An Afternoon on Rock Creek WA.

Rock Creek, CRG Washington

Rock Creek is one of my favorite runs close to home. Boulder gardens and waterfalls keep paddlers busy. Unfortunately the 09 winter was not kind to this run and when we showed up in the Spring we were a little disappointed. While some of the rapids cleaned up others got worse. The first good drop on the run is a clean 10 ft boof. The drop had two new small trees in the river right side of the pool below the drop, but they were easy to miss.

The 10ft ledge with the logs on river left

The logs in the bottom of the drop

The biggest disappointment was at Heaven & Hell which had a tree broached on the boulder in the landing zone. Heaven & Hell is a series of drops. It starts out with a 12 ftr that banks of the right wall, then through a pool and over a 3 ft ledge. The small ledge puts you in the pool above the main falls where most of the drop slams into a under water head wall creating a nasty hole that blocks most of the entrance. There is a clean slot about a boat width wide on the left. Paddlers boof the slot then slide 15ft to a sweet 15ft auto boof. After a close look at the final drop I decided it would go and headed up. I had two paddlers set up safety on the log just in case. I ran the first drop and eddied out. My good friend Chuck was shooting pics at the falls. He motioned the final drop was a no go. The safety crew below thought it was to dangerous so I ran the small 3 ft. ledge, eddied out and seal launched back in below the hazard.

The first drop of Heaven & Hell

Me at in the first drop on Heaven & Hell The log creating the hazard on Heaven & Hell

The rapid just below Heaven and Hell was also a portage. We portaged on river left and continued down river.

The next portage just below Heaven & Hell Steep Creek Falls

Steep Creek Falls has been run at high flows. After passing under the bridge paddlers will continue through a couple of miles of class 2. When the river pics back up a bit you will know Three Swim Falls is just around the corner. This is always portaged on river left. Be careful the eddy above Three Swim Falls is fairly small and can easily be missed if you are not paying attention. At high flows a small hole forms that makes it harder to make the eddy. A good friend of mine swam it and did not enjoy the ride. You can read about the swim on Jason Rackley's site www.oregonkayaking.net

The Eddy above Three Swim Falls
Looking down at Three Swim Falls

From the view here the line looks fairly straight forward if you boof the 2nd to last flake on the downriver. Unfortunately it isn't as easy as it looks, I don't know anyone who has run it.

A better view of the flake from downstream, with the runnable flake just upstream of the pillow

After portaging the main part of Three Swim Falls the boulder garden run out will be waiting. Paddlers that aren't into running the boulder garden can portage to the bottom and skip it.

The bouldergarder below the main falls

Stomp'n boulder garden

Chuck Taylor

Chuck Taylor running the boulder garden below Three Swim Falls

Spring Road Trip: Part 2

Road Trip Part 2:

Clear Creek Cali., and South Fork Umpqua Campbell Falls Section

After a great time on the Cal. Salmon we headed North towards home, but we could not pass up a trip down Upper Clear Creek! We had hooked up with Dan out of Ashland Or., to show us the lines, he had told us that the run was a fun class 4-5 classic! We were excited to check it out. After hard rains the sun popped out, we were stoked to see it after nearly continues rain over the last 3 days. We arrived at the bridge over looking a small gorge on the run. Dan had told us we could check the flows at the bridge, and when we peered down into the gorge his face lit up with a smile! "Looks like a great flow", said Dan.

Peering into the gorge below from the bridge

As the rest of the group looked into the gorge we all were happy at what we saw. We jumped back into the van and continued upstream to the trail head. We arrived at the trail head and prepared our gear for the 1 mile hike to the river. It was a nice short hike up to a bridge crossing Clear Creek.

The Put-In

At the bridge we looked at the water level and what had appeared to be a nice flow now seemed to me to be a full or what I like to call fluffy! Dan took a second look at the flow and informed us that it would be juicy and probably as high as his first time down the run which was the highest he had run it! We put on and headed down to the first big section of rapids. Although Dan had been on the run a few times he didn't give us any guarantees that he remembered all the lines at this level. We approached the first rapid and eddied out. Dan told us to start left and cut right finishing on the right side. We peeled out and dropped in! I started working right and was pushed back to the the left side and over a 5 foot ledge. As I dropped over the left ledge where I wasn't supposed to be I noticed the reason why I was instructed to be on the rights side slot. A nice large pour over hole awaited my arrival. My complacency had awarded me a side surf in a big hole! I braced in the hole and struggled to work my way out. I hung on and eventually worked got out unscathed. I paddled down to the next eddy thinking to myself that I better step it up a bit. We regrouped and anxiously awaited instructions as to where the line was for the next rapid. "Start middle and work left", said Dan. Off I went following Dan, this time I was ready and had a nice line. We eddied out and looked back up just in time to see Tony flip and take a couple of nice head shots. Then came the next paddler who also flipped and took a few nice shots to the head and shoulders. Ouch I said and made the signal to confirm he was ok. He gave me the I'm ok and came down to the eddy. A bit shook up, he got his dose for the day and decided to walk out! The rest of us continued down stream and finished the run. Since we put on late and had a stout flow I concentrated on my lines instead of photos. There were to portages one around a manky rapid and the other around a flume style rapid into a huge hole. The first of the two was definitely runnable at the flow we had. Because of the high flows we started our portage an eddy above the normal one. The normal eddy looked a little risky. This made the portage longer and required us to rope the boats and do a little tricky foot work on the cliff. Total portage time was around 30min. After the portage the run continued to dish up nice read and ru rapids! We made our way down towards the final gorge with no problems! The finale gorge was also a bit intimidating. The only possible place to scout was on river left above the rapid. It was also not easily portageable according to Dan and I would have to agree. However this is an awesome rapid, despite its intimidating looks at these flows. The entrance was kind of a sliding ramp that lead paddlers down through a hole, some mank and then into a large horizon line. After the large horizon line we could see more stout runout and then a pool. This gorge was one that you just need to look at the line, then run it. No need to look too long! The gorge marks the end of the run and I would say it goes out with a bang!

After Clear Creek we headed back towards Ashland and toward P-Town. The next day we made our way south to the S. F. Umpqua where we ran a section from S.F. Falls down to Campbell Falls. This run is kind of a novelty run. A few big easy drops with not much else. I will say that this is a very scenic area and well worth a visit if you are in the area.

S.F. Falls South Umpqua R.

This section of the S. Umpqua has two waterfalls, a ledge, and a sliding falls/rapid. Not super hard, but fun and with low consequences. Paddlers put-in a S.F. Falls (pictured above) park.

Me at S.F. Falls

Christie S.F. Falls

Tye O.

One of the 4 rapids on this run Christie G.
The Slide Allan S.

Tye gett'n surfed at the slide

The final falls on the run is Campbell Falls. It is very straight froward and has at least two lines and maybe 3. The take-out is just down stream at the next campground on river right.

Campbell Falls



Me at Campbell Falls
Allan at Campbell Falls

Till next time!

Road Trip Part 1: Cal. Salmon Race/South Fork Salmon TR

Nordhiemer Race 2009

-April 30th, 2009-

7 paddlers and one Sprinter w/trailer. This was exactly what we needed to do this trip in style!

Thanks Next Adventure!

Thanks to Next Adventure, Portland Oregon for providing the ultimate road trip vehicle! With a trailer for boats the Sprinter could take 9 paddlers no problem.

-10:00pm Thursday we hit the road. A little late but not out of the norm. Destination Salmon River in Cali. We arrived in Ashland at 4:00am and we pulled off to crash at Noah's River Adventures. Thanks again guys! We were on the road again by 8:00 and after breakfast, shopping, changing a trailer light and looking for Brake fluid that we didn't even need we managed to arrive at Nordhiemer Campground about 3:30 pm. The rain started on the way down and didn't stop all weekend.

A rare glimpse of the sun breaking through the thick dark clouds that ruled the skies all weekend.

Saturday morning we woke up and prepared for the race which started at 1:23 pm. Ha Ha! Everyone was at the put in and eagerly awaiting the mass start! I got the chance to try out my new Shred Ready Standard provided by my latest sponsors HUB or "Hopworks Urban Brewing" out of Portland, Oregon! Thanks Hopworks! Sick helmet. Nice job Shred Ready!

This years race theme was Porn Stars and Monsters and people brought out their costumes or lack of.....

One individuals idea of a costume.
Christie Glissmeyer's Costume

Raft Team in Freight Train

Kayaker in Freight Train

A common view from the road on the shuttle of the Nordhiemer stretch

We finished the race and headed for the South F. Salmon Gorge. This was a awesome run! Super Clean class 4 to 5-. We scouted 3 major rapids, one was the last gorge which you can see from the road on the way up.

South Fork Salmon

We drove through the small town of Forks of the Salmon on our way to the South Fork Salmon. Forks of the Salmon is a small and quite town on the confluence of the North and South Forks of the Salmon River. Didn't seem like there was much going on in the Forks but maybe we were just there at a slow time. Speaking of time it seemed like time had kind of froze here.

Frozen in Time at the Forks of the Salmon

Warm'n up on the S. Fork!

One of the larger ledges in the upper section of the S. Fork Ty. O boofing another clean ledge on the S. Fork Paddler: Allan Satcher

Paddler: Christie Glissmeyer

Paddler: Tony S.

The rapid above was one we scouted. Although it was super clean with a nice tongue it was a very narrow constriction and looked stout from above.

I am not sure what you call this one, but up against the right wall would have been a good name. We scouted this on the left and then ran the far right slot between the triangle rock and the far right wall

Paddler: Tony S.
Ty waiting below the final gorge above the take out

We Scouted the last gorge on river right. It had two descent sized ledges and a couple of holes to go with. We took a quick scout, ran it and with big smiles paddled on down to the take out. This is a great stretch. The run is fairly straight forward, it seemed like we had a great flow, everything was covered and not really any stomp'n holes.

The top ledge in the final gorge

The second ledge in the final gorge

We loaded gear and headed back to the party which had begun with out us! Paul got ready for the raffle and awards while everyone else boozed it up!
As the night went on so did the drinking and what else could we do but take artsy photos that plugged our sponsors

Thanks for the growlers Hopworks. You guys make the best specialty beers around!

Thanks again Next Adventure the pop up tents saved the day and made a great event site!Big Thanks to Paul G. for organizing this awesome race and we hope to see everyone
May 16-17 at the Upper Clackamas Whitewater Festival on the Clackamas River. It is gonna be another great year with the return of the Big Air Ramp, Head-to-Head Boater X, Playboat Mass Start, Downriver Relay and lets not forget the Next Adventure BBQ on Saturday night!
Part 2 coming soon "Clear Creek and why you should stop by the South Umpqua on your way home!"

Upper Klamath River

Upper Klamath River

Upper Klamath Put-In

The Upper Klamath is known as one of Oregon's classic continues big water runs. The Upper K is a dam release run where paddlers can enjoy continues class4-4+ whitewater when many other runs have dried up.

Christie Glissmeyer

There is controversy building about the removal of the dams on this river. Restoring this river to its natural state has big impact on farming, energy supply, and the local fishing and rafting outfitters who count on the predictable release of water during summer/fall months. For know it remains one of the best continues big water runs in the state. Paddlers will most likely see the river at one gun. Which means the dam is running one turbine giving the river aprx. 1500-1800cfs. If paddlers are lucky enough to catch the river a two guns or two turbines and aprx. 2000-2800 cfs hold on and look out for large holes and huge breaking waves that are relentless from Caldera down. The first few mile offer nice class 2/3 warm up before the first big class 4+ Caldera Rapid.

Caldera Rapid

Steven Olsen takes the left line at Caldera and melts the big hole

Cat Boater in Caldera

Paddle raft in Caldera

After Caldera the rapids are stacked tight with short sections of fast moving water separating large rapids.

Hell's Corner Rapid

R2 at Hell's Corner

The girls celebrate in Champagne Eddy After Champagne eddy paddlers can relax a bit knowing that the hardest rapids are over. But don't let your guard down yet there a plenty more read and run class 4 rapids.

One of the Rapids below Hell's Corner

The rapids continue down to the final class 4 State Line Rapid. After State Line paddlers are moments from the take out. I highly suggest this run for all paddlers and especially ones looking for a run with a totally different nature then the pool drop runs we grow so used to here in the NW. probably the biggest draw back to the Upper K is the long shuttle. The shuttle is aprx. 1.5 hours each way. It is well worth organizing a group and paying for a shuttle service then split the cost between the group. Noah's River Adventure's out of Ashland OR., is the host of the Upper Klamath Race that takes place in April. These guys are awesome and will have all the beta paddlers need on this run and others in the area. So if you are looking to secure an outfitter, shuttle or just need some local beta give em a call or drop by there headquarters just 30 seconds off I-5! Thanks again Bart for being a great host!

The parting shots!

http://www.noahsrafting.com/

108'ft. Waterfall World Record Shattered by a 127ftr

The article just hit the web today! Here is a short excerpt taken from Ben Stooksberry article on the Jackson site, "Brazil World Record Attempt Expedition member Pedro Olivia shattered the existing world record (108 foot or 33 meter) with a 38. 7 meter (127 foot) waterfall descent on a tributary to the Amazon on the Rio Sacre in Campos Novos, Mata Grosso, Brazil." These guys really are changing the idea of what is possible in a kayak. Although I can't say I didn't see this one coming from such hucksters! I give them props! Even though 70ft is no where close to 127ft having run a 70ftr I know the nerve it takes to run large falls .
Go to the Jackson site for the full article http://jacksonkayak.com/articles/article.cfm?directory=articles09&article=200903051


Keep it safe out there.
Luke

Mother Nature's Raw Power

Pics of another large landslide that took place on Benham Creek at Benham Creek Falls. Another example of the destruction from the January floods. There was a nice double tiered falls(pictured below) in a mini gorge until this January when the slide covered it barring the falls and small gorge. The Slide occurred about 13 miles South of Randal on FR 25. Once again thanks to the Northwest Waterfall Survey for a great info and photos.

Benham Creek before the slide

Benham Creek after the landslide

West Coast Whitewater Racing Series

Paddlers
We are half way through winter and Spring is approaching quickly. This years West Coast Whitewater Racing Series is going to be better than ever! Make sure you mark your calenders to hit these events. I have put up a schedule of 2009 Spring/Summer West Coast Series Events and pics. *Sorry for the lack of photo credits*

2009 West Coast Whitewater Series Race Schedule

1. March 21-22 : Upper Wind River Race, Upper Wind R.(Festival)For info go to the Oregon Rafting Tema Blog

2. April 4 : North Fork American Race, NF. American R. North Fork Race Info

3. April 11 -12 : Northwest Creeking Competition, Canyon Creek/East Fork Lewis R. www.northwestcreekcomp.org

4. 

5. April 18 -19 : Upper Klamath R./Scott R. (Festival) For info go to the Oregon Rafting Team Blog
   

5. May 1 -3 : Cal-Salmon R. Nordheimer

6. May 15-17 : Upper Clackamas Whitewater Festival, Upper Clackamas R. (Festival) www.upperclackamasfestival.org

7. 

7. June 5-7 : Payette Boise River Revival, Payette R. SF. Payette, NF. Payette (Festival) www.pbrkayakevent.com

8. August 14-16 : Upper and Lower Youghiogheny, ASCI Whitewater Center (USRA Nationals)

9. October 10-11 : Cali Burn Festival, Trinity River / Burnt ranch Gorge