to give it a quick peak from your boat.

I like to run this one moving right down the tongue, finishing right.  Otherwise follow the tongue straight over a boof that most people kind of just plop over, but every once in awhile it offers up a nice pop.  If you are looking for some extra fun aim for the seam between the boof and the hole on the bottom right.


                                             Ben drops into the final segment of Thor's Playroom.
                                                            Photo: Priscilla Macy

Take out on the gravel bar in the pool below this drop on the right.  There is a short set of stairs up to the parking lot.

The water quality is probably the thing people talk about most after their first trip to Opal Creek.

Paddlers: Nicole Smedegaard and Sean Bowen                                                                       Photo: Priscilla Macy

Flows:   This run can be done at a wide range of flows, and gets run anywhere between 350-5,000 cfs on the Little North Santiam @ Mehama gauge.  The most common and cleanest levels for running all the rapids are 700-2,000 cfs.   Much higher and Big Fluffy is usually portaged, much lower and Big Ugly is usually portaged.  And of course you can assume there will be other concerns that arise with flows outside of the ideal range though the difficulty does not change much until you get passed 3,500 cfs.

The gauge is far downstream, so the definitive gauge is the stick gauge at Elkhorn.  5-6' on that gauge is good for all the rapids, but it's visual only.

Access:  Take I5 to Salem and head East on Highway 22 towards Detroit Reservoir.  In about 22 miles turn left at a flashing yellow light onto N Fork Rd.  In about 15 miles the road turns to gravel, just under 2 miles after that turn right (there is a kiosk and some boulders at this location).  Just under a mile after turning right at the kiosks, pull right into the paved Three Pools Day use area (not signed).  This is the take out.

To reach the put in return to the kiosks on N Fork Rd and turn right.  Continue a little over 4 miles to a gate and park (there is a $5 fee).  Carry your kayak past the gate along the road, in half a mile you will cross over the compelling, yet log choked Gold Creek.  In another hundred yards veer right onto an overgrown spur road that leads down to the put in at the location of a decommissioned mine shaft.

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Some Opal Media
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Opal Creek 2009 from Jacob Cruser on Vimeo.