Clackamas River: The Killer Fang Section

Looking into Prelude

With summer coming to an end and the winter rains yet to come, I found myself eager for a little adventure. I had never done the Killer Fang section of the Clackamas and it kept calling me as it's the only section I haven't done. I made a call to Marcus and we agreed to give it a shot. While I was on my way to the river, Marcus gave me a call saying he was really sick and wasn't up for boating. Nuts. So, I decided to go ahead and give the run a shot solo. It didn't take too long before I was able to hitch a ride up to the put in from some great people from Bark. If you aren't aware of their organization, I recommend you take a look. They do some great work protecting the wild places we all like to visit. I quickly put on my gear and slid into the river at the confluence of the Clackamas and Collawash Rivers. The river is very scenic and very mellow. The first mile or two was basically flat water. I soaked up the scenery and the solitude that this most remote section of the Clackamas afforded me. Slowly the rapids started to appear, but nothing Killer. Mostly just nice class II and III drops. Eventually, about 2/3 of the way into the trip the canyon starts to close in and I came up on the first significant rapid that I needed to scout, Prelude. The rapid exits through a couple different slots and feeds into the pool above Killer Fang. I did a quick check for wood and made sure I could see the eddy to get out above Killer Fang before hopping back into my boat. Prelude proved to be a nice rapid with plenty of space to exit the river above Killer Fang.

Killer Fang Rapid

Killer Fang is an ugly rapid. That said, there is a thin line that could be run, but a mistake would put you in a huge sieve where most of the river is going. IF you make the cut left, you would still have to deal with an undercut cliff wall before exiting into the pool below. It was an easy descision for me going solo and in a playboat, so I shouldered and did the somewhat difficult portage. (Lots of climbing and lowering the boat)

The outflow of Killer Fang

Looking back at Killer Fang.

The lead-in to The Sieve.

The next rapid below Killer Fang is a rapid known as the Sieve. I hopped out and scouted right first and then ferried back left to get another look. The Sieve is a solid class IV rapid with significant consequences for a mistake. After looking it over, I opted to portage the initial drop leaving a mandatory ferry back to river right. (The Sieve can be portaged it's entire length on the left.)

The entrance to the Sieve. I portaged just below the log.

This is where I put back in to ferry across. Still class IV, but manageable.

The rest of the run was fun with one class three that stood out. I had a nice mellow level of about 1,000 cfs at Three Lynx. It was nice to finally see the run, but I think it will be awhile before I go back. If you haven't seen it, I wouldn't let the Killer Fang name hold you back. It is just one rapid after all. Do be careful to check all of the narrow slots for wood before committing, otherwise it's a nice class II-III float.

A Snow Filled Day on Canyon Creek,WA

Dan Thurber takes flight at Hammering Spot with Champagne in the background

With low snow levels and not much water, we decided to do Canyon Creek again. Dan Thurber was in town and it was one of the only class IV runs with water and access that I could find to take him on. We were all a little surprised at the amount of snow when we arrived at the take out . The snow fell all day making for some difficult scouts. It was a great trip with the creek running about 6" below the unit. Mike Long grabs a few photos of the drop zone

The crew at the take out

You can see more pictures from the trip on Mike Long's site, Mike Long Photography.

TR: Canyon Creek, WA.

With the local rivers running low because of the lack of rain and a low snow level, boating options have been limited. The decision was to do a low water run down Canyon Creek, WA. It's always been a fun run and given we had a relatively new boater coming along it seemed like a good fit. It turned out to be a beautiful day and a great run. (For those of you familiar with the run, the creek was running about 12" below the unit.)

Alex runs Prelude to Thrasher without a problem

Dropping into Thrasher

Markus throwing down at Thrasher

Big Kahuna was a lot of fun. This was going to be Markus's largest falls, 18' to 20' depending on flow, and the rest of us were interested to see how he would do. He cleaned it without any trouble. Great run Markus.

Alex showing us how it's done

Markus dropping in.

Markus at Champagne and Hammering Spot, a couple of 12' falls back to back.

Alex at Hammering Spot

Back Home: Return from the Grand Canyon

Nankoweap

Pictures are starting to come in from everyone and the video should be underway soon. Here are a few more pictures from the trip and a brief story. Check back often as I will continue to add pictures and video as I soon as I can.

Danielle and I at Havasu

Keith and DeeDee

The Power of Lava Falls or: How I Lost My Sock

Lava Falls is always exciting, however it was just a little more exciting than normal this time around. A couple of guys in the group weren't up to rowing through Lava so we had two brave volunteers step up to hike back up and run the boats through. Well, after a long wait, the first boat appeared just above the ledge hole and dropped in. Things went well at the start, but the boat ended up too far right, caught a wave and flipped. Nothing special for Lava, lots of boats flip here. However, as everyone jumps into action to go after swimmers and a flipped boat things don't make sense. As the oarsman climbs back onto the boat he looks incredibly pale, not the bright yellow of his drysuit. OHHH!!! HE'S NAKED!!! This now explains the long wait for the boats to come along, but wait, there's another boat coming and he appears naked too. Fortunately, the second raft makes it through without trouble. Some how, a throw rope appears floating right next to the boat the naked rafter throws it to shore and we pull in the boat above Little Lava. Of course, I know they are going to need help to flip the boat back over (it happens to be the kitchen boat). Unfortunately for Danielle, the only eddy I can catch is also were naked rafter #2 is stopped. So, I left Danielle to talk, take pictures and find something else to look at while I scramble up shore to help out. By the way, the first boat over to help rafter #1 is Will and Laura, the trip leader's 17 year old daughter. Well, this was supposed to be a learning experience, a Grand adventure to help her see the world and learn about life. I have a feeling it exceeded everyone's expectations. (We'll talk about the sauna later) Everything worked out well, the boat came back over easily and everyone got dry and warm without too much trouble. Oh, the guys were wearing socks they found on the boat as a last minute attempt at modesty though the river had other ideas. This brief description doesn't do the story justice, but here are a couple pictures.

Rafter #1 post Lava Falls

"What's everyone looking at?"

Rafter #2: "I make Lava look good"

Danielle and I enjoying the canyon

North Canyon

Sunset at South Canyon

Enjoying the Redwall

Danielle hiking Nankoweap Creek

Anasazi pottery shard near Nankoweap Creek

Danielle about to rule the world from an agave pit

Tanner Butte

The author hiking Shinumo Creek

The man that made this trip happen

Tappeats Creek

Thunder River as it emerges from the redwall

Thunder River heading towards Tapeats Creek

The author exploring Travertine Canyon

Danielle shows off her mad climbing skills in Travertine Canyon

Alan enjoying the water of Travertine Canyon

Sunrise on Christmas EveThe setting moon on Christmas Eve

Bighorn Sheep

Danielle and I at Elves Chasm

Sunset at Lower Bass Camp

Keith and DeeDee enjoying the canyon

Will and Laura at House Rapid

The author motoring out to Lake Mead

You can also read Dan Thurber's write up at Team Kettle Chips.