Back from the Rogue

A great trip... great weather and I got to see Coffee Pot rapid upside down... what more can you ask for?

Here are photos:

http://s226.photobucket.com/albums/dd142/spartankayaker/Rogue%20February%202010/

Until next time...

j

Rogue Bound

Well, I'm leaving this afternoon for another President's Day weekend Rogue trip. Flows are predicted to be a bit higher than last year, but temps look to be pretty warm... SWEET!

Last weekend Shell and I were joined by my buddy Mike Glass and his wife Stephanie on the Middle White Salmon so I could get a warm-up paddle in prep for this coming weekend... what with scuba diving, I hadn't been in my boat in about 2 weeks. It was a great run (punctuated by carnage early one, which required myself, Mike and another guy to chase a boat for about 2.5 miles) with the river running at a juicy 3 feet... I always forget how much fun that run is at over 3 feet on the guage. We hit Everybody's Brewing in White Salmon, Washington afterwards for some food and beer and then went home to crash in the hot tub.

Okay, I should get some work done today before I hit the road... pictures and tales of epic adventure to come.

Later!

jim

CERTIFICATION!!!!!!

Well, I finally did it! This past weekend Shell and I drove up to the Hood Canal in the Puget Sound area of Northwest Washington and Mike's Beach Resort (http://www.mikesbeachresort.com/index.htm) for my Open Water Scuba Diving Certification.

In order to obtain your certification, you need to attend classes (both formal and pool sessions), which culminates in students having to successfully execute 4 open water dives, along with repeating skills learned in the classroom portion. In our case, the open water dives would be in Puget Sound, a most salt water waterway, which adds a different aspect to diving (the bouyancy you experience in fresh water versus salt water is dramatically different).

Our first weekend got froze out, but this past weekend was mild (upper 40's/low 50's), with some drizzle on Saturday and sun on Sunday. Shell brought her gear up too, as Mike's was hosting about 50 divers, including my 5 classmates.

I was pretty nervous Saturday morning as I suited up for my first of 3 dives, but once I got in the water, I felt much more relaxed. We worked on standard skills during the first 2 dives (mask clearing, air sharing, controlled ascents and descents, etc.) and our 3 dive was a mini navigation test, which was super cool. Sunday morning was to be our final cert dive, which the class got to plan. We decided to head out to about to the 50 foot level (our certification is good for diving upto 60 feet, which is considered a "no decompression" level... just think of it as you probably won't get the "bends" if you have to rapidly ascend). On our final dive, we saw tons of marine life and a Giant Pacific Octopus, which was a highlight. We all headed back to shore, where we were informed we had all passed, prompting high fives all around. Props to my Open Water Cert Dive Buddy, Trish... WE DID IT!

After I got all my gear unhooked, I crashed in an Adirondack chair facing the sound and relaxing in the sunshine waiting for Shell to return from her dive. Once she got back and grabbed some food, we headed out for my first open water dive as a Certified Scuba Diver, which was cool. We dove to just shy of 60 feet, saw 2 octopi, a ton of large Ling Cod (4 feet or better). This was my longest dive at about 31 minutes. I'm still a newbie air hog, but I did pretty good conserving my air, especially given the fact that I was getting used to a new drysuit and BC (Bouyancy Compensator).

All in all, it was a GREAT weekend and I am stoked to have accomplished this goal... the only thing that sucks is I forgot my camera, but I'm going to try and find some pics from the weekend to share.

Later,

jim

My Return to Paddling

Over the course of last season, I seemed to have sustained a minor shoulder injury, which prompted my doctor to recommend taking a month (or more) off from paddling. Well, that recommendation came back in early November, so I held off through Shell's Birthday Paddle (which was rather painful) and then rested the month of December. My dive certification got blown out by a sudden snap of cold weather (ice on Puget Sound... SERIOUSLY!?), so I pretty much rested.


Fast forward to early January and I was headed back to the water. I wasn't entirely sure how my shoulder would do, so I thought I would take it easy my first day back. So, my buddy Aaron Nudelman and I joined a group for a run down the seldom paddled, little known Cedar Creek (a tributary of the Lewis River in Washington State.


First off, this is a GREAT run, but only 1/3 could be classified as great whitewater... the rest is just damn beautiful. We had a great time on the middle 1/3 negotiating the excellent Class III/III+ water and felt grateful to have been able to paddle this narrow little creek due to recent heavy rains in the PacNW. Adding to my personal joy was the fact that my shoulder did not hurt at all both during and after the run, which seemed like a good omen for the 2010 season.


This past weekend, Aaron and I joined a group on the Kalama River in Washington State for a quick paddle down the "Gate to Bridge" section. The Kalama was running pretty high (2,000 CFS on the EF Lewis Gauge), which is considerable higher than we normally run it (oh, around 1,000 CFS). IT WAS A BLAST! Very fast moving water, good sized wave trains, some pushy rapids, big boils and fun drops... we had so much fun, Aaron and I ran it twice... all without shoudler pain.


The next day, my buddy Mike Glass joined Aaron and I for a trip down Jordan Creek (tributary of the Wilson River on the Oregon Coast). Let me just say that after my first trip down Jordan last year, I knew I loved the river, but after my trip down this past Sunday, I'm pretty sure Jordan Creek is one of my most favorite places to paddle. A steep narrow creek (falling gradient of 70 feet per mile), remote setting, quality Class III+ drops, 2 gorge sections... seriously, it is, as I noted to my buddy Mike, my definition of whitewater kayaking. We had a great trip, even though is rained steadily the entire run... but hey, it's Oregon, right???? Topping our trip off was a stop at Coleman's 9n Rest near Gales Creek... If you happen to be driving the Wilson River Highway, YOU MUST STOP HERE! Seriously, the food is top notch, the service is about the best I've ever seen and the atmosphere just makes you feel at home.


Other than that, Shell and I have just been enjoying our new home during the holidays and preparing for a fun filled summer in which I'll celebrate my 40th year on this planet... Not sure how I feel about that moniker, but I'm sure I'll have something to say as I get closer.


That's all for now... enjoy some pics from my trips... next up, my rescheduled dive certification at the end of January and, I'm sure, a couple of additional river trips to talk about.


Take care and enjoy our wonderful planet!


j

A typical rapid on Cedar Creek

Yea, this is on Cedar Creek... what a cool looking place!
Looking downstream from the Kalama put-in

A typical Jordan Creek scene

Jordan Creek... upstream from the above picture

Shell's Birthday Paddle and A Scuba Diver is Born

December 5th was Shell's Birthday and also the annual birthday paddle. Shell's choice was the Kalama River up in Washington, a beautiful drainage that runs off the flanks of Mt. St. Helens.

We awoke to cold temps and at the put-in the Subaru was registering 28 degrees and there was snow on the trees. We were joined by some great friends including my buddy Mike Glass and his wife Stephanie, along with our friends Tracy, Sue, and Jenna. On our way up, we stopped at the Columbia Inn in Kalama, Washington for one of their famous caramel rolls (seriously, it is the size of a dinner plate). We ordered a total of 5 in the group, so everyone was hopped up on sugar by the time we got on the water.

The paddle was a ton of fun and COLD! I opted to take out my playboat, after a long hiatus in the garage and found it a little tight with all the clothes I was wearing (or maybe it was the bacon cheeseburgers????) We got to do some fun surfing and soak up the beauty of this beautiful river with some great friends.

Yes, that is snow on the trees... BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR

Mike and I were definitely in the minority on this paddle... we felt very left out, since the girls had their nails done the night before :-)

Stephanie Glass giving the camera her best "over the shoulder runway model smile"

Me and my lovely Birthday Girl!

We finished the paddle up with cupcakes and candles and dinner at the Rheinlander here in Portland, joined by our friends Mike and Stephanie. A great birthday paddle, for sure!

So, I recently decided to take up yet another sport: scuba diving. Last week I completed the pool and classroom portion of my Open Water Diver Certification and this upcoming weekend we have our open water certification dives at Mike's Beach Resort in Hoodsport, Washington. I'm doing my cert through TDI/SDI (http://www.tdisdi.com/) and Oregon Underwater (http://www.oregonunderwater.com/index.html). Shell is a very accomplished scuba diver, having been a rescue diver for Polk County a few years back, so she is gaining a newbie to take diving and I'm gaining a seasoned veteran... pretty good trade, if I do say so myself!

Initial thoughts... diving is awesome! It is, indeed, a super surreal feeling to be able to exist under water without drowning and that's just the feeling you get in a pool. I'm super excited about this weekend (though the temps are supposed to be in the low 40's). Pictures and thoughts to come.

Until then... live, love, laugh and explore!

j

It's beginning to look like Christmas on the BBush

Saturday, Mike Glass, Aaron Nudelman and I headed up into the Santiam Drainage to run the Breitenbush River in what was probably the last time it will have enough water until Spring. Although, as of the writing of this post, the BBush flow has risen to over 500 CFS, so who knows.


We were greeted by balmy 35 degree temps and snow at the take-out and were all glad we had drysuits. The run itself is an 8 mile long Class IV that drops 80 FPM... the upper 6 miles is pretty tight, but the lower 2 miles is much wider. Even at low flows, the action was pretty constant, though the 3rd quarter of the run was pretty uneventful.


Words can't describe this run, though I'll do my best... (see also Jason Rackley's write-up at http://www.oregonkayaking.net/ under the "Rivers" tab) - suffice it to say this was one of the coolest runs I've ever been on.


Paddlers are immediately faced with a drop just a bit after putting on... The Slot was a pretty impressive drop, even at low flows and features an undercut right side. There is a nice boof flake at river center, but it is pretty boily below.

Looking upstream at The Slot

Mike taking his "probe" position very seriously...

Below The Slot, paddlers go through some great technical rapids and drops... pretty much one after another. Next up is The Notch, which at this flow was only marginally runnable. Normally, paddlers run this on righer right, just off the old stump wedged into the drop. That line was, however, without water. After looking at the drop and discussing possible options, we all portaged, due to the high probability of getting pushed into "the notch", that was less than a paddle blade wide and had definite pin potential.

Looking right into "The Notch"

Another piece of excellent real estate on the BBush

Aaron was all smiles on our run... he was as "on" as I have ever seen him!

I don't know if I enjoyed the paddling or the views more...

There was a lot of wood on the run... one barely manageable limbo log, another mandatory portage and a tricky log that was wedged into the lower section of a drop... My buddy Mike found it and got pinned sideways... luckily I saw him get stuck and wave me off, because both of us in that drop would have been pretty dicey. I was able to hop out of my boat with my throw rope and run down stream, only to have Mike flip over the log and roll up... I'm glad he was okay, but I'm sure it took another hour for my heart rate to slow down. Both Aaron and I were able to run the far right line on the drop, which required a quick zigzag, which we both executed cleanly. After this little episode, the action slowed down a bit until paddlers reach the concrete bridge across the BBush, which signals the final 2 miles of the run and more non-stop fun.

Looking down stream at the mandatory portage

Mike tries to keep warm during one of our portages

Lots of little Class III drops lead up to Barbell, which we all ran on river left down a REALLY fun boulder garden... you can also run the right side of the island, but at the current flow, it didn't look very good. Several more Class III/III+ drops come before Woo Man Chu, which is the last drop of the run and WHAT A DROP! We ran the far left line and, with a little speed and forward lean, you shoot off the lip and drop about 8 feet into a small, boily pool... TONS OF FUN!

A short paddle downstream places you at the gauging station and the take-out!


This is a FANTASTIC run and I'm glad I got to experience it with two great friends...

Until next time, get out there and explore!

jim

The author... all smiles and "plus" one goatee after a successful run down the BBush

Big Rain = Big Adventure

The rain has been coming down in a pretty regular pattern lately in the PacNW, so it is now time to get out and explore some of the lesser known/explored runs in our part of the country.

On Saturday, Mike Glass and I headed to the coast range and the Wilson River drainage to hit the seldom paddled North Fork of the Wilson (Flows were at about 5 feet on the Wilson at Tillamook gauge). It started to pour rain as we left the highway and headed up into the moutains. After about 30 minutes of driving uphill, we dropped back down to the river and saw a relatively narrow and steep (80+ FPM) stretch of water. At the confluence of the West Fork of the Wilson and the North Fork Proper paddlers have a decision to make: put in here for the 3.3 mile run down to the main Wilson, or head up one of the 2 forks.

We originally scouted the North Fork, as it is estimated to have gradient in the range of 140 FPM. As we drove up stream, we saw one quality drop after another through the pouring rain, but were sadly greated by a large pile of dirt in the middle of the road. We got out to inspect it, only to find that the road had been washed away during the last high water event. This was particularly interesting, since the NFW was only about 2.5 parking spaces wide at this point, so the volume of water raging downhill must have been impressive. With little chance to make it further upstream, we turned around and headed back to the West Fork to scout. After about 2 miles of driving we started to pull away from the river at a pretty steep grade, so we chose a Put-In that involved the least amount of bushwhacking. We couldn't really see much of the West Fork on the drive up, given the thickness of the forest and the distance it lay below the road, but given the quality of what we saw and the North Fork, our expectations were high.

Mike finally reaches the river after our bushwhack from the car.

Once on the water, we immediately had to portage a river wide log, which concerned us just a bit. After another 100 yards or so we had another portage, followed by a limbo that actaully scraped the bill of my helmet. Luckily, that was the last of the major wood we encountered for the day and, all-in-all the WFW was a lot of fun and we looked forward to the confluence that featured a really quality Class III/III+ drop.

Typical scene on the West Fork of the Wilson

We both ran the confluence drop clean and moved down stream through fast moving water and more quality drops. At one stretch of the river there were two sweet drops, one of which we both skirted on the right, to avoid a monster hole... the next had a sweet Class II+ lead in, followed by a double hole drop of about 5 feet. The rest of the river was pretty much the same... fast, steep paddling with fun little drops. It was a great run, culminating in me getting beat down about 100 yards from the take-out, smacking my elbow on the river bottom, losing my paddle, an obligitory swim to appease the river gods and a hike back upstream to run the drop again... thanks to this nice smack on my funny bone, I now own a pair of elbow pads.

North Fork of the Wilson - Just below the confluence with the West Fork

On Sunday, Mike Glass, Aaron Nudelman and I joined a few other friends for a descent down the Upper Upper Kalama (Flows were at 1690 CFS on the EFL Gauge and 2400 on the Toutle Gauge) in Washington State.

This run is classified as a Class III (IV), but I would place it at this flow about III+ overall due to its continuous nature. During the bulk of the year, this section of the river is unaccessable, because Weyerhauser owns the land and has it gated off. However, during hunting season, paddlers can explore the upper reaches of this river - an undertaking that is well worth the time. We traveled, once again in the rain, to the gate and proceeded about a half mile to the first bridge, which is the normal take out for the UUK. After gearing up, we headed into Weyerhauser land, which feels very far away from everything... creeks and waterfalls were everywhere. We drove over one particular creek that had 2 sweet looking waterfalls, both clean of wood. About 11.5 miles from the take-out we reached Road 7300 and the next to last potential put-in (paddlers can proceed all the way up to Upper Kalama Falls, which I understand is quite a site and paddle down for a total run of 15 miles).

The Upper Upper Kalama

The first 3rd of the run was very fast and continuous and featured lots of hole dodging. This type of river didn't last for long, as small drops started to appear and before we knew it, we entered the first of maybe 6 mini gorges. The river took on more of a pool drop nature, with lots of horizon lines, some blind corners and beautiful scenery. There were tons of little creeks feeding into the river and even more waterfalls. This section was, in a word, AWESOME!

The end of the gorge section features the largest of the drops on the run: Double Drop. A fun class IV drop, DD is created by the river squeezing through a 20ish foot constriction and dropping over 2 ledges... I would say the river drops maybe 15-20 feet in about 30 yards AND THIS IS A MANDATORY DROP AT THIS FLOW... PORTAGING WOULD BE NEARLY IMPOSSIBLE AND GETTING OUT OF YOUR BOAT WAS A CHORE IN AND OF ITSELF. The first drop is a fun move from river center with right angle and brace against a large converging wave... typewriter to the left and move hard to the right to drop down the green highway to the bottom, avoiding a large hole on river left... I got punched hard to the left on the first drop, held my deep water brace, but didn't not get far enough right and caught the edge of the hole, but rolled up quick on the flush with a fist pump.

The final 3rd of the the run opens up again to a little slower moving water and wider river, but with some equally fun drops... all in all, a great run and well worth the time to paddle it. All total, it took us about 3 hours to paddle the 11.5 miles, and that was with stopping and a precarious scout at DD.

Uh, yea, there is a paddler in this picture... you can see the top of the helmet and some paddle

The group prepares to enter one of the many blind corners on the Upper Upper Kalama

Okay, that's all for me... it was a great weekend and could only have been made better if Shell had been able to paddle with me, but she was pursuing her other passion (scuba diving) up in Seattle and had a great time, so if she's happy, then I'm happy.

Until next time...

j