Snoqualmie Pass for the Weekend

Nate checking in. I'm throwing this post up in a hurry because the runs detailed below won't be in for much longer. Get em' while they're hot. With a week long business trip to Turlock, CA looming in my future, I began to lay plans for the following weekend. After spending several days in the 100 degree heat of central California, I figured that that best way to relax would be a leisurely camping and paddling trip. Having spent the last few weeks paddling the stuff around Portland, I decided that it was time to branch out a little bit and quickly convinced Anna Herring to join me on a foray deep into Washington. We initially had our eye on the Ohanepacosh, but after watching the gauge for a few days, we quickly realized that the ohane (my favorite run) was still going to be too high by the time the weekend rolled around. After examining a few other options, we settled on S.F. Snoqualmie River, east of Seattle. The South Fork, often referred to as Fall in the Wall had been described to me as a miles worth of class 4 ledges ranging from 5 - 10 feet. . I'd also heard about the 20 foot falls (fall in the wall) at the put-in with a rep. for pounding paddlers into a cave/undercut combo. By the time we were saddled up and ready to embark on our mission north, we had picked up Chris Harman and my girl friend Claire (who was down for a weekend in the woods even though she doesn't kayak. Thanks for the shuttles by the way!) We all met up at 9am on Saturday morning, loaded up my Outback and were on the road by 9:15. With a few stops along the way, we arrived at the Put-In around 2 Oclock. Upon arrival it is immediately evident how unique this creek really is. Not only is this section abnormally high in the drainage (the section is less than a mile from the pass where water starts to drop east instead of west) but it is also located between the lanes of I-90. Despite this fact, the run feels completely secluded and you really feel like you're paddling through a tunnel of old growth the entire trip. After scouting Fall in the Wall and descideing to save it for another time, we rounded the bend on the way to the lower put-in (below the 20 footer) and ran into two other kayakers (Boris and Kent?). They immediately offered to show us down the run and we didn't hesitate to accept there generous offer. 10 minutes later we were geared up and floating above the first series of drops known as 'the fearsome foursome'. I believe we ran right, right, right to left, and right again respectively through this series of 5-10 foot ledges. Nothing difficult, just good clean fun. The rest of the run was littered with tight chutes and steep falls. Everything was separated by beautiful emerald pools which made this run a great class IV experience. We had about 300 cfs on the SF gauge.

Anna Runs one of the Fearsome Foursome

After finishing up the 1 mile long section with a left line down the rapid known as root wad (the root wad is no longer present) we hiked our boats back up along the road to the put-in for round 2.

Chris digs in for the boof at the bottom of Root Wad

As were preparing to put-on for our second lap of the day, I decided to take another look at Fall in the Wall. After warming up on the first lap, I felt confident I could hit the fine line on the 20 footer and avoid being stuffed into the cave on river right. The photos I've thrown up don't quite paint an accurate picture of how consequential fall in the wall really is. What's not shown is the vertical wall the sits directly in front of the base of the falls (about 7 feet from the edge of the veil) perpendicular to the current. Basically all the water pushes into this wall and then splits (about 70% pushing right into the cave and 30% kicking out to the left and downstream.) In addition to the wall, there wasn't much of boil at the bottom, so boofing the drop was a scary proposition with the inevitable hit at the bottom. After talking with a few more of the locals (who had seen the drop run before), I opted to give er'. The plan was to eddy out at the lip of the drop to kill my speed (for fear of launching too far and flying into the wall). From there I was going to slowly roll of the flake at the lip taking half of a right stoke just enough to push my bow a little to the left and keep my boat around a 45 degree angle when entering the water. Having safety set and my line defined in my head, I jumped in my boat, hit the eddy, and dropped over the lip. Things went according to plan and I kept 'er up right at the bottom while avoiding the nasty wall. I subbed out pretty deep on the landing, which made of a really soft touch down. Thanks go out to Chris and Anna (also the other paddlers we met) for setting great safety and helping me get my boat up the canyon wall and around the portage after the falls.

Nate at the lip of Fall in the Wall And down we go..

Feeling stoked already, we bombed down the second lap stopping only to shoot photos here and there. It was really an excellent day on the river. By the time we were setting up camp (a few miles down the road) all memories of the long drive had faded away and we were stoked for day 2 of our trip.

The crew all smiles at the takeout.

We had initially planned to venture over to the skykomish on Sunday morning. However, the locals we had met at the South Fork advised us to keep heading east and tackle the Cooper River near Cle Elum, WA. I quote " We run the Skykomish all year when nothing else is running; the Cooper is what we look forward to running all year" With this description, how could we say no. After a waking up and breaking down camp, we were on the road headed east towards Cle Elum round 10 AM. After a few wrong turns, we finally ran into some other kayakers who go us on the right track. We arrived at the Put-In to find a pretty large conglomeration of boaters gearing up and starting the hike into the Cooper river gorge. After chatting with a few folks about the various rapids and hazards on the run, we were again invited to tag along with an experienced group of paddlers. Oh how I love the boating community. JD and Scott, especially, thanks for all the beta. note: Make sure to follow the trail all the way to the river. Don't be tempted to put in where you first see the creek. A 50 foot un-runnable falls lurks just around the corner. Put-in below the falls! Sadly, we didn't get a chance to snap any photos on the Cooper River, but rest assured, the run is spectacular. A secluded canyon with quality class IV ledge drops that come one after another. Great boofs everywhere! Highlights included Sharks tooth (the lone boulder garden on the Cooper) which had a boat horizontally pinned about half way down and S-turn (a chaotic rapid in which everyone had to throw a brace). We'd been warned abut Norm's Resort, but with the beta and guidance we had from the group, it was really an easy drop, just charge right (similar to bowey hotel on the the LW). According to the guide book, we were at running at fairly high flow (around 1200cfs), but talking with the local guys revealed that the level we had was about medium or even on the lower end for normal runs down the stretch. I strongly recommend everyone to give this one a shot. A true classic! Worth the drive. Do multiple laps! After a little cliff jumping at the take-out and some lunch in the sun, we reluctantly loaded up the car and began our voyage back to Oregon. The drive went by fairly quickly and we were back home and de-rigged before night fall. Great mission guys, thanks for coming along. Until next time. Nate, signing off.

The Middle Fork

Most of the crew assembled in Portland ready for the long drive to The Middle Fork.

The Middle Fork of the Salmon river in Idaho is considered by many to be one of the premier wilderness rafting trips in the lower 48. Cutting a path strait through the Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness, the MFS flows for 100 miles from the heart of the Saw Tooth Mountains to the confluence with the Main Salmon near Salmon, ID. This would be the setting for our annual multi-day rafting trip. In addition to the Into the Outside Crew, for this mission we had an eclectic mix of paddlers, rafters, friends, and family. List of paddlers participants at the end of this report. Although the river isn't known so much for intense white water, it still demands respect from boaters of all skill levels and this fact was only amplified by the sky high river level we were facing leading up to our launch date. Given the record snow pack in the area and below average temps this spring, the water level on the middle fork was still well above 6 feet by the time we arrived at the Put-In and would reach levels up to 6.8 feet while we were on the river. The fact that 5 feet is considered the cut-off for recommended flows on the mfs convinced one of our party to fly in to Indian Creek and skip out of the continuous and difficult, upper 25 miles.

The boat launch @ Boundary Creek

Day 1: Boundary Creek Boat Launch to Big Bend Camp After a long morning of rigging and a nice meeting with Maggie the ranger, we put-on the river around 1oclock on June 26th. The night before we had discovered that Matt's frame for his 14ft gear raft was missing some key components. With the aid, of some near by branches, pvc piping, and some ingenuity, we had his rig up and going with time to spare.

Creative and Effective

The boat lower @ Boundary Creek

We had scouted the boat eating hole at river mile 0.9 known as Murph's the night before. However, that didn't prevent some apprehension leading up to this drop. A lot of trips run into trouble right off the bat at high water at Murph's. The problem is that with the river moving at 8-9 miles per hour, gear rafts have only a few minutes to shake the rust off and get used to their heavy boats. We made it through with only one raft surf and a couple hoots and hollers.

Skip, Matt, and Carey taking a right line at Murph's

Anna and Claire: Going for a ride

However, our luck did not last. 3 miles later at the bottom of Hell's Half Mile rapid, the high water caught up with us and one of our gear rafts went upside down. As the boat floated down stream towards Velvet Falls (the biggest hole on the river) we had to scramble to arrest the upturned raft before it washed through this class IV drop. Not an easy task with no eddies to speak of. Alas, the upturned boat (with the captain on top) ran through Velvet followed by everyone else with suprising success. Another mile down stream and we were finally able to get the boat clipped with a line and tugged to shore. Props to all those who kept a cool head and were able remedy the situation. Sledge and the Omni Wolf came up big for us on this particular day. Still, the MFS wasn't quite done with us for the day. Upon inspection of the now righted raft, we were dismayed to find that somewhere along the line, a rock had torn a nice gash in the floor. With 10 miles till our intended camp, we opted to take an emergency camp at Big Bend (mile 6). All in all, a lot of adventure for one six mile section of river. The camp turned out to be a pleasant experience. Claire and I cooked up Pizza Frita's and Pasta, we passed a bottle of Johnny, and we all enjoyed the high alpine forest environment.

Nursing Anna's Raft back to Health

Day 2: Big Bend to Pungo Creek Camp The next day we got an early start with the intention of meeting our 15th member at Indian (mile 25) Creek around noon. The morning started off with the Chutes, followed by Power House rapid (class IV). I think everyone was pretty tense through this section. With no eddies separating long, pushy rapids, a flip anywhere along here would make for a long swim. Everyone pulled through and we all agreed that the big water waves of the Chutes were some of the best we'd ever seen. An hour later we were dropping into Pistol Creek Rapid (scouting was pretty impossible everywhere on this river). I think Pistol Creek was the hardest drop on the river for the kayak contigent. I personally got worked in two boils cracking of several rolls before finally flushing down stream and another boater joined the swim team. After recovering his boat and eddying out at Indian Creek, we were happy to see a plane come motoring across the landing strip with our last com padre in tow. Another 2 miles of class II and we had arrived at our intended camp. Pungo Creek was something special. Ponderosa's lined the perimeter of our river kitchen and a short hike led to an old abandon mine. Fish taco's, sangria, and hula hoops punctuated night II.

Cavers (Skip, Chris, Robbie, and Jacob)

Day 3: Pungo Creek to Shelf Camp Day 3 was fairly uneventful from a white water perspective. We got a lazy start but were still able to cover 18 miles down to our hot springs camp by lunch time. (Each trip is allowed to spend one night a hot springs). It was a bit of a hike from Shelf camp up to Loon Creek hot springs, but everyone was game for a beautiful walk. After scarfing down Fajitas, Pineapple Upside down cake, and dinner mints, the crew descended upon the springs for some late night soaking. Upon arrival at the pool, we all got in a starring contest with a bear across the creek. He hung around for a little while before climbing a tree as darkness descended upon the scene. The stars were out and in all their glory and good times were had by all.

The Good Life

Day 4: Shelf to Camas Creek We awoke on the morning of day 4 all feeling a little worked. After a long night of soaking and hanging around the camp fire, people were pretty slow to get up in the morning. Jacob and I took advantage of the slow start and shouldered our boat up Loon Creek to the hot springs. We had heard word of a class V gorge above the springs, but given the extremely high water in Loon, we opted to put-in below the really tough stuff. Instead, we were treated to some fast moving class IV waves and the occasional hole dodge. Really fun stuff. Jacob was feeling motivated and ended up running a side trib to Loon Creek on river right just down stream from the hot springs. The drop leading into Loon was manky and chaotic to say the least, but it actually went pretty well.

Loon Creek Trib

(Matt Servia photo) Nate (author) charging Loon Creek

After our side mission, we quickly hiked back upstream to camp and helped everyone finish up with their boat rigging. Only having ten miles before Camas camp, our day on the MFS went by pretty fast. Again, we were at camp before lunch and sipping Bloody Mary's by happy hour. Camas creek was another trib we had been told to hike in search of more class V goodness. Upon our scout, it became immedately apparent that the gorge section of Camas was far too high to run. Serious class VI rapids that were made even more scary by the fact that lines did exist. We made a plan to hike back up the creek the following morening and run the last drop of the gorge and paddle the class IV boogie water back down to the MFS. The rest of the evening turned out to be a blast with sunset hikes and Hobo dinners for all. Day 5: Camas Creek to Little Pine. Again, we were facing a mere 10 mile day on the Middle Fork so things were moving pretty slow in the morning. After a breakfast of pancakes and melon, the whole group headed up Camas creek to watch the kayakers navigate the lower gorge. Not having the proper boat for such a rapid, I opted to put-in directly below the class V drop at the bottom of the gorge proper. Chris 'the omni wolf' Harman joined me while Steve, Jacob, and Matt styled the pushy rapid. Steve had to throw a last minute boof over a nasty hole but pulled the alteration to his line off with style and we all boogied down through the super fun run out. My ride seemed especially fun as I was dodging holes and attempting to keep the slicey stern of my boat from squirting all the way down the river.

Steve about to throw an emergency boof on Camas Creek

The crew blasting down Camas Creek

Back on the MFS, we quickly arrived at Flying B ranch, filled up our water jugs, and all marveled at the concept of a $30 12-pack. Back on the water, we were greeted by the beginning of the lower 'tough' section of the middle fork. Haystack rapid saw one person eject from a gear raft and Jack Creek canyon took everyone by surprise. Apparently our camp took one of our boat captains by surprise as well. As he nearly floated by the last chance eddie, we had to throw bag his loaded raft over to the side of the river before he got swept into the next drop. (Even in lower section with a lower gradient, eddies were still in short supply and rather hard to catch with over loaded rafts.) That evening, Matt and Caitlin treated everyone to Chili Colorado and roasted Bell Peppers before we all drifted off to sleep.

Evening at Little Pine Camp

Day 6: Little Pine to Ship Island Weber Rapid is about the only thing I remember about this particular day on the water. Everything was moving very fast and most of the drops blended into each other. I really felt like we had finally entered impassable canyon about mid way through our 12 mile float on Day 6. The walls began to tower over head and all the creeks pouring into the river had serious gradient to them. Waterfall creek in particular looked mighty impressive as in cascaded down into the MFS. The sheer power of the 100+ foot cataract was entirely impressive. I believe Jacob got some footage of the this scene, look for it in the video soon to come. At camp, I felt like we all had a sense of urgency knowing that this was our last night on the river. I certainly wanted to make the most of this beautiful campsite nestled in the heart of impassable canyon. After eating a quick lunch and de-rigging the boats, most of the group headed up Papoose Creek with the intent of finding an adventure. An adventure we did find. Papoose creek is less of a hike and more of a climb. With the flow the way that it was, we were restricted from moving up the creek at river level and instead had to scramble and claw our way up the rug id canyon falls towering over the tiny drainage. After attaining a large 'patio'esque rock about 400 yards up the creek, most of the group had had enough and hung out on the giant boulder and took in the crazy class V rapid directly below. Again, this cataract definitely had a line....

Papoose Creek Class V

Back at camp, we sang songs around the fire and ate another excellent meal (Chile relianos) cooked up by Anna and Robbie while we tried to kill off the last of our beer and liquor supply. Some folks ended up crashing out early as the exhaustion of the past 6 days finally caught up. Some folks stayed up late and performed a spirited rendition of the Star Spangled Banner (one lick everyone new the words to) as the stars came out over impassable canyon.

Ladies of the MFS mixing up some Witch's Brew

Ship Island

Day 7: Ship Island to Cache Bar Boat Ramp (takeout) Our last day on the river started early. After a quick breakfast of leftovers, we were on the water by 8:15 AM. We had about 19 miles to cover before we were supposed to meet our shuttle driver at noon. This particular stretch was supposed to encompass the biggest rapids of the trip and had been described to me by a friend as 'pretty rowdy'. Given the events of day 1, we left ourselves lots of time to make our way down to the confluence with the main salmon. As we pulled out from Ship Island, everyone was in good spirits and as we floated down towards the big stuff, the excitement of the group was definitely palpable. All I can really say about the last ten miles of the trip is that it came on fast and didn't rellent. After lower cliff side rapid, everything really began to blend together. I remember dropping into Rubber rapid and thinking that the waves I was about to crash were bigger than anything I had ever seen before, which includes everything in the grand canyon. After that, it was a full on race to the finish. No eddies (for rafts) and very few places to even slow down. The kayakers all adopted a routine of running a rapid, eddying out just long enough for the first two rafts to enter the drop, then two kaykers would peel out and try to get back out in front to set 'safety' below the next drop. At one point I yelled to Matt (who had a guide book) "is this devil's tooth?" to which he replied. "I have no idea anymore, I have not gotten a chance to change the page on my book for almost 3 miles!" Seriously fun stuff. I did roll over on some drop in the middle but was back upright immediately. It's definitely worth commending all the raft captains for a job well done navigating the lower ten miles of the MFS. Everyone was solid when they had to be and we ended up busting out the 19 mile stretch of river in under 2 hours! When we finally hit the confluence with the main, I looked back upstream from where I had come and marveled at the intimidating view of impassable canyon. Just as my feelings or sorrow and longing to remain in the wilderness couldn't have been any stronger, a jet boat flew by and amplified my reluctance to re-enter 'the real world'. A quick mile down the main salmon found us at the takeout where we quickly de-rigged and rolled all the rafts. By the time the shuttle driver did show up, around 11:30, we were all ready to go. (we had booked a 15 passenger van and utl. trailer to pick us up and drive us back to our cars at boundary creek). The loading process went fast! The drive to boundary creek did not. After 5 hours in the cramped van, I think we were all pretty happy to see our cars at boundary creek (even if it signified another 9 hours of driving and more shuffling of gear).

Confluence of the Main and Middle with Impassable Canyon in the Background

I'll try and keep the corny stuff to a minimum, but I do believe that everyone was a little reluctant to leave each others company and the fantastic scene nestled in the saw tooth mountains. Thanks guys, for making it a truly amazing trip. The players: Nate Merrill (author), Jacob 'Cruise Control' Cruser, Matt King, Claire Rothstein, Stephen Cameron, Chris Merrill, Gary Merrill. Scott 'Skip' Rasmussen, Chris 'the omni-wolf' Harman, Robbie Herring, Anna Herring, Will Benet, Caitlin Ecklund, Matt Servia, and Carey Moran.
 Until Next Time.
                        Nate

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The Trip video

Middle Fork Salmon, June 2011 from Jacob Cruser on Vimeo.

The Chase

A quick teaser of Matt's new stomping grounds.  We found this rapid after being skunked by high water (in July!).  There will be a more thorough report coming in the next couple of months.

   *There is profanity at the end.


The Chase from Jacob Cruser on Vimeo.

We had been scouting a promising stream, but it was higher than we wanted to run it.  Minimal eddies with the presence of wood was our big concern.  This lead to us "Cherry Picking" this drop, resulting in the name of the rapid.

    -Jacob

Sandy River in a day

            ~as told by Rob Cruser


20 years ago, my friend Scott Heesacker and I first started speculating about the feasibility of running the entire Sandy River in a single day.  5 or 6 weeks ago, after a trip down the newly remodeled McNeil Run on the upper Sandy, Jordan Englert started speculating about it on our way home, reviving my interest.  There are quite a few factors that I knew had to come together to make this possible:  1)  Lots of daylight, 2)  Enough water to get down McNeil and not too much in the Gorge, 3)  Minimal delays, i.e. portages, 4)  Being able to carry or cache enough food and water for 45 miles of paddling and, 5)  A small, compatible, motivated and mission-oriented crew.  4 out of 5 didn't turn out to be so bad.

I started assembling a willing crew of folks I knew and trusted:  Jordan Englert (grew up on the mountain paddling the Sandy), Scott Heesacker (original idea man, firefighter, always up for an impossible adventure), Casey Heesacker (Scott's son, IK'd the Grand Canyon 4 years ago as a teenager), Rod Kilner (smoke-jumper, tough as nails, up and coming kayaker) and me, Rob Cruser.  We started doing the math to see if it was theoretically possible and it appeared to be, barely.  I did a time trial on the upper Sandy above Brightwood, and at a healthy flow, 5 miles an hour looked like the best we were going to do, with everything else being slower, sometimes much slower.  So at best, averaging 3-4 miles an hour divided by 45 miles equals...hmmmm.  Well, it didn't work out on paper, but we weren't paddling on paper, so we decided to at least give it a shot.

In the week prior, I scouted and marked the first few portages on the McNeil section to speed things along as this was going to be our slowest leg (10 portages or so, remember what I said about '4 out of 5?').  I also coordinated with our friend Mitch Williams - who lives at the Marmot bridge - for a lunch-stop and upper river shuttle logistics.  We left a truck big enough to carry all of us and our boats at the take-out at Troutdale airport and another 'bail-out/food and water cache' van at Dodge Park.  My biggest worry was the high level in the Gorge.   It had risen to a pretty beefy flow the week before our run and it was slowly falling into what I hoped was going to be a reasonably friendly range.  I have paddled the Gorge at least 30 times and higher than our level this day a couple of times, but that was a number of years ago and we had one first-timer and three second-timers for the Gorge, so I was a little nervous.

Put-in below McNeil bridge

Nice rapid between first and second portage

On Sunday, June 5th, we put-in just downstream from the McNeil bridge with one hardshell and four IKs (10.8/4000 or so on Bull Run gauge, high 2000's heading into the Gorge).  Our goal was 7:30 AM, but it was more like 8:30 when we actually got on the water.  Our first portage was 200 yards downstream, with the next one 200 yards below that, both of which went smoothly.  We had an IK'er pin a couple of times in this, the most technical stretch, which slowed us down a tad.  Further on, we had another IK'er slip getting out of his boat in a micro-eddy above a nasty log that was followed by a really nasty logjam.  He got to shore but his boat took off and snagged under the first log.  With some heroic work by Jordan out on the log, we were soon able to rope the wayward IK back to shore. Yikes.

Typical upper river scene on a lower water day.

Jordan Englert getting a rope on a snagged boat

Casey Heesacker waiting for a 'go' signal

By the time we got to Lolo Pass, I sensed that time was slipping by too quickly.  We cruised through the Lolo to Marmot leg and stopped at Mitch's house for lunch and water.  When we passed under the Brightwood Bridge, a pedestrian asked us where we were taking out.  I yelled back, 'The Columbia!'  He gave us a 'shaka' and yelled 'Yeah!'  I'm sure he didn't think we were serious, but we were glad for the encouragement anyway!  So, it's about noon, we've covered maybe 10 miles with 35 to go...oh, well.  I didn't think the math was going to work out in our favor at this point, but after a 1/2 hour break, we pressed on.

Somewhere near Alder Creek

The run down to the old Marmot dam-site went well.  As we approached the Gorge, Jordan and I started discussing the wisdom of continuing.  There is a last-ditch bailout spot about 3/4 of a mile below '64 Logjam, so we decided to poke our noses in there and see how everyone felt at that point.  As it turned out, a lot of the rapids were biggish but washed out some at this level, so it was actually fairly friendly and moving really fast.  There were a lot of big holes scattered around, but also room to miss them.  We did the far left cheat at Boulder, portaged Rasp Rock (ugly keeper at this level, the boulder on the downstream side was totally under water and backing up the hole and I had decided well in advance that we would walk this one) and Drain Hole.  If we had just been doing the Gorge, we probably would have run Boulder center and some of us possibly Drain Hole, but we didn't have time at this point for scouting and indecision over who was going to run what and where and how to set safety, etc., so we opted for downstream progress.  This same philosophy came into play at Upper Revenue, which we also skipped.  This turned out to be a good call, since we had a scary event at Lower Revenue.  Scott got surfed a bit at the entrance and ended up flipping in the big keeper on the bottom right.  I had already run it and all I could see were his last few valiant paddle strokes and then his boat getting tossed unmercifully with no sign of Scott.  Jordan, Casey and Rod could see him getting recirculated between the pocket against the right wall and the meat of the hole and were scrambling to get close enough for throw bags - not a good situation.  Scott said he wasn't able to get any breaths in the aeration and violence, so after a couple of trips through the rinse cycle, he tucked and tried to go deep.  Thankfully, this worked and he washed free and was able to get himself out on the left bank just above where I was eddied out under the bridge.  His boat stayed in the hole for what seemed like 5 minutes before getting spit out.  Scott had recovered by this point and jumped in and retrieved it as it went by.

"Scott's Hole"

The hard stuff was done at this point, so now it was just a question of how much daylight we had left.  It turned out we had made up a ton of time flying through the Gorge, so we were actually kind of back on schedule!  At Dodge Park, we treated ourselves to another 1/2 hour break with food, water and chocolate covered espresso beans for an extra boost.  Rod switched out of his IK into his hardshell at this point, nailing his first combat roll at the bottom of Pipeline - nice!

Casey and Rob at Dodge Park.  The horses smell the barn from 18 miles away!

With the sun still pretty high in the sky, we were in good spirits and feeling like we were going to make it.  We still had about 18 miles to go, but without any foreseeable delays and plenty of current pushing us along.  We made good time with minimal effort to Oxbow, but that's where the slog began.  It wasn't exactly dead, but we were having to paddle our way through the flats and the coffee beans were starting to wear off a bit.

Scott and Rod loading up for the final push

At Dabney, the flooding Columbia backed up the Sandy and turned the bottom 4 miles into a lake.  Even at super-low flows in mid-summer, I have rarely seen absolutely no current on the lower river.  At times I was sure it was actually running backwards.  We were approaching 8:00 PM with plenty of daylight, so we knew we were going to make it, so it was just a question of exactly how tired and grouchy we would be when we did.  Pretty tired, as it turned out, but everyone kept their grouchiness in check (even me!), which is one of the signs of a great crew.  We ended up roping our boats up a steep bank adjacent to the east end of the runway at the Troutdale Airport and walked the last few hundred yards to the parking lot where high fives were exchanged and discussions of where to get lots of greasy food began.  The slopes of Mt. Hood to Troutdale in one day...it still seems unreal.

This run would have been much easier and quicker, obviously, without 14 or so portages, but it amazed me that it was still possible with that being the case.  Paddling with Jacob over the years has given me a new perspective on misery, and this wasn't nearly as bad as some of his 3-mile explorations (Gordon Creek or the Lower Little ***** at about 50 cfs for example), so I think I would definitely do it again.  For those who might want to try it, I would say paddle the McNeil run shortly before you go to familiarize yourself with the current conditions there and be very comfortable in the Gorge, especially at high flows.  Without the bigger flows in the Gorge, your trip from Revenue to the mouth would be excruciatingly slow.  Not very many rivers offer you the opportunity to paddle from it's birth in the Alpine to it's mouth near sea-level in one day, so I would love to see more people try it.  It's an epic, manageable adventure in our own backyard!

South Santiam: Monster Section

Photo: Clinton Begley

Stream: The South Santiam is a quality, underutilized resource for Willamette Valley boaters.  It's a worthwhile destination for anyone in the area, but really shines as a good run for groups with a mixture of skill levels.  The run is mostly III-IV, with 3 harder rapids that can be portaged, and the stand-out-scenic Hobbit Gorge.


The put in is at the half bridge, across the river from the Yukwah Campground.  There is a large pull-out off Hwy 20 here that fits as many vehicles as you need.  If you are short on time, or it's a cold day it is also possible to put in 3 miles downstream where Highway 20 crosses the South Santiam.

If you use the half bridge campground, you will get some easy warm-up, and three stand out features in the form of an unnamed class III rapid, a small riverwide surf ledge, and Longbow Falls.  If you use the Highway 20 bridge you miss those features, but quickly get into the best part of the run.

Rob Cruser, starting out below the Highway 20 bridge.

  Below the highway bridge is a series of fun class III-IV drops in a setting that feels quite isolated, even with the proximity of the highway.

In the midst of the class III-IV series of rapids.

A ledge just below.

The biggest obstacle on the run is The Monster.  The Monster gets run, but more people walk it than run it.  There is a ledge 100 yards above that signals that you have arrived.

The ledge just before The Monster.

Following a moving pool is, The Monster.

The Monster can be portaged on either side, but be careful not to pile up here.  There is a slowly moving pool above, and the eddies are not large.  Be cautious at high water.  The easiest move here is to eddy on the left, make a short portage at river level, then ferry in front of the wall at the bottom.  If you are not comfortable with this ferry, or the water is too high for this maneuver, it is possible to portage high on either side with additional effort.

The top of the Monster.
Photo: Clinton Begley

Emile and Ben


Just below the Monster is Crawdad, which is trickiest at low flows.  It can be hard to avoid the left wall, so right momentum is useful. 


 Rob Cruser scouts the entrance to Crawdad.  The whitewater in the distance is the outflow from The Monster.

Crawdad.

Thomas Imes in the thick of it.

Photos of Crawdad: Priscilla Macy

 Looking downstream from Crawdad.  Below here the river pinches to less than a boat length wide.

The pinch from below, with Crawdad in the background.

Photo: Priscilla Macy

In the mile between this pinch and Tomco Falls are a couple of easier bedrock rapids.  When you pass under a bridge and the river bends left get ready to hop out on the right to scout Tomco Falls, a unique drop that is ugliest at low levels. 

Moose Creek comes in from the right at Tomco Falls, complicating the scout a little.  And most people end up wading through Moose Creek to take a look or portage.  If you don't like the look of this tricky and hazardous looking rapid, you can seal launch from the right between the two ledges.  Or go further downstream if needed to avoid the whole thing.

Jean Loosmore seal launching between the two drops in Tomco.

Below Tomco there is a calm stretch before this scene and then the entrance to the Hobbit Gorge.

Photo: Priscilla Macy

  The first drop in the Hobbit Gorge is the only tricky one.  It is a small ledge with some turbulence that can roll people.  At most flows driving hard right with speed gets you through, but take a look from the lip using the eddy on river right, you should be able to get a feel for the best line from your boat.

In the Hobbit Gorge.

 The Hobbit Gorge is a special place every Oregon boater who is capable should make sure they find themselves in at some point.

Photo: Priscilla Macy

 There are a couple more small rapids before the take out at Cascadia park, marked by a bridge.  The trail up to the parking lot starts above this bridge.  There were no portages in 2016.

Flows:  I usually do this stretch below 1000 cfs on the South Santiam @ Cascade gauge when everything else in the area seems just a little too low.  Below 700 the run is less than class four except for the first drop in Hobbit gorge and the two class V drops, but it can be run at 500 cfs if you just really want to get in your boat.  1,000 cfs give or take a couple hundred is worthwhile. 1,500 cfs is medium.  It can be run higher, but if it is much over 1,000 cfs I usually find myself running one of the nearby creeks.  One such fun nearby option is to run Canyon Creek all the way down to Cascadia State Park, that way you get to float through the Hobbit Gorge since Canyon Creek enters the South Santiam within the Hobbit Gorge.

Access:  Take I-5 to Highway 20 and head East.  After passing through the town of Sweet Home it's a little over 14 miles to a left turn over a bridge and into Cascadia State Park at the take out.  44.398683, -122.481146

After dropping a vehicle, return to Highway 20 and head upstream 7.6 miles to the pull out at the half bridge.  44.398725, -122.343068

If you want to reduce your time on the water, put in at the Highway 20 bridge over the South Santiam just shy of 5 miles upstream of Cascadia. 44.398729, -122.393304

A video from a past trip. South Santiam segment starts at 1:50

Opal creek and South Santiam from Jacob Cruser on Vimeo.

   -Jacob