Trip report for the White Salmon – BZ Corner to Husum Falls.

Introduction

This is definitely one of the most popular runs for boaters in the Portland area. Many people are probably already familiar with this river, but for those of you who are not, here is a description. I have not as yet done the upper section, “the farmlands.” I would like to try doing this section with someone who has done it before, but I don’t think it would be safe to go without someone who is familiar with this run, so for now, I must content myself with the middle/lower section.

River Overview:

This is a beautiful, Class III+, clear river which is cold all year round due to its source being the glaciers and snow pack on nearby Mt. Adams. This being the case a wetsuit or drysuit is always appropriate. While the river runs through mostly private property, once you are down in the canyon the scenery is beautiful. This river is great because it is fun pretty much year round.  

Logistics

The put-in is relatively easy to find. Just MapQuest BZ Corner, and the put in is at the publicly owned land about 200 yards into town on the highway. The takeout at Husum is in the town of Husum where the bridge crosses the river. In the summer there are usually spectators at the bridge watching. Many people take out at the park a few miles downriver from Husum Falls, but after running Husum a few times and then jumping off the bridge there, I’ve usually had enough. The last section has one fun drop 200 yards downstream of Husum, but after that it is pretty tame. You can also run a couple laps on this section if you have time.  This section is only 5 miles long, and there are no portages, so it is a great candidate for doing more than one run. Either that or combine it with a run on the Hood River for a full day of rafting.

Flows and seasons

This river is great because it is fun pretty much year round. I’ve run this in the big Vanguard raft at 500 CFS, which definitely caused it to be pretty bony, and made for quite a few holdups on rocks, but which still provided some fun rapids, and is a great safe level for running Husum Falls. A gauge is available on the Washington flows page at “The White Salmon River at Underwood Washington” At medium/low flows this river is class III – III+, with Husum falls being a IV-IV+. At higher flows (> about 1400 CFS) this run becomes a solid IV, and Husum becomes a solid V. This river responds some to fall/winter rains. In the spring, when the snow melts, this river begins to rise, and can get as high as 2000-2500 CFS in April/May, or with heavy winter rains. These high flows definitely increase the difficulty level of this section. Over the summer, the river gradually declines until it hits about 500 CFS in September, where it will stay until there is some significant rainfall. Really, the ideal months to run this run are June and July, and maybe August depending on how much snow pack there is. I have run this river at 500, 750, 1200, and 1800 CFS, and while I definitely think it is most fun at higher flows, Husum Falls becomes a little dicey to run much over 1000 CFS.

Rapids

Maytag and Top Drop: The river starts out with a bang. Right at the put in there are a series of fun ledges that can become class IV drops at higher water. You can put in higher to get all of the drops, or you can crop your craft in the middle. Just keep it straight and you should be OK. The very first time I ever paddle rafted was on this river when I was 15, and the river was pretty high. We weren’t on a guided trip, but were with someone who had run it plenty of times. Anyway, we got off to a horrible start, and hit the first and second drops crooked. This is where I went for my first swim in ice cold water without a wetsuit. I had crashed a canoe on the John Day at low water, but that was different. Anyway, I made my way to the side, but my Dad and our guide told me I had to jump in after them because they couldn’t come back for me. So I got to go through the rapids in my life jacket. I’m proud to say that I held onto my paddle, and also picked up my Dad’s. Anyway, that kind of ruined the first trip, so I was reluctant to try this river for a long time. I have since become a lot smarter, and we have all the wetsuits and helmets and experience that we should have had then. Anyway,  I tried it again 10 years later with much more success, and it has been a consistently fun river since then.

Everything in between Top Drop and Husum Falls:  This section has some nice sequences of rapids near the top, then gradually tapers off until you get to Husum. At low water there are several rocks to dodge, and places where you are pretty much going to get stuck. We’ve managed to flip hot lips at a couple different spots, but it would be hard to flip the Vanguard here. (though that has also been done). One spot to watch out for is right after Top Drop – there is an undercut cave on river right that you can get trapped in. Last time we went, my brother-in-law was learning how to guide on hot lips (He did a great job overall) and wasn’t able to avoid the hazard in time. He and my sister-in-law were stuck in there for about a minute, but managed to stay in the boat and get themselves out right as I got there with the throw bag. In the meantime, they also picked up a spare paddle with no ID or phone number (bonus), and saw two more floating around. On the rest of the trip there are some fun chutes and drops,  but nothing that can’t be boat scouted.

Husum Falls:  For me, this is the highlight of the trip. I haven’t attempted this falls when the water is over 1200 CFS, but I have run it several times with flows at and below that level.  You can pull out on the right before the falls and have a look, or stay left and make the easy portage on that side. You can also see the falls on the drive up. I find that we have the cleanest runs when we start just right of center and angle ourselves at the rock 1/3^rd of the way out from the right bank, and try to get some speed. The cushion coming off the rock about halfway down the falls (low flows)is enough to straighten the boat out, without running into it. If you get too far to the left you could get into some problems, but the move is relatively easy. We’ve had a few problems here, and seen a few other parties have mishaps, but nothing major. They always seems to come from human error – not getting far enough right, not getting enough speed, or people not collapsing into the center of the boat, etc. If you take some time to go over the moves beforehand, and give clear directions, you shouldn’t have any problems.  At lower flows, the falls isn’t as sticky as it looks at higher flows.

 

Conclusion:

This is a great river, but you should definitely have some experience before attempting it. Be careful running the falls and make sure you. Have fun.

Rafting Update

It has been a while since I have done a post. I haven’t been able to do much rafting because for about the last 3 months I have been having back problems, which have pretty much immobilized me. I have been able to go on the Deschutes a couple of times, and also the White Salmon, but nothing that gets the adrenaline really going. I just take a bunch of Vicodin and hope for the best. I hope that I can be healthy by the time the rain really starts coming. It seems like a lot of the most fun rivers are only runnable during rain. This next year there are several rivers I would like to try: The Wind River, The Farmlands section of the White Salmon, the Washougal (maybe the falls section if I am feeling exceptionally ambitious), the Green River Gorge, maybe the Grays River in SW Washington, the Cispus near Mt. St. Helens, and I would like to find some more runnable waterfalls. I’m dying to get back to the East Fork of the Lewis and try to successfully land Sunset Falls, and that lower section is a blast, especially the series of drops right before Moulton falls, though Moulton Falls looks pretty scary. Oh well, you can always portage, right? I’d love to get the Molalla at a good flow (4200 CFS was probably too high) and navigate all of the Bears successfully. Also, I can’t wait for the Hood to get over 6’ on the Tucker Bridge gauge so we can run the West Fork of the Hood River. That is definitely one of my favorites, and I bet it would be awesome at that flow.  Anyway, it seems like I am the only one reading my blog, but I hope to add a bunch of good runs. If anyone would like to contribute a trip report that would be awesome as well.  Send me an email @ noexit33@gmail.com. I’m curious to know the feasibility of getting a raft over some of the rapids on Canyon Creek (off the E. fork Lewis), and some of the other creeks/rivers that are too small for a traditional raft, but that I might be able to take my little puma down.  Has anyone run Icicle Creek near the Wenatchee in a raft? What was that like. What about rafting the Gray’s? Anyway, this blog is still in its infancy, but I hope to be able to accumulate some cool stuff as time goes on.

North Santiam – Niagara September 2007

River Info

North Santiam – Big Cliff Dam to Packsaddle Park, and on to Mill City

Distance – 4.7 miles first section, 8 miles lower section.

Class : IV-V upper section, II-III lower section

CFS at time of run: 3200, 3000

Intro

So we are not going to be able to go on a rafting trip this week, as we are heading up to Seattle to help my brother. Well, i wanted to do a post at least once a week, and Travis sent me an email with this link to the video embedded in this post. We had done a run in late September of last year, and we had some major carnage at the Narrows. Anyway, Travis was asking me if the movie was at the same spot where we wiped out. I looked at the video and realized that it was in fact us wiping out through the narrows. Anyway, missy immediately put it on the blog for me to write about, and so this will be the post for this week. This run was the second time we ran it. The first time the flow was at 3200, and the second time it was right around 3000. Missy and I were in the red boat the first time, with my brother Trevor and my Dad rowing the big boat. On the second trip we had 3 people in the red boat, and my dad rowed 2 people in the big raft.

The River

The North Santiam is one of the classic rivers in the mid-willamette valley. My grandpa has lots of good stories of trips he has made on this river in drift boats – flipping at spencer’s hole, or flooding at Mill City Falls. The upper section provides whitewater experts can enjoy, and the lower section is a great family run with beautiful scenery. You have to catch the upper section at the right flow (2000-3500)  as low water is no fun, and the river would get huge and pushy at too much over 3000. September/October is usually a good time to run this, and also in the spring if there is good snowmelt. The lower section has a much wider window for rafting, and can be rafted most of the year. It can get a little bony in the summer, and as with anything, high flows increase the difficulty level as recovery becomes more difficult.

The Rapids

THE NARROWS) This section of the river is a great run. It starts out with swift water leading up to “the Narrows” half a mile into the trip. There is a class III+ rapid right before this, followed by a swift moving pool that leads into this rapid. At the level we ran it at, i would give it a IV+.  It has some pretty big waves. The way to run this is to start out far left, go over the first wave, and stay at a diaganol to hit the second diaganol wave straight on. This is the wave that flips my dad’s raft in the video. He went right down the gut, and the second wave flipped him right over. After that there are a couple more big holes, and an eddy on the left. They say this is a good one to portgage at low water, due to some dangerous rocks that surface. WE have plenty of good stories in this rapid just after two runs. Our first run through, Missy and I took the red raft, and she was washed out of the boat on the 3rd or 4th wave. I managed to stay in, and pull her back in the boat at the end. She was having some problems figuring out how to breathe in whitewater, but she was ready to go afterwards in short order. I was proud of her. If you pull out on the right before this, you can have a relatively easy portage. You can also get a look at this if you scramble down through the woods after pulling over at an old gas station about .5 miles before big cliff damn. (THE NARROWS TO NIAGARA) This section of the river has some nice class III/IV rapids. This whole river has a big powerful feel to it through this section. There isn’t anything too noteworthy until you get to the rapids leading to (NIAGARA). You can scout this rapids at Niagara Park on the drive up. Look at it carefully to figure out how you are going to squeeze your boat through the narrow opening. Basically there is a nice class III+-IV rapid leading up to a short pool right before the river squeezes down to about 5-6′ wide, and enters a wider pool area with some weird  back currents. You can chill out in there for a while, and when you are ready, tackle the lower part of this rapids. At the flow we were at, the river crashed into the left wall, then the right wall, then the Left wall again. The big raft banged through OK both times just fine. In the red raft the 1st time, we were pretty much at the whim of the river, as we banged into the first two walls, then were flippped out at the third wall. We washed out just fine, but I lost my helmet, and my big guide paddle in the swim. II you wish to skip this lower section (which we did the second time in the red raft), squeeze through the narrow opening, and then pull out where a creek enters on the left in the calmer pool area right after the entrance. It is a pretty easy portage over some rocks here. (NIAGARA TO PACKSADDLE) There are some more fun rapids up until a distinct horizon line and calm water signal the lowhead damn with a nasty hydraulic at the bottom that can be portaged on river right on the path for the fish ladder. There is also a picnic area here which would make a good break spot if you are planning on continuing to Mill City. (PACKSADDLE PARK TO MILL CITY) This section of the run contains several nice rapids with the most notable being Spencer’s Hole, Carnivore, and Mill City Falls. You can find lots of info on these runs online, so i won’t go into too much detail. You can schout Mill City Falls from the bridge at the takeout, and everything else is pretty straight forward.  

Video I shot on the North Santiam at the Narrows. 

East Fork Hood River (Dee to Tucker Bridge)

River Info

East Fork Hood River: Bridge at Dee to Tucker Bridge

Length: 7.5 miles

Class: III-IV

Intro

This is a run that we did 3 times this year at different water levels on the guage at Hood River Tucker Bridge.  We first took hot lips down with Brett, Missy and I when the guage was at 3.9′. This was an OK level, but it was pretty bony, and it was a technical class III.  Next we took a group of 6 people down at 4.8 feet on the guage – 4 people in the 14′ Vanguard, and 2 in hotlips. Brett and Jen found a big hole to flip in, and we both ran into a log in a class IV section (no longer there), but it was a much more fun ride at this level. Finally, Travis Brett and I started out on the West Fork of the Hood, and continued on the Main river until Tucker Bridge (See description for West Fork Hood River). This level was even more fun than the previous level, and I bet the river would get even more powerful and fun at higher levels. All in all, this is a great intermediate run with no portages, and some nice hole crashing throughout the run. It is also a very scenic area, with apple blossoms (early May) and beautiful views of Mt. Hood and Mt. Adams. We also had a huge bald eagle pose for us as we floated no more than 20 yards beneath it.

Description

(EAST FORK) This run starts out on the East Fork of the Hood river, which has a much smaller feel than the rest of the run. There are two main rapids, one occuring after about .5 miles, on the right side of an island – basically just a shute with a nice hole at the end. Right before the West and East Fork meet up, there is another drop that occurs on a sharp left bend in the river. (CONFLUENCE TO ISLAND RAPIDS). The river widens out a lot at this point, as the flow more than doubles with the addition of the flow from the West Fork. The rapids are pretty straight forward class II-III for about 4.5 miles. One spot worth mentioning is a nice hole where Brett and Jen flipped the red raft. It occurs after about a mile on the main Hood, right as a pipe crosses overhead. There are a few islands, but there are clean routes on both sides. (ISLAND RAPIDS TO TUCKER BRIDGE) After this section, the river cranks it up a notch as you see a bridge passing overhead, and most of the current heads right around a large island. This signals the beginning of a nice 1-1.5 mile sequence of rapids that ends when you reach the takout. There is nothing you couldn’t boat scout, but there are some burly holes and waves. At lower water, it can be hard to pick your way cleanly through the boulders, but at higher water, it becomes a fun series of hole crashing. It’s a great way to end the trip. Pull out on river right just past the bridge, or continue on to the Hood River Marina, being careful to portage a low-head damn.

Logistics

See the description for the West Fork. There are pretty good directions for reaching both the takeout (Tucker Bridge) and the putin (Bridge at Dee). With all the shuttling and driving, it is about 180 miles round trip from Hillsboro.

West Fork Hood River

River Info

West Fork Hood River – Lake branch confluence to Punchbowl falls/ East Fork Confluence

Length: 5.5 miles

Guage reading: 5.2 on the Hood River at Tucker Bridge Guage

Intro

Yesterday (June 21, 2008) we decided it was finally time to try the West Fork of the Hood RIver. Travis, one of my good buddies, had just completed all of his finals for chiropractic school, and was ready to get on the water. So Brett, Travis and I decided to take down the 14′ Vanguard 3-man style. We might have tried it with hot lips (Red older AIre Puma), but I hadn’t had the time or energy to fix it since last week. The guage at tucker bridge was reading at about 5.2 when we put in. The guidebooks have this river called out as a class IV-V. At the level we were at, and with the big raft that we had, i would give it more IV-, but it was still a fun ride. I felt really comfortable with the crew, as we were all pretty strong paddlers, and for the most part were able to execute all the moves we had in mind, and had pretty good power for crashing holes and that sort of thing. First off in this report I am going to give a report on the rapids, then I will give some logistics and guage info. It was hard to find logistics online at my favorite sites, so i am going to try to do that here. Unfortunately, we didn’t have any cameras with us, so i don’t have any pictures. Travis told me the only reason he went was so he could get on my blog, but i think he enjoyed it anyway. On this trip we continued on the main Hood River, but i will include that in a different post.

The Rapids

We ended up putting in right at the confluence of the West Fork with the Lake Fork/Branch. This is at the second bridge that crosses the river (See logistics section). (FIRST SECTION) From the start, the river moves along pretty good. The river has a really small feel to it. We were a little worried putting in the big wide raft, but we really didn’t have many problems with it on the first half. There are some shallow boulder gardens, and a few fun ledges and holes, but nothing we couldn’t boat scout, and bang our way through. (FISH LADDER) The first thing you need to worry about comes when there is a big uniform horizon line. Be on the lookout for that, because that will let you know about the fish ladder that you probably don’t want to run. Pull out on River left, and there is a path that allows for a relatively easy portage through some brush. If you aren’t looking for the horizon line you could miss it, because there isn’t any other indication. Basically the river drops down through about 8 concrete ledges, with most of the flow going through the middle. Each ledge is about 2-4 feet, and if anyone went for a swim, they could stay there for a while. We thought about it briefly, but quickly decided to portage.  (MANKY BOULDER GARDEN) After the Fish Ladder there are a couple of steep, rocky boulder gardens. At the flow we were at, we banged around at the beginning, and got to the nice waves and holes at the end. I could see how this would be pretty burly with more water. As it was, the moves we wanted to make at the beginning were thrown off by all the rocks, and it was tough to find a clean line. (BOULDER GARDENS TO PUNCHBOWL FALLS). This section of the river was super fun, with a couple of sweet gorges, and some ledges and holes. Again, nothing we couldn’t boat scout, but there was some pretty fun stuff. There is one final gorge before punchbowl falls. (PUNCHBOWL FALLS) Immediately after the final gorge, there is a bit of calm water leading up to punch bowl falls. See logistics for how to scout this on the drive up, weather for takeout/portaging, or for running (no longer recommended) We had driven down to look at this on the drive up, and we decided that two of us would try to run it, while the other person set safety. This falls is formed by a concrete structure on one side. All the water constricts and falls down about 12′-13′. On a side note, there were several people fishing in the pool at the bottom, and mentioned they caught 22 salmon that day. That’s pretty impressive. Anyway, Travis and I decided to run it, and Brett was kind enough to set safety. We set it up pretty good, but we just got pummelled at the bottom. I came up a lot later, about 25 yards down stream in the middle of the pool in calm water, but away from the throwbag Brett threw me. Travis came up on the river left of the falls, and caught the throw bag, and was able to get back OK. Anyway, after regrouping we headed the 200 more yards to the confluence with the East Fork , and stopped on a really nice beach for lunch, which Travis saved when he grabbed on to the dry bag that was damaged when it was ripped from the boat at punchbowl falls. I proceeded to try and clear the water out of my sinuses. It was the weirdest thing to have water dripping out of my nose. Anyway, i will give a report on the rest of the run in a future post.

Logistics

There are 3 spots that I will describe: Where we put in for the West Fork, the put-in on the East Fork/Takeout at Punchbowl falls, and Tucker Bridge, the takout if you plan on rafting another 6 or 7 miles for a fun run on the Main Hood River.

Tucker Bridge

I know there is a back way to get here, but the way we always go is from I84, take exit 64, and head South on hiway 35. Stay on that for about 8 miles, then follow the signs to Odell. Stay on the main road through Odell, and you will actually end up going North for a while, which was very confusing to me. I never really saw a name for this road, but some maps call it Odell hiway. Anway, stay on this road as it goes down to the river. Take a right when the road ends, and pull out right before the bridge over the Hood River at a nice shop called Apple Valley. There are paths down to the bridge, and you also check out the guage below the bridge. Make sure to talk with the poeple in the store if you are planning on leaving a vehicle there, and it might be a good idea to buy something from them, like a huckleberry shake,  a piece of their pie, or some of their jams and jellies. That way you won’t get towed. They are pretty nice people though, and see a lot of people coming through there. You can also take out at the Hood River Marina further down, but we haven’t yet done that run, as it is a little bit tamer.

Dee/Punchbowl Falls

From Tucker Bridge, you will come out of Apple valley and turn Left (SW) onto the Hood River hiway. The road will branch immediately, and take the right fork towards Dee. Follow this for about 7 miles until a right hand turn goes over the river, and you see a big paved/gravel area. Alternatively, as you are passing through Odell (see previous description), you will see a sign that leads to Dee/fairgrounds, which will meet up with the Hood River Hiway, bypassing Tucker Bridge. You can put in here on the East Fork which we have done a couple times. We lined the rafts down directly beneath the bridge, and then found a “trail” to walk around and get them. To scout Punchbowl takeout/portage/run, immediately after crossing this bridge, you will take a right onto punchbowl road, and follow it to about 50 yards before the bridge over the river. There is a gated dirt road on the right that will lead you to get a view of the area surrounding punchbowl. To put in on the West Fork, backtrack to the bridge right after the turn off of Mt. Hood Hiway.

West Fork Put-in

It seemed like there were a lot of options for this one. Where we put in, i think our run was 5-6  miles long. Anyway, after turning right off of Mount Hood Hiway, you can either turn right again onto punchbowl road, or left onto Lost Lake Road. Take the Left on Lost Lake Road, and follow it for about 5 miles. One put-in option is at the first bridge over the River, but it seemed a little tricky with the Rafts. We went on, and there is a second bridge which is actually over the Lake Branch of the Hood River. We found a pull out on the left, and then a gated dirt road that looked like it had some camping there at one point. We carried the raft the hundred yards past the gate down to a spot where we could put in easily, and 20 yards away from the confluence of the West Fork with the Lake Branch. We found a guage there which was reading at about 2.9′ when we put in. Apparently the 3 miles upstream on the Lake Branch are a class IV/V kayak run.

Guage

As I mentioned, the guage at tucker bridge was at 5.2 when we started this run. This would be a wild ride up to about 6′, when most guidebooks say it is too high. I think it would be a class IV+ run in the big raft at that flow. While the action was pretty much continuous, i think there would be time to recover after the most tricky drops. I wouldn’t want to go too much lower than that, as the already rocky sections would become even more so, but it wouldn’t be the end of the world.

Summary

This was an awesome trip. I would recommend it highly, and will add it to my list of rivers that are super fun to do. I definitely consider this trip a success.

Clackamas River with the Priests

 So we were able to have a very fun Priest’s quorum activity today. We decided to run the Upper Clackamas from Sandstone Bridge to Bob’s Hole, but only had enough time and energy to make it just past Carter Bridge Rapids. I guided the big boat with two leaders, and three of the young men, and Brett took a couple of the more adventurous souls in the small red raft. The level was right at 3200, which was an excellent flow, and the weather even cooperated with us, with sunny skies, and temperatures close to 70. We had a great time, and were almost through the entire with no mishap, when the small red boat had some flippage issues at Carter Bridge Rapids. One of the highlights of the trips was jumping off a huge old log into a deep canyon. Despite the cold water, several people decided to give it a go.

Strapping up and geting ready to go

The nice pleasant picture for all the moms.

The standard flexing picture

And of course the “Grab a paddle and hit someone with it” picture

Missy was again our photographer, and surprised us from the road. Everybody but me sees her anyway.

We successfully navigated all the rapids up until Carter Bridge Rapids, which has a nice riverwide drop that has a little less punch depending on where you hit it. This is followed by a few big waves and holes until calmer water further down. Brett’s boat had a pretty good line, but the hole was just a bit too much for them, and they ended up flipping. I have swam through this rapids a couple time, and it is pretty safe, but the water is always cold.

Right before the main hole

Notice they all are holding onto their paddles. I was so proud. Brett managed to pull the boat to the side a bit further down

My boat, of course, tackled this rapid which much more grace and style. Look at those smiles.

Now this is a great shot. Nice work Missy!

About This Blog

Hello everybody. My name is Jeff, and my wife just showed me how to do my own blog. Isn’t that exciting. I cringe a little when my name and blog is mentioned in the same sentence (next thing you know I will be instant messaging people), but my excuse is that my wife made me do it so i could send links to my pictures instead of emailing everybody with them.

Anyway, this blog is going to be dedicated to my rafting adventures. My family has always had rafts, and we have been down the Rogue River and the John Day several times for multi-day trips. Recently, my dad purchased a 14′ Vanguard raft that can be equipped for paddle rafting, and I purchased a used Aire Puma raft on craigslist. I have been building up my arsenal of paddles, helmets, PFD’s, and wetsuits, and am currently “storing” my Dad’s raft in my garage.

I love rafting. It is one of my passions right now. (my wife is right here, so “my passion” became “one of my passions.”) I have gone on the White Salmon, over Husum Falls several times, on the Molalla River 3 Bears section, the East Fork of the Hood River, the Niagara section of the North Santiam, The Upper Clackamas a dozen or so times, the Wenatchee River, and the East Fork of the Lewis River (Rock Creek to Lucia Falls). I love rafting a run that i have never rafted before, and i love reading about other people’s adventures in rafting. It seems like there is a very developed community for kayakers in Portland, but not so much rafting. I have soaked my pillow with tears at night several times over this.

Right now my best rafting partners are my wife and my brother Brett who is currently staying with us. On other trips we’ve been joined by my Dad, (The once honorable Bosco Hearn) my brother Trevor, and lots of other friends. I am always on the lookout for adventurous souls for rafting partners, who crave the rafting experience as much as i do, and who don’t mind wiping out and going for a swim.

Anyway, that is all about me. Hope you enjoy some of the pictures. My dad got a helmet cam for Christmas, and we are going to try to document our experiences a little better. Subscribe to this blog, and i will be posting updates hopefully every week. Also, check out some of the links i’ve got up for a bunch of sweet trip reports, descriptions, etc. All of those sites are great resources. Peace, out.

East Fork Lewis – Sunset Falls

So, we had a little time after work on Friday, so we decided to check out Sunset Falls on the East Fork of the Lewis. This is a drop we went and scouted when we ran  the lower section from Rock Creek to Lucia Falls. (see American Whitewater for a more detailed description of this run) The guage was at about 1100 cfs and rising, which seemed like an ideal flow for what we wanted to do. To view the guage for this run check out this site. http://waterdata.usgs.gov/wa/nwis/uv/?site_no=14222500&PARAmeter_cd=00060,00065 Brett and I have never run a waterfall this big, but it looked like there was a pretty good recovery pool below the falls, and it didn’t look too dangerous.

 Brett and Jeff line up for the big drop

We don’t have a terrible amount of experience running waterfalls, but this seemed like a good one to practice on, as the consequences of a bad line didn’t seem too drastic (which we discovered twice). We decided we would try to backload the boat, which as you can see shoved our front end quite far into the air, and might have been a mistake on the first run.

Heading into the first little ledge before the main drop. Brett is urinating in his wetsuit at this point, but he definitely does have a much more intimidatng view from the front of the boat.

Holy crap!! Where’s Brett? And why is our boat pointed up at a 45?!?

At this point i knew we were going to flip.

We were both able to get away from the base of the falls cleanly, and were washed into this little cave off to river left. We both kept our paddles, which comes after years of training. After a little break, we paddled across to the other side and ran the boat around for another go. We needed to get a clean run on it.

Hey, Boat…Wait for me.

Resting before the paddle accross the river

So, we wanted to run it cleanly. This time we put Brett in front a little more and tried to get a little more speed before the drop. That first ledge has a tendency to push the front of the boat to the left, pushing us off line, making it difficult to keep the boat straight through the drop. Well, we were still back heavy as you can see (not quite as extreme an angle) and we got it straightened out a little, but the end result was pretty much the same. Boat hits and flies up in the air, and we are left to swim after it.

All in all, i consider it a successful trip. We had a little trouble with the video, but maybe next time we will get that squared away. Thanks to our photographers – my wife Missy, and her sister, Jessy. Next time we’ll see about running Lucia Falls, and possibly Moulton falls as well, depending on what they look like. Moulton looked tough at this level, but Lucia Falls looked very doable.