NorCal SPring Break '07. Part 2: The Cal-Salmon

After our first hellacious day in Cali, we decided to scale down our hunger for tight creeking and head for some big water. I was extremely dehydrated from the day before from the hike and the boozing that we did that night, so I had a screaming headache. Erik was running the show, and suggested that we run the Cal-Salmon. Now before this trip, I'd never really been in any big water. I'd always done mostly creeking. I've seen some Zambize footage, and also the PDX Kayaker films, and let me just say that big water scared the shit out of me. I know that some of you who read this will say that the Cal-Salmon is not big water, and you may be right; but this was the biggest water I'd ever been on, and I was nervous.

(The signs all over the river didn't help my anxiety).

The Cal-Salmon is an amazing river. It's scenery is as unmatched as is it's whitewater. I had looked into the trip before we went, and spent a lot of time parusing www.oregonkayaking.net. Jason Rackley's description of the run was dead on. It's easy to see why this place is so special.

(There are numerous class IV rapids and two class V's on this section of the river).

(We checked the gauge at the take-out, and it seemed to be at a good medium flow around 5').
We put on right at the confluence of the Cal-Salmon and Nordheimer creek. When we got to Nordheimer campground, we were the only ones there, and there were no camping fees because it was so early in the season.

(The put-in).

Unfortunately, we ran so much of the river by boat scouting, that I didn't get the chance to thoroughly document the trip.

(I took this shot of Bloomer Falls from up high on the bank).

After everyone had a successful run through Bloomers, the next major rapid we came to was airplane. Erik had only done this stretch a couple of times, so we got out and took a look. We all thought it was good to go, and we fired it up.

(The author digs for the boof @ airplane).

(The author after a successful run down airplane).

(Brian digs for the boof).

(UH-OH! You'll be happy to know that he rolled up)The next major rapid that we scouted was Cascade Falls. Cascade Falls is a very impressive riverwide set of drops that has quite a lot of variety to it. We chose to run the far left route. (Brian punching right into the lead diagonal wave on cascade).
(The author taking a different approach).

(Halfway through Cascade, and still upright).(Cascade Falls from the bottom)After successful runs through Cascade, we came upon class V Freight Train. Locals consistently run this behemoth in playboats!
(Last Chance is in the background, which leads right into Freight Train).
(Freight Train. Pretty burly).
(It didn't take much time for me to decide how I was going to get through this rapid.... )
(...and there it is).
One of the last rapids on the run is Gaping Maw. This beast is only class IV, but is unportagable due to the nature of the canyon. The Maw is a fairly straightforward rapid except for the fact that there is a gigantic hole midway through the rapid that attracts boaters like bees to honey. (We got some good pics of Brian narrowly missing the Maw.)


(Another great day in NorCal completed!)
After this trip, I've made a promise to myself to come back to this area at least once a year. Jason Rackley said it best, "...if you are a class IV-V boater living in Oregon, Idaho, or Northern California and you haven't run this river, you need to go there... now."

Also, here are a few videos taken during the trip:

Brian @ Cascade:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sdAVflak10Y

Me @ Cascade:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KLljhtbWVx4

Erik @ Gaping Maw:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v2aAj_RzMdY

NorCal Spring Break '07. Part 1: The Clear Creek death march.

For Spring Break, I got to take a four day trip to NorCal to paddle some California whitewater with my bros Brian Rudd and Erik Larsen. Brian and I met Erik at his home in Ashland on Wednesday night, and early Thursday morning we headed south. The first run on our list was Clear Creek, a tributary of the Klamath River. Erik had been doing some research through guide books and web blogs; most of our info came from the blog "Jefferson State Creeking", an awesome resource for California boating. Erik had been watching the levels and it seemed as though Clear Creek was good to go.

On the way to the put-in, we caught a few glimpses of the creek, which looked awesome. Unfortunately for us, the road to the Clear Creek trailhead was gated, turning our 1 mile hike into about a 4 mile hike. We decided to gear up and hike.

Brian Gives it a go.

The first 2 miles are all road hiking, which went relatively quickly.
Once we got to the trailhead, the hiking became a bit more strenuous due to the lack of trail maintenance.

On the way in, we caught several glimpses of the creek deep down in the canyon. It looked big from way up on the trail, but we figured that if it was bigger when we got in, we could walk the gnarly drops.
The first big rapid we came to was only about a 1/2 mile from the put-in. We gave it a look, and decided to walk it because the lines just looked a bit burly for our class IV boating skills.
The next drop we came to presented a big horizon line. We scouted it and decided to give it a go.

Erik cleans the second drop.

The author taking a different line.

By the time we got to the third drop, about two hours had passed. We quickly realized that we were running short on time, and decided to walk out of the canyon. BIG MISTAKE. It took us nearly four hours to move 500 ft. It was hot, sweaty work through steep unstable slopes and dense thickets of poison oak. The death march from the bottom.
After we got to Nordheimer, we looked at the guide book. Turns out that when we went in to the canyon, the flows were double the high recommended flow, turning class IV drops into big class V. FINAL SCORE: Clear Creek and poison oak 1, Ryan 0! One day, I will be back to Clear Creek for revenge.

Eastern Washington.

I took a trip to Spokane to see my little sister this weekend. She attends the Inter-Collegiate Nursing College there. I had thought about bringing my play boat, because apparently there are some decent playspots around the area, and Idaho is pretty close. The trip was only a couple of days though, and I thought it would be better to spend time with family rather than kill time playing. I didn't get a chance to check out any of the playspots, but I did get a chance to check out Spokane Falls. Spokane Falls is on the Spokane river right in the heart of downtown. This impressive falls has two major drops on it. The first starts out with a class three lead-in into some of the biggest whitewater I have ever seen. The falls has some huge holes in it that are backed by some submerged ledges. Pretty burly. As far as I know, no one has ever run it in a kayak. The second drop starts with a large weir drop into more gigantic water. It is definately not runnable. Like I said, it was some pretty impressive stuff. It's hard to scale the picture of the falls, but the initial drop near the rock finger is about twenty feet tall!

(Spokane Falls from the footbridge)

(A nursing student in fine form)

(Despite the fact that Eastern Washington as a whole is pretty ugly, Spokane actually has some nice scenery)

Falls Video Links:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h9yZPZ-XnWA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CrBRna-MrmU

A little play on the Clackamas

Rudd and I had nothing to do for the day, so we decided to check out the old standby for a session on the Clack. Before the floods of Nov. '06, I'd never actually been to Bob's Hole when it was in. I'd always heard how great a playspot Bob's was, so naturally, I was quite dissappointed when we got there only to find that Bob's was a thrashy and non-retentive hole. Apparrently, the floods have changed Bob's again for the worse. No worries for us though, because Joe Bob's was just barely in, and we managed to make the best of the day. Obviously, the pictures taken this day were not at a prime level for Joe Bob's, but it was still fun.

(A look at Mt. Hood on the way to the Clackamas)
(Cock Diesel throws his weight around)
(Dr. Rudd showing everyone how it's done)
(The author pretending that he can playboat)
(Sidesurf anyone?)(Looks like a cartwheel, only not....)