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

MOVEMBER - POST NUMERO UNO

So, I recently joined Oregon Health & Science University's team in a global movement to bring much needed attention to cancers that affect men. I’m doing this by growing a Moustache this "Movember", the month formerly known as November. My commitment is to grow a moustache all November and I am hoping that you will support my efforts by making a donation. The funds raised go to the Prostate Cancer Foundation and the Lance Armstrong Foundation (LIVESTRONG).

What many people don’t know is that 1 in 6 men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer in their lifetime and testicular cancer is the most common cancer in men aged 18-35. Facts like these and my own personal experiences with these illnesses have convinced me I should get involved.

To make a donation, you can either:

• Click this link http://us.movember.com/donate/your-details/member_id/422608/ and donate online using your credit card or PayPal account , or

• Write a check payable to ‘Movember Foundation’, referencing my Registration Number 422608 and mailing it to: Movember Foundation, PO Box 2726, Venice, CA 90294-2726.All donations are tax deductible to the extent permitted by law.

The Prostate Cancer Foundation will use the money raised by Movember to fund research to find better treatments and a cure for prostate cancer.

The Lance Armstrong Foundation will use the money raised by Movember to fund:

• The LIVESTRONG Young Adult Alliance program which has the goal of improving survival rates and quality of life for young adults with cancer between the ages of 15 and 40.

• Research initiatives to further understand the biology of adolescent and young adult cancers.

For more details on how the funds raised from previous campaigns have been used and the impact Movember is having please go to http://us.movemberfoundation.com/research-and-programs.

Thank you all so much for listening and for any help you can provide and feel free to pass this around to others who might be interested.

Thanks and watch for updates on my own person Movember odyssey!

jim

East Fork Lewis Revisited - A Lesson in Exploration

This past weekend, Mike Glass, Aaron Nudelman and I headed out to explore the East Fork of the Lewis River's "Waterfall Run" at extremely low flows. The guidebooks call for a minimum of 400 Cubic Feet per Second ("CSF") on this run... on Saturday, we had 190 CFS when we started and 177 CFS when we finished. Most people shy away from this run at this flow, so we didn't know what to expect.

We decided to put-in just above Sunset Falls (18 Feet) in the easily accessible pool. With a warm-up consisting of paddling across the pool, we dropped over the falls and into the unknown.

(The Author prepares to drop over Sunset Falls)

From Sunset Falls, we moved downstream, encountering generally low water, but enough to have fun and enjoy the beautiful fall scenary. The first major drop you encounter below Sunset is Sky Pilot, which we got out to scout. Unfortunately, the water levels made this awesome rapid unrunnable and a mandatory portage ensued. Just below Sky Pilot lies Hippie John's Hole, which we got out to scout... the water level precluded the normal left route (which dropped into an ugly, sived up mess), but allowed for a technical move cross current to the right, a drop down a small slide and another move left to squeeze through a boat-width size slot between a large rock and a small rock outcropping. We all executed the move cleanly and hollered as we dropped into the pool below the final move, although the rock at the bottom and I did get a little too close for comfort, resulting in a nice bruise on my elbow.

(Mike Glass executes the first move in Hippie John's... you can see the normal left line at the far right of the picture)

(Aaron Nudelman exits through the slot at the bottom of Hippie John's... the rock at the left of the photo is where I bashed my elbow)

Below Hippie we paddled towards the "Gorge" section, taking out to scout and make sure we had lines through the Class IV "Screaming Left" and "Dragon's Back". Normally all, but the most experienced paddlers portage Screaming Left, but today the line looked very clean, so we all decided to "give 'er". I hiked down to Dragon's Back, but couldn't see the last drop very well. That said, it looked clean and we were all feeling good, so we all dropped in. Mike and I ran Screaming Left and finished in the pool above Dragon's Back via a nice 4ish foot ledge. Aaron ran the sketchy right hand line and cleaned it, as Mike and I hollered encouragement.

(Mike and Aaron in the run out below Dragon's Back)

(Fall colors on the East Fork of the Lewis River... It doesn't get much better than this)

From Dragon's Back, we all proceeded through John's Swimming Hole, which at this flow features a 3ish foot drop at the very end and Mr. Twister (site of my beat down on my first run... redemption was had by a clean, albeit not pretty, line on Saturday). The final challenge of the day was Horseshoe Falls (22 feet), which required us to get out of our boats, drag them up to the lip, put-in in the pool at the top of the falls and paddle at break neck speeds to get up the dome that guards the lip of the falls. We all had good lines, but found keeping to the left of center very difficult.

From Horseshoe Falls, we all floated (and sometimes pulled ourselves) to the take-out, laughing and talking about how much fun we had exploring the EFL.

You know, it's funny, when we had to portage Sky Pilot, we all stood by the side of the river and determined the point at which our exploration would be deemed a "debaucle". However, I'm pretty sure even if we had reached the predetermined debaucle point, we would have enjoyed our run. It combined the best that kayaking has to offer: good friends, mental and physical challenges and a beautiful setting.

Until next time, take time to appreciate the Fall... it only comes once a year!

j

An Absolute Must See Video

"Wet Dream Result"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ETU7TPSaLcU

So many quotes, so little time to pick my favorite...

Later,

j

We Finally Did It

Sorry for the longer than anticipated absence, but for those who actually read the drivel I post here, you will recall that Shell and I put our house on the market at the beginning of the summer. Well, with losing Daddy in May, the house getting sold and then the house shopping that ensued, I just have not had time to write or boat.

Things have finally simmered down... Shell and I are in our new house now and pretty much totally unpacked. It's a really cool 1946 English Style Cottage in the Concordia Neighborhood in Portland.

We are working hard to get a few remodeling projects done on the house, so my boating time has suffered, but I have been able to get out and do some paddling... regular weekday playboat trips up on Clackamas with my buddy Aaron, a run down the Class IV Orletta Section of the White Salmon (Wow, what a great run that is... it is technically, the bottom of the Green Truss Section: http://www.americanwhitewater.org/content/River/detail/id/2270/ ), a couple of "lap" days on the "Middle" section of the White Salmon: http://www.americanwhitewater.org/content/River/detail/id/3064/ and, well, that's about it.

Shell and I are heading down to Utah to see her family in early October and we're hoping that the water on the Payette holds for a few more weeks so we can do some boating on the way down... if not, it should be a great road trip.

Other than that, I got to play some golf with my dad... we spent 4 days at Bandon Dunes and then hit the regular 2-Man Team events in Oregon. We finished 2nd in the SpringHill Chapman, which was a pretty good finish for us. Other than that, we didn't fare too well this year, mainly because my driver decided it didn't want to play golf this summer... oh well. I am breaking down and buying new irons this year... I've finally come to realize that my Hogan blades do not work very well, when one is not playing all that often.

Looking forward, Shell and I are excited to celebrate holidays at our new house, praying for a good winter water-wise, so I can get back on the East Fork of the Lewis and spend some more time exploring the coastal range rivers and, otherwise, enjoying time with our friends and family.

Okay, that's all for now... We're settled in and I'll get back on the regular posts here soon. Until then, walk softly in the wilderness.

Later...

j

Never Go to Bed Mad...

Those were the first words my Father-in-Law spoke to me after my wife and I exited the church on our wedding day. It wasn't an edict or some sort of forewarning, but rather a piece of advice offered by a man who had successfully negotiated almost 40 years of marriage. That moment, along with many others, defined my relationship with "daddy".

The first time I met my future In-Laws was just after Shell and I started dating... we met them for lunch at Nicholas Restaurant in Portland (http://nicholasrestaurant.com/). Shell warned me to be careful shaking hands with her dad, because he had pretty severe arthritis. I tend to have a pretty firm handshake, so I was understandably nervous. With this in mind, I practiced shaking hands lightly, when Shell wasn't looking in the days coming up to the lunch (I don't think I ever told her that). When the time came to shake hands with Daddy, I did the lightest grip I could, without being a dead fish, and he immediately "yelped". I went white, until he started laughing... so began my relationship with the man who would become my Father-in-Law.

Over the intervening time, I got to know Daddy and grew to admire him, not only as the man who was the father of my best friend and wife, but also as a man who served his country in the Navy, crossed the equator, visited exotic places too numerous to name, became an accomplished wood worker and was a well of information for me on subjects ranging from history, to wood working, to gardening, home repair, etc, etc, etc.

Some guys have difficulty dealing with their Father-in-Law... such was not the case for me. I relished the time Shell and I would visit her folks... mornings would bring coffee, Suduko, crosswords and breakfast at the kitchen table... He and I would chat about anything and everything. Usually focusing on mine and Shells' life together and our plans. Our days were generally spent helping around the house on projects... replacing a door frame, re-building a backyard garden pool, cutting down trees, or whatever it might be or whatever might be needed. I told him, very early on, that I grew up on the suburbs, so working around a 2 acre former lavender nursery didn't come naturally to me... essentially, patience with my fumbling would probably be a necessary component of me helping out. However, no matter what I was working on, Daddy would let me figure out the task, offering advice when needed and allowing a suburbs-raised kid to learn how to use his hands... I would occasionally catch a wry smile on his face as I messed something up and would have to do it all over again... a smile that would grow larger as I finally got it right.

Daddy liked wine, Black Butte Porter and Diet Coke... all of which I got to share with him on several occassions. We both liked beef jerky and he would pick me up the good homemade stuff from a local meat market by their house... that beef jerky propelled me down the Rogue River in February of this year... Daddy made sure I had some for the trip, because that's just how Daddy was...

Daddy loved things of beauty... at the beginning of May (which was the last time Shell and I were able to visit before he got sick), he made sure we were able to visit a friend of his to secure huge flower baskets for our house... again, that's just how Daddy was.

I don't know if he realized that he wasn't just my wife's father, but, I'm proud to say, he was also my friend.

We lost Daddy on Sunday, May 31, 2009 after a heroic battle against illnesses that zapped his stregth, but never his spirt. I say heroic, because in all the times we worked on projects together he never once complained. Rather, he was always right there, watching, helping when he could... always eager to laugh with me at my mistakes and always willing to help me get it right.

I'm thankful I got to see him one last time on Saturday... he opened his eyes and talked to all of us and laughed the way he did. I'll always remember and cherish the last time he looked at me; I was helping him into a bed we had set up in the living room for him... he opened his eyes wide and looked at the bed and I said "I bet you're wondering where the hell did that come from."... he looked at me and say "yea". I laughed as he made a little smile, glad that I had gotten to know this man.

I'm going to miss you Daddy, though I know you'll be there when I finally get the space to set up the table saw you and mom got me for Christmas and everytime I try to build something or haul out the powerwasher you and mom got me... watching over me and helping me get it right. As always, thanks for being patient with the kid from the suburbs and for all your help!

Love,

Your Son-in-Law...

jim