At the end of February, my friend Will Volpert put together a great trip on the Illinois River in southern Oregon. Here are the video clips from the trip. We had just a little raft carnage on an otherwise fantastic trip. I hope to post some pictures and a write up soon. Will had also arranged to have a writer and a photographer from the Medford Mail Tribune with us on the trip. Here is a link to the article. Wild Ride on the Illinois
Video courtesy of the Mail Tribune
Video courtesy of Will Volpert
Video courtesy of Alan Douglas
Also, here is a link to an interesting short film about a documentary being made about the Illinois. Illinois River Video
The Upper EF Lewis River has been a run I have wanted to do for some time. It's not the hardest run around, but one I have been meaning to get to. This past weekend, Dan Thurber was back in town so we planned on getting out on the water. The initial plan was to try for Copper Creek, but with more rain than we had expected we turned our attention to the Upper East Fork. We set shuttle, using Mike Olson's house as our take out, and headed up to the put in. We got stopped by snow just short of the put in, which wasn't all bad as we could see a mandatory portage around some wood just upstream.
Wood was on the menu for the day. Lots of small alders had fallen with the heavy snowfall this year making us keep on our toes. Everything was manageable with lines around all of the wood.
As we approached Double Drop, I was probing and somehow missed the normal eddy. Fortunately, I grabbed the last chance eddy just upstream of the lip. While it looked good, no one in our group decided to run it. We continued the portage past Tombstone and headed down river. Tombstone looked awful at this level with all the water pounding the 'Tombstone' rock in the center of the drop.
Looking back up at Double DropLooking downstream into TombstoneWe made our way down to Sunset Falls without much trouble. However, that damn Huka got Dan stuck in yet another hole providing some amusement for the rest of us. Sunset was different than I had seen it in the past, much more water. The left side that I usually run didn't look so inviting so it was time to try the middle line. After a short look at the falls, I took off first to get below and take some pictures. What a great line over this falls. I really enjoyed it. Alex came down next and took the far right line without trouble. Everyone else went center and mostly had good lines. Dan was the only one that struggled here getting shoved into the center slot on both trips over the falls.
Dan proving the center line can go wrong.
After Sunset it was nice trip down through Sky Pilot to Mike's house. Another great day on the river.
With Dan and Will still in town and a successful run down the Washougal with my wife we decided that we could step things up a little bit. After gathering some beta from the group of rafters that had hit the Upper Wind the day before we made plans to do the run. I was still a little nervous about Danielle going, but Will is a very good rafter and Danielle had the right attitude. With Dan's car fixed, we car pooled up to the take out which was still covered in 1 1/2' of snow. This was going to be a beautiful run. The water level was a little higher than I had run it in the past, but it looked good. We quickly piled everything into Will's truck and headed up the road to the put-in. We found 3'+ of snow, but easy access to the river.
Dan and Will getting ready for the Upper Wind.
Danielle getting geared up. (Thanks Will for the dry suit)
Will decided to run the raft as an oar rig today with Danielle adding paddle assistance when needed. I wasn't able to get many pictures as the whitewater was continuous and my camera is hard to get to. In any case, it was the best time I've ever had on the Upper Wind. I was a little fuzzy on the rapids so it turned into some of the best read and run whitewater I've done in a long time. I was truly amazed at how Will was able to move that raft. It was so much fun. Danielle had a great time and the scenery was incredible. The only minor problem occurred at Climax. The hole was a little retentive and pulled Dan back in for a second ride. Of course the raft couldn't see this so I quickly threw up my hands to signal the raft to hold up so they wouldn't drop in on him. Unfortunately that's all it took for an eddy monster to grab my boat and flip me into the wall. A took a hit to my back before I could locate my paddle and snap off a quick roll. Dan came out and rolled up.
Dan works on getting the raft down to the river.
It was a really nice day on the water and fun all the way around. Danielle has started entertaining the idea of future river trips. (Provided Will is at the oars) I'm looking forward to our next chance to get out on the water.
The water was just going through the horns on the gage rock providing a nice medium/low level.
Danielle has a little fun in the snow while Will and Dan run shuttle.
After our Grand Canyon trip, my wife Danielle has been more open to the idea of rafting. She just told me that she has to have a good dry suit and a guarantee that she will stay in the boat. I figure that's a fair deal, after all, we managed to make it through 25 days on the Colorado in a 13' 9" raft with a rookie rafter at the helm. It also helped having Will Volpert and Dan Thurber in town to help. These guys were on the Colorado with us and were essential in getting Danielle to give it another try. Will had brought up a 12' raft with him from Ashland and Dan was again with his Huka. We were still fighting low snow levels this weekend, however the Washougal suddenly shot up with warmer weather and localized rain giving us a great option to get Danielle on the water. Will had been hoping for a run down the Upper Wind, but I wasn't sure how Danielle was going to do and I wasn't too keen on getting her out on such a demanding run. After a brief discussion, we settled on the Big Eddy section of the Washougal. The gauge was reading right at 6,000 cfs or 8.77' and slowly falling. Not the highest I've done it, but a pretty stout level for the run. After meeting up at the Burger King in Camas we headed on up to the take out. We quickly formulated a plan to skip the normal put in and head on up to the bridge on the North Fork. This would add an extra mile or so to the run and provide an opportunity to catch a couple extra play waves. (I had brought my EZ for the run) Will decided that they would run it as a paddle raft which meant Danielle would get the chance to really RAFT rather than be the professional passenger that she claims to be.
Will is pumped to get on the water.
Danielle doesn't look so excited.After some rope work, the guys managed to get the raft lowered down to the river and with some quick instructions for Danielle, we were off.
Lowering the boat at the put-in on the NF Washougal.
Things went well until we approached Big Eddy rapid. Today it was a solid class IV drop complicated by a tree that had fallen across the exit of the rapid blocking off the entire right side and presenting a serious hazard. I charged in first and was suddenly faced with a monster hole in front of me. I managed a quick move to the left just skirting the hole and following a seam through the rapid. I grabbed a surging eddy on the left bank just in time to look back up and see the bottom of Dan's blue Huka rising out of the hole. As he drifted by I was really hoping he was going to hit his role as a second large rapid waited around the corner and a swim could easily result in a lost boat not to mention the strainer on river right. Fortunately, he snapped of a roll a few moments later and paddled to an eddy. I climbed out of my boat and set up to take pictures of Will and Danielle. They entered dead center and judging by Wills response, the huge hole in the middle of the river was a surprise. The raft dropped into the hole a little sideways, spun around and got quickly spit out. What a ride!
Danielle and Will at the top of Big Eddy.
Discovering that there really is a hole in this rapid. Hold on Danielle.
"That was one smokin' hole."If you look closely you can see the strainer downstream on the right. You can also see the big smile on Danielle's face.
With the largest rapid behind us, I knew Danielle would be fine. As we rounded the corner and dropped through the next rapid I could see what looked like a kayaker on the left bank. Dan and I paddled over to him to see if he needed any help. It turns out that he had taken a swim along with his buddy in Big Eddy. They were paddling an inflatable two-person kayak and were caught off guard by the size of the rapid, swam and got separated. We signaled the raft over and offered to give him a ride back to the road side which he gladly accepted. I took off downstream in search of his buddy. I eventually found him about half a mile later looking upstream. I explained that we had found his friend and that everyone was ok. I also mentioned that there were a couple other spots that they may need to be careful at, namely around Cougar Creek. A few minutes later Dan came down followed by Will and Danielle. Apparently they had dropped the stranded kayaker off back around the corner. We headed on downstream and enjoyed the rest of the run. Will and Danielle even got in on the surfing action with the raft. It turned out to be a great day and another step to getting my wife to join me on some of my adventures. It also helps that Will is an incredibly skilled rafter as we would discover the next day and Dan would get a chance to use his Huka on water it was designed for. But that's another story.
The East Fork of the Lewis River has long been a local favorite delivering clean falls and great rapids. Today, it seemed to be one of the few runs that could still be reached after the huge low elevation snowfall that we have had over the last couple of weeks. Dan Thurber was back in town and Alan Douglas was able to make it so Dan picked him up in route to the river. We had planned on meeting up, but decided we would just meet up at the take out. As it turned out, Dan and Alan caught up to me just outside of Battleground. I happened to notice that Dan was pulling off to the side of the road behind me so I gave him a call. It turns out that the new alternator in his car had died due to a bad battery overworking it. In any case, Dan spent the day dealing with getting his car towed and other random wanderings that I'm sure you will be able to read about on Team Kettle Chips. After deciding that there was no way to get Dan on the water, we pulled his car into a nearby driveway and continued on toward the river to meet up with Ryan Cole and Tyree. We quickly changed and headed up to Sunset Falls for a quick scout. The middle and left lines looked good. Shortly after we got back in the truck continue up the road for a longer run we began to hit snow. We made it perhaps a mile before the snow got too deep to go further. With a little bit of shoveling we managed to get the truck safely out of the road and headed to the river.
Ryan Cole on the short hike to the put-in.
First up, Sunset Falls (17'). I decided to go first and get some pictures. I elected for the standard left line in my EZ. I didn't scout the entrance to the falls so I plugged the little hole above the lip, hit the bottom of the river with my bow then fell over the falls landing on my side. A harder hit than I wanted, but I paddled away. No problem. Tyree and Ryan fired up the middle line with style in quick succession. Alan took the left line making it look way too easy.
Ryan Cole taking the middle line at Sunset.
Alan on the left line at Sunset.
Tyree and Ryan taking in the scenery.
After Sunset, the river offers up some really fun class III rapids. Skypilot, Screaming Left, Dragons back and Hippie John's Swimming Hole all provided some great read and run excitement. (I didn't get any pictures of these rapids on this trip) The last major feature is Horseshoe Falls (22'). Tyree offered to go first taking door number 3. This is a very narrow entrance that lines you up for an effortless drop over the falls. Alan went next and made it look super easy as well. Ryan had his eyes set on coming in through door number 5. He slid through with a great boof. We were all a little surprised at how well the line worked out. I went last through door number 2 and plugged the drop. What a great falls. We finished the run and headed home.
Tyree takes on Horseshoe Falls.
Alan takes his turn at Horseshoe Falls.
Ryan trying door #5 at Horseshoe.
Here's a short video of the footage that Alan was able to capture on his camera. (Thanks Alan)
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
