2009 Roundup

As I turn 50, I'm very happy to still be boating, and even happier that I get to do so much. When I moved to Washington in 1999, I wasn't boating consistently. Joining Washington Recreational River Runners and finding a group of inflatable kayakers who enjoy boating frequently made a huge difference. Also, finding a great company that makes custom drysuits (OS Systems) has made it possible for me to boat year round. I have a great group of boating friends, and I am very fortunate to be in the position of being able to get out on the river so easily.

I ended up making it to 72 days, making 2009 my 4th most prolific boating year ever. I got in 5 new runs, and I got to do 14 nights of river camping. This is really great considering that I injured both shoulders, dealt with tendinitis in both elbows, and hurt both of my feet. I need to work hard to avoid injuries. I only had 10 flips this year, but I did have a few more wraps that I would have liked (even though only one of them resulted in a flip).

In 2010, I will be taking a break from being on the WRRR Board of Directors. I've been on the board for 6 years, including 3 years as President. Not having to be at every club event will make it possible for me to do some other trips that I might not normally get to do.

My goals for 2010 are to get in at least 50 boating days, to get in at least a couple of catboat runs on the Sky, to get in at least 6 new runs, to self-rescue on every flip, and to learn to use my whistle more often.

If you are a fellow whitewater boater, have a great year boating! If not, get out on a river and have fun!

72 - 12/27 - EF Humptulips Overnighter (Day 2)

Dropping into the Gorge

We got up after the sun was up. There was frost on all of the boats, and it was cold, but the sun was out and the day would get much warmer. We had a great breakfast and got our gear loaded.

After a half mile or so, we came up to a rapid that is formed by logs across a slot in some rocks. We decided to portage this, but it was a trivial portage. The moss on the rocks made it easy to walk, and we could float the backs of the boats most of the way. After another few minutes, we came to the Falls. The other guys did a quick scout and I went on through. Portaging the Falls took only a few minutes and we headed downstream.

I was most concerned about the possibility of wood at the bridge, which separates the Falls and Gorge sections, but there was no problem. After a couple more miles, we headed into the Gorge. There are lots of little rapids in the Gorge, and lots of waterfalls coming in from the sides. We had to think fast and watch for wood, but still enjoy the scenery.

Near the end of the Gorge, there is a large drop called Surf 'n' Turf. The left side is a twisty, narrow turning drop. The right side is a ledge formed by two rocks. I chose the ledge because I had made it over fine the last time I ran this, and I thought there was more water this time. Either there was less water, or the extra weight of the gear had an effect, but I ended up stuck between the two rocks. It took me a couple of minutes to wriggle my way out of this. I was submerged up to my waist, but I knew my best bet was to stay with the boat and get out. Once I was out, the rest of the Gorge was easy.

Out of the Gorge, the rapids ease up and the scenery goes back to the usual Pacific Northwest rain forest. We got to the takeout a little after 1PM and packed up for the drive home. It was a great weekend of boating and camping.

71 - 12/26 - EF Humptulips Overnighter (Day 1)

Winding our way through the little gorges

The weekend after Christmas might seem an odd time for an overnight kayaking trip, but there are places where it can work out just great. The East Fork Humptulips is one of those places. We had a good flow - a little more would have been nice, but I only got stuck a couple of times. The weather during the day was sunny and in the high 30s where we were. The rapids on the first day were mostly class II with a couple that might have been easy class III. We didn't have any problems and there were no portages.

We had a great dinner of pork roast, grilled peppers and onions, and mashed potatoes. We had just enough wood to make a nice campfire for the night and saved some dry wood for the morning.It was a pretty cold night - the weather report said the low in the area was 18, but I stayed plenty warm with my fleece sleeping bag liner in my old Cat's Meow bag. I do think it's time to upgrade to a new down bag.

70 - 12/19 - Middle Middle

I was starting to think I might not get in any trips in December. The weather was really dry, and then it warmed up and was supposed to rain a lot, but it was just a tease. Finally, on Friday night we got enough rain to bring up the Middle Fork Snoqualmie to a good level, and one of my friends was available for a quick trip on Saturday.

We had about 1600 cfs on the gauge, but with the creeks coming in it was more like 1800 cfs down in the thick of things. We passed a large group of kayakers at A-Frame Drop, but that was the last we saw of anyone. I took the opportunity to take a few alternate routes, but luckily I didn't run into any trouble. It was just another fun trip on the river.

Dry Spell

If things had gone as planned, I'd be sitting by a roaring campfire right now, waiting for the day to warm up a little before packing up to go down the river for a second day. Even if the backup plan had gone through, I would be finishing packing up to drive to the river for an overnight trip. Instead, I'll be spending the weekend catching up on some work.

A group of us had planned a 3-day river trip for this weekend. We knew it might be cold and rainy, but we were prepared for that. However, the rains of November stopped before the month ended, and we've had basically no rain for over 2 weeks, and we've had lows in the teens. None of the rivers we were interested in have much water. Our last backup plan was thwarted by a burn ban. It's one thing to sleep in the cold, but at least if you can have a nice campfire, it's still fun.

On the positive side, tomorrow is supposed to be the beginning of a solid week of rain. It's supposed to slow down at the end of the week, and the temperatures will be higher all next weekend. That means we'll at least have a chance at running some local rivers.

69 - 11/29 - Middle Middle

I hadn't planned to boat on Sunday, but the flow on the Middle Middle was 1800 and the temperature was in the low 50s, so it was just too nice to ignore. I decided to take my IK. 1800 is at the low end of the fun spectrum for the cataraft, but it's a very fun level in the IK. I took a lot of alternate lines to make things more interesting.

68 - 11/27 - Green River Gorge

I took off another couple of weeks to let my foot heal. It was mostly fine, and we had a great flow on the Green, so it was hard to pass up. We put in at Kanasket-Palmer - two IKs, a raft, and me in my cat. I felt a little guilty for not IKing, since the level was within my range, but I've pretty much decided that when a run is in my range for a fun catboat run, I will opt for the cat over the IK. I did need some help getting the boat to the put-in because my left hand doesn't grip very well these days. I'm trying to come up with a design for a "suspender" to help me carry the cataraft.

67 - 11/10 - SF Snoqualmie

A few of us wanted to make a quick run, and for me there is no quicker run. I hadn't run the SF Snoqualmie since early June, but there weren't many significant changes. There was one good change, though. After the 2006 floods damaged a couple of houses, the owners stuck some trees into the riverbank. These were supposed to prevent further erosion by creating logjams. These logjams would have been deadly until they filled in with sediment and changed the course of the river. However, in the 2009 floods, the riverbank eroded and the trees moved, making everything worse. Since then, they cut the most dangerous logs out.

I had an interesting run at the weir. I normally run left of center, but this time I ran right of center. The drop turned out to be very rocky, but I was able to catch a slot just big enough for the boat.

66 - 11/1 - Green River Gorge

With the flow at 2200, I decided to run my cataraft. At lower flows, I'd run my IK, but I like getting in some time on the cat, and the Green is especially fun. We ended up with a group of 2 rafts, an IK, and my cat. The run was a lot of fun - fast, but not pushy. I ran down the center at Pipeline and had a clean run through Mercury and The Nozzle. My only bad line of the day was above Franklin Bridge, where I hit the big hole a little farther left than I wanted and had to back away from the wall there. The weather was sunny and reasonably warm.

I did overdo it a little. My left foot had gotten a lot better, but helping carry the rafts and the put-in and takeout made it worse again. I probably need to stick to IK trips for a few weeks.

On a side note, if I get to 71 river days, I will tie my 4th best year. If I'm lucky, I can do better than that.

65 - 10/31 - Green River Headworks

We had a lot of rain in the past week and it brought all of the rivers up. Most were too high to boat comfortably, and there was a boater who wanted me to take him on a class III run, so we decided to run the Headworks. I hadn't run the Headworks since February, so it was a nice change of pace.

We put in with the flow at around 1500 cfs, but not long after we got on the flow was increased to 2200 cfs. We probably got a little bit of a kick from the extra release. The run was fun and there were no trees to bother us. The other guy had one minor swim that was made slightly worse when he dropped his paddle, but it floated right to us after a bit, so it was no problem. I regretted not packing the spare paddle - just because it's only the Headworks is no excuse.

We had a great tun through the last section with Ledge Drop 1 and the other class III rapids.

Injured Reserve

Over the past 20 years, I've rarely gotten injured badly enough that I couldn't go boating. I've gotten used to being able to push myself kayaking and rafting and not even being sore the next day. This year that changed. I spent part of the summer going to acupuncture for sore shoulders and elbows, and I've had to adopt some exercises to keep that at bay. Now, I'm having trouble with my feet. A few weeks ago on the Rogue River, I injured my right foot. As soon as it got better, I was moving some furniture into my house and I sprained my left foot.

The timing couldn't have been worse. With the rain over the past few days, the rivers all came up and the Middle Fork Snoqualmie was running just under 3000 cfs, which is a perfect level for my cataraft. I had been hoping all week to be able to do this run, and I had to sit this one out. I realize I could have asked people to carry my boat for me, but I would still have trouble pushing with my feet when I row.

I'm going to have to be a bit more careful from now on. I still have lots of boating to do, and I can't do it if I'm injured.

South Fork of the Eel River 1994

Ten Mile Creek, courtesy of Bill Tuthill

One of the most difficult and interesting trips I did in my early IK days was the SF Eel in Northern California. 1993 was a big year for me. I ended up running rivers 50 days that year, which is a lot harder when the closest reasonable runs are 3 hours away. I began 1994 with the same intensity, and I had a streak of 12 months where I had over 60 days total.

This run is usually done in the winter when rains bring up the flow, but the run is 16 miles, which makes for a long day. We did the run in February, so we had to get an early start or risk taking out in the dark. Several of us drove up the night before and camped out in a field just off Hwy 101 not far from the place where Ten Mile Creek comes right next to the highway.

There were 4 of us in IKs with one raft for support. I lent Old Bessie, my Sun Runner, to one of the guys and I ran my new Sotar II IK. We put in on Ten Mile Creek and paddled the first 4 miles with occasional class II rapids. After that, things picked up quickly. The last two miles of the creek have a gradient of close to 100 feet per mile, and the rapids are very hard to scout. We chose to read and run the nearly continuous class IV and IV+ rapids. At the bottom of the hardest rapid, I had my first flip - I hit a rock at the bottom of a steep drop and because my boat didn't have thigh straps or a footbrace (nobody we knew was using these yet), I went flying forwards. I hit my nose on my paddle when I put up my hands to help stop me. Luckily, I wasn't hurt and I got back in quickly.

At the confluence with the SF Eel, we had a snack and watched as one of the guys went up and ran the big rapid on the SF Eel upstream. Almost immediately, I flipped in a class III rapid. I waited for the raft to come and get me off a rock in the middle of the river, but he couldn't quite make it to me, so I ended up swimming the rest of the rapid.

During the next 6 miles, we ran several class IV and IV+ rapids. Half of us portaged the class V rapid, and I think only 1 person made it through without swimming. During this section, I swam 5 more times, but none of the swims were hard because they came at the end of hard rapids rather than at the beginning. It was much easier for me to get back into the Sotar II than the Sun Runner. At least I had it better than the guy in my Sun Runner - he ended up swimming 11 times that day.

For the last few miles of the run, there are several class III and IV rapids, but the intensity dropped considerably. At one point, a couple of us noticed some interesting trash in the woods along the river and we stopped to investigate. We discovered a whitewater kayak with gear inside, but no owner information. One of the guys towed the boat the rest of the way down the river. This led to a couple of swims for him, mostly because the kayak would take a different route around rocks and sometimes it would flip over and fill with water.

We made it to the end of the run with plenty of daylight to spare. This was one of the highlights of the year.

64 - 10/18 - Middle Middle and Club Stretch

The Middle Fork Snoqualmie can be very flashy this time of year. All week, we had just enough rain to get the flow up to just below good kayaking levels, and then a night of rain brought it up to a good rafting level just for the day. With the flow peaking at 1900 cfs, a group of us decided to run rafts and catarafts on an extended run of both the Middle Middle and Lower Middle (Club Stretch).

We put in around 1PM and pushed down the river. I would have liked a little more water, but dealing with rocks is good practice. I had solid runs on all of the rapids, and I got a couple of nice surfs.

By the next morning, the flow was down to under 1000cfs and dropping. Another lucky weekend.

63 - 10/17 - Green River Gorge

Wrapped above The Nozzle - photo courtesy Brian Vogt

The recent rains brought many of the local rivers up. The Green only came up to the 800 range, but that was enough to make it worth the trip. While I was on the Rogue, I had my IK thigh straps repaired, so they were nice and tight, making it easier to control the boat (or at least stay in it when things start to go wrong).

The weather for the trip was... variable. It was relatively warm (high 50s) and cloudy most of the day, though we did have patches of sun. There were a number of sections where it was foggy. As we floated through the eddy above Secret Class IV, the rain started to come down hard. At first, we wondered if it wasn't hail because the drops were so big, but it was warm rain.

There were spawning salmon everywhere. Some were still jumping over rocks, but many were just slowly swimming in the shallow eddys, waiting to die.

The only real excitement of the day involved me wrapping just above The Nozzle. About 10 feet before The Nozzle rocks, there is a rock that usually makes a hole. At low water, the best routes are around the rock, but it looked like there was enough water to get over it. I didn't quite make it, and the next thing I knew I was sideways and sinking. I tried leaning the boat up, but that didn't work. I then climbed onto the rock and tried pulling up, but that didn't help. I finally stepped into the hole below the rock, which turned out to be shallow, stowed the paddle in the boat, and then worked the boat off the rock. During this part, my footbrace (a block of foam that is friction-fitted in the boat) came out, and I tossed it to one of the kayakers watching from below. After the boat was free, I was able to hop back in and paddle through The Nozzle and retrieve my footbrace.

The rest of the day was fun, but I did have one more short wrap. For this one, I didn't even get out of the boat. A friend tried to pull me one way, and I slid around the other way. It pays to be calm and get your paddle in the water.

It was great to be back on the Green after a few months. I hope to get a few more runs on this section during the fall and winter.

Compression Bags

When a friend first told me about compression bags, I wasn't really that impressed by the idea. Years ago, I bought a set of compression caps for my sleeping bag, and they were hard to use and didn't really work. Still, I decided to give them another shot in an attempt to save some space in my on-river gear. Since then, I've been a big fan.

There are basically two types of compression bags: vertical and horizontal (or tubular). The vertical bags are basically just stuff sacks with compression caps, one sewn on the bottom of the sack. These result in something that looks like a really hard football. If you are putting these in a standard drybag or backpack, they work well. However, if you have a dry duffel bag, such as a Watershed Colorado, they may not be as easy to pack. This is where a tubular compression bag can come in handy. These have several straps that wrap around the bag, which compresses the contents into a smaller tube.

I am able to put my tent, sleeping bag (in a tubular compression bag), and pillow (in a vertical compression bag) in my Watershed Colorado, and still have room for other items. Before getting compression bags, I would have had to take a separate drybag for either the tent or sleeping bag, and I would use clothes for a pillow.

Recently, some vertical compression bags have come out that are made of eVent material, which is waterproof in one direction and allows air to pass in the other. This means that these compression bags are also drybags. I've heard mixed reports on these. I own a few, but I've never dunked them because I use them with fleece and other clothing.

Compression bags can make a big difference in your river gear packing.

The Curse of October

Back in March, I wrote about the Late Winter Doldrums, when all of the water was locked up in snow and ice and there wasn't enough rain to make things better. October has the opposite problem. The water is long gone, the dam releases are pretty much done, and we have to wait for the rains to come.

Unlike a lot of areas in the US, the Pacific Northwest has an actual "rainy season". Granted, this rainy season is 8-9 months of the year, but it's still technically a season. In a typical year, the rains subside in late June and by mid-July rain is pretty rare. We get a few storms in July, August, and September, but they tend to be short events surrounded by hot, sunny weather. Where I grew up in North Carolina, it can rain any time of year.

This year, the October storms are late in coming. The current 10-day forecast has some rain coming in a week, but it doesn't look like it will be enough to boat locally. Oregon is looking closer every day...

62 - 9/29 - Rogue (Day 5)

Me, courtesy of Shawn Cadigan

It rained on and off all night, and I ended got up at 5:30AM and started packing. I was on breakfast dishwashing detail, so I needed to get everything done so I'd be free. We had oatmeal and lots of toppings for breakfast. Yum! I think people were running slow from the day before, because it took forever to get going. It didn't help that it was a bit cooler, and only a couple of us had drysuits.

The trip from Camp Tacoma to the takeout is only 5 miles, but there is a section of flatwater that is at least one mile long, and it really slows you down. I rowed pretty much the whole way to the takeout. About 5 minutes before we got there, it started to rain hard, but it soon stopped.

We spent over an hour getting the boats repacked and getting changed. We were the last ones to leave, but we did pretty well considering we had 4 boats and 4 people to load. We decided to leave the top boat inflated to make it easier to unload in Portland. I was pretty tired, and other people did most of the driving on the way back (thanks!). I finally got home just after midnight.

This was yet another great river trip, and I look forward to many more!

61a - 9/28 - Rogue (Day 4)

Bear picture courtesy of Shawn Cadigan

After our really long day of rowing, we were due for a layover day. The weather cooled down a little, and some wind came up, but it was still a nice sunny day. Some people went for hikes, and some just hung out on the beach. I wanted to hike, but my foot was bothering me so I stayed around camp. Breakfast was French toast, which was excellent. Dinner was fettucini alfredo with smoked salmon - delicious!

At one point in the afternoon, I noticed a bear upstream on the other side of the river. One person in the group got several pictures of the bear, and even rowed across the river to get photos of footprints.

One thing that was nice about this trip was that we had bear fences and toilets at every camp. Bear fences are small electric fences that keep the bears out of your coolers and stuff. We had a small bear fence along, which we put around the coolers some nights, and around the kitchen at the last camp. Having toilets at every camp meant that we didn't need to use the toilet we brought with us. That saved us some time and work at the end of the trip.

As the day went on, we started to get some rain clouds. We put up an additional shelter, and everyone had their rain flies on their tents for the night. It didn't rain much, but it was enough to get stuff wet.

61 - 9/27 - Rogue (Day 3)

Mule Creek Canyon

We would need our great breakfast of biscuits & gravy and sausage because this would be an 18 mile day. We headed out early and ran a few fun rapids before hitting the first long flat section. Luckily, we had a downstream wind during this stretch, which helped a lot. After a few more rapids, we stopped for a quick lunch at the Rogue River Ranch, and then headed for Mule Creek Canyon.

The canyon was tight and technical, but fun as always. At the end of the Canyon lies Blossom Bar. Most of the people in the group went up on the rocks to scout and watch the rest of us run the rapid. I led, and my run was far from textbook. I was trying to back around the first corner, and I ended up hitting a rock and spinning around too soon. I went ahead and dropped into the main chute and then had to make the tough choice of which way to go. I chose left, and ended up having to bounce off a large rock. After that, the rapid was wide open and easy. I pulled over at the bottom and took pictures of everyone else coming through.

After Devil's Staircase, I got out front and rowed. One of the people in the group had an electric motor for this section, so I didn't expect to stay in the lead. We figured that our chosen camp would probably be taken, so the plan was to stop at the camp above, send two people down to the camp we wanted, and then if it was available, one person would come back if it was available.

I pushed down the river, passing a couple of commercial rafts as I went. At one point, I passed a couple in a raft. They pointed out a bear on the shore, and then we could all see two bears. We talked about the camping options, and I realized that I needed to make a run for our camp. Since there was nobody with me, I bypassed the upstream camp and went on to the chosen camp. I figured that the worst that would happen is that I would have to pull my boat up a small rapid and then row a little to get to the upper camp. That turned out to not be necessary. We got the camp we wanted.

As I got to camp and started setting things up, I noticed that I had injured my right foot. I'm not sure where this happened. It could have been on the raft when I was pushing off a rock, or it could have been when I was taking pictures. In any case, it turned out to not be broken, but a week later I still had a little soreness.

Dinner was chili and cornbread, followed by too many desserts and lots of fun hanging out.

60 - 9/26 - Rogue (Day 2)

We got up early and had a great breakfast (custom omelets and hash browns) and got on the river. We went through a lot of fun rapids, and ended up finishing the day at Horseshoe Bend. The original plan had been to go another 4 miles, but people were ready to stop for the day.

Dinner was pho (noodle soup with meat and veggies), and it was delicious.

59 - 9/25 - Rogue (Day 1)

A lot of people run the Rogue River in Oregon - so many, in fact, that the Rogue requires permits during most of the year. Getting a permit for late September or early October is easy, because most people apply for earlier permits and people who want to run it later in the season will either grab cancellation permits or will wait for after the permit season. Personally, I really enjoy the late season permit times because the river tends not to be crowded. This trip was on the permit of some friends. We decided to do 5 days on the river, including 1 layover day.

I started out early on Thursday morning with my gear in the SUV and my boat on the trailer. I got to my friend's house and we switched trailers and loaded our boats. We decided for this trip that we would deflate our catarafts attached to the frames. This would allow us to save time later. Three of us took off and headed South. We stopped for a quick lunch, and then made it to Portland in the mid-afternoon to pick up the last person in our party. We then drove down to the Rogue put-in.

In the morning, we were able to inflate the boats on the trailer and take them off. I was a little frustrated setting up my boat because I changed from having a cooler to not having one. This might sound like a small thing, but it affected the way I had to load my boat and it slowed me down a bit. Still, everything got done and I was on my way. I did forget two things, though. I forgot my lunches back at home, and I forgot my water bottles in my car (which was already gone before I noticed it). Luckily, I had water and I could eat leftovers, so I just had to borrow a water bottle.

We got going down the river well before noon, and headed towards Rainey Falls. This rapid has 3 routes. The main falls was too big for our boats. The secondary route, called the Dory Chute, was the best option for the rafts and catarafts. The two IKs on the trip were destined for the Fish Ladder, which is the route with the least water and least danger. I got things started by getting one of the IKers to sit on the rock next to the Dory Chute. I went towards his position, and then took the sharp left turn into the chute. I shipped my oars and the boat went right down the rapid. When I was through, I parked on the other side and climbed up to watch everyone else. Some of our group had decided to scout first, and they walked over. Then came the dumb mistake of the day. A couple of us thought that the second IKer was going to run the Dory Chute, and we didn't want that. We tried to motion for her to go around, but then both IKers went and ran down the Fish Ladder. This meant that none of the other boats knew exactly where to go, and it slowed things down a lot. It took a lot of waving and yelling to finally get those boats moving.

All of the boats except for one had an easy time through the Dory Chute. One cataraft didn't make the turn quickly enough and ended up stuck in the entrance. It took about 10 minutes to get the boat free. The next weird situation was my doing. In order to get my boat out of where I parked it, I had to get down in the frame and push off rocks. This left me with no easy way to get back onto the seat. I tried the tricks I used to use, but my new frame is too narrow for that, so I had to hold on and float while everyone wondered where I was. Surprise!

Once we got past all of the fun at Rainey Falls, we headed down to camp. We were relieved to see that the camp we wanted was free and clear. We set up camp and cooked dinner. A friend and I had the first night, and we made curries (chicken, fish, and veggie) and rice. It was a great end to a fun day.

Hiking

Kayaking and rafting are my main form of exercise, and there are times during the year when I just don't get in as much boating. So, this year I decided to start hiking. I work at home and live near several great trails that are moderately hard, but interesting. In order to give myself a goal and allow me to do this during my work day, I limit my hiking time. I will drive up to 10 minutes to get to the trailhead, hike 30 minutes out, and then turn around.

For the first 4 weeks, I hiked the Rattlesnake Mountain trail. This starts with a flat hike for a few minutes and then heads up into the hills through the woods. The ultimate goal of this hike is Rattlesnake Ledge, which overlooks the lake and surrounding areas. Every week, I got further, but I don't think it's possible to get to the ledge in 30 minutes without running.

This week, I switched to the Twin Falls trail for some variety. This trail begins with a relatively flat trail, but then it gets steep. It then goes downhill and then back uphill. Eventually, it comes to a bridge over the falls. I didn't make it to the bridge this time, but I was within 2 minutes of it. Next time, I will be able to make it to the bridge. This trail is a lot steeper than Rattlesnake, and it was a bit tougher on my knees. As a result, I will probably hike Rattlesnake a few more times before going back to Twin Falls.

I also want to try the Mt. Si and Little Si trails. I realize that I won't get very far on these trails in just 30 minutes, but the point right now is the hike, not the destination.

58 - 9/13/09 - Upper Tieton

Since it was Sunday and we all needed to drive home, we opted for the short run on the Upper Tieton, leaving from the camp and going to Windy Point. Unlike the day before, we didn't have any incidents. Everyone had a great run. Checking later, I found that the flow was around 1900 cfs.

57 - 9/12/09 - Tieton "Full Pull"

Lee running the dam

This weekend there was road construction at the takeout. Luckily I left home 45 minutes early because when I got past the takeout, I had to wait 20 minutes. A group of us IKers decided to run from the uppermost put-in and run down to Tim's Ponds. This is about 19-20 miles on the river. On the shuttle, we ended up having to wait about 10 minutes on the way down and 10 minutes on the way back.

The uppermost put-in requires driving up past our camp and then driving on a rutted road by the river up to a high bank. You can see the dam from the river when you get in at this put-in. Starting at this point you get several extra class II+ and III rapids that are a lot of fun. Little did we know that the flow had been kicked up to around 1850 cfs, making things extra fun.

We met up with a raft at our camp and headed down. I mostly took conservative routes because a couple of people were nervous and wanted me to lead them. I got a 3-minute lead and took photos at the dam. After that, we pulled out at the usual lunch spot to regroup and then headed on to High Noon, which turned out to be very interesting.

One of my friends had challenged me to go over Tombstone, which is the rock in the middle of High Noon. I normally don't do this, but I decided that I would rather risk a swim than get ribbed by her. Well, I blew it. I was a foot too far left and when I came down I got spun sideways. A few seconds later, I went over, banging my head on the rock as I flipped. Luckily, I have a good helmet and I didn't suffer any damage (that you can prove), but I did let go of my paddle. I realized this and was able to hook it with my foot and get it back to me. At this point, it's worth mentioning that I have flipped here before and knew that I could stand up in the hole below Tombstone. I grabbed my boat and started to flip it over when another IK came over the top. This helped flip my boat over, but it put the other IKer in a precarious position. I grabbed the front of her boat and pulled her away from the pourover. A moment later, her husband came over the rock in his IK. A few seconds later, both of them were out of the rapid, just in time for another IK to come over the rock. Finally, I was able to push my boat downstream and hop in. Overall, my mistake only cost us about 30 seconds, so I was pretty happy with the outcome.

We continued down the run, and we planned to stop for lunch at Windy Point. Somehow, there was some confusion, and the raft stopped above this. When we tried to get over to them, one of the IKers flipped. I chased her down and tried to help her reflip her boat, but I couldn't do much and I had to deal with a rafter who was trying to help. The problem was that we were in fast current, and there was a strong possibility that the IKer or I would end up going under the raft. I told the rafter that we couldn't use his help. I guess he was annoyed by my words and my tone because he said "Well, enjoy your swim" and rowed away. I didn't mean to insult him (I apologized later), but he just wasn't in a good position to help us. A few seconds later, the IKer got her boat reflipped and she got back in. I had her paddle, and I got it back to her before there were any obstacles for her to worry about. We stopped for lunch and soon regrouped with the raft.

The rest of the run was easy and we had a great time.

Gauging the Sauk

There are 2 real-time gauges on the Sauk/Suiattle river system. The river system consists of several tributaries (from top to bottom): NF Sauk, SF Sauk, Whitechuck, Clear Creek, Suiattle, and several smaller creeks. The Sauk at Sauk gauge is the sum of all of these - it is located where the Sauk empties into the Skagit. The Sauk Above Whitechuck, or Upper Sauk gauge on the other hand, is just above the rapid named Rocky Road on the Upper Sauk, so it is the sum of the NF Sauk, SF Sauk, and a few small creeks.

The most popular run in this system is the Middle Sauk. This run begins where the Upper Sauk and Whitechuck come together. Some boaters still use the Sauk at Sauk flow to determine whether or not the Middle Sauk is runnable, but this isn't very accurate. In August and September, it can appear that this run has enough water, but it rarely does. Most of the water in the late summer comes down the Suiattle, which comes in several miles downstream of the takeout for this run. It's much more useful to use the Upper Sauk gauge. In general if that gauge from 750-2000, IKs can run it, and from 1000-2500 most rafts will be fine. It has been run higher.

The NF Sauk and SF Sauk are experts-only runs, so it's probably worth finding a local who is willing to drive up and take a look to see if the levels are good. Boaters running the Upper Sauk start out on the NF Sauk about 1/4 mile above the confluence. Small rafts and IKs can get through here at 750cfs, and the whole run is fine up to 2500 cfs. This run can be done much higher, but you need to be prepared for the Middle Sauk or a quick takeout at Whitechuck.

The Whitechuck is generally around 50% of the Upper Sauk, and is runnable at similar levels. This run isn't run very often because it can get filled with trees.

The Sauk and Suiattle are good choices for mid-summer camping trips. There are nice campsites on the Uppet Sauk, Middle Sauk, Lower Sauk, and Suiattle. It is possible to do 2-3 nights on the Sauk with a reasonable amount of good whitewater each day by starting on the Upper Sauk and continuing down, possibly past the Suiattle confluence.

56 - 9/7/09 - Middle Middle

What an unexpected surprise! Heavy rain brought the Middle Fork Snoqualmie up and we got on it at around 1300. The side creeks added quite a bit, and by the time we reached House Rocks, it felt like 1600. The muddy water made it seem even higher, but that was deceiving, and I got stuck a few times on rocks that I would normally avoid.

So far, this looks to be my lowest year on the Middle Middle since 2003, when I started running it again after an early bad start.

55 - 9/6/09 - Upper Tieton

This was a quickie run. Some friends came out for the day and we just ran the upper section. It was still raining hard on us, but it really didn't matter. We left at around 2:30 and got home in time for a BBQ.

54 - 9/5/09 - Upper & Lower Tieton

The weather on the Tieton is never consistent. It can be 90 one weekend, freezing the next, and 90 again the next weekend. This time, it was cool and rainy. I decided to take my cataraft over for the weekend because it will be crowded the following weekend and I'll want to take my IK.

I decided to wait for a group of IKers and ran with them down to Tim's Pond. I like doing the longer run, despite the easier rapids on the lower section.

53 - 8/30/09 - Upper Tieton

This is probably the earliest I've run the Tieton, though only by a day, and it's definitely the earliest I've run it at a good flow (1379 cfs). After figuring out the access situation (bridge construction has made things messy) we did a one-shot run and had a great time. It was hot and sunny, but still worth wearing a drysuit in the IK.

The situation with the Tieton is interesting. There are several tributaries that supply water to the Lower Yakima, which is used for irrigation. For most of the year, the Lower Yakima gets additional water from the Upper Yakima and Cle Elum rivers. In early September, the salmon and steelhead run up these rivers to spawn. The additional water means that the fish would end up laying their eggs in places that will be dry when the Lower Yakima no longer needs the additional water. So, in order to accomodate the fish spawning, the releases on the Upper Yakima and Cle Elum rivers are turned down, and the Tieton is used to fill the Lower Yakima. This is called "the flip-flop". It generally starts the last few days of August and continues until mid-October, with the peak in mid-September. Commercial raft companies flock to the Tieton while there are water and customers, and private boaters come out in droves for the two weekends around the peak. The more hardcore private boaters are there every weekend until either the flow drops too low or the fall rainstorms come in and start filling up the rivers closer to home. There have been years when I've done this run into mid-October, and years where late September storms have allowed me to boat closer to home.

52 - 8/29/09 - Cle Elum/Yakima

It was looking like another dry weekend when some people decided to try out the Cle Elum and Yakima. Several people backed out because of the bad weather that was in the forecast, which turned out to be their loss. It was a clear, warm summer day with a nice breeze to keep us cool. We took 3 IKs down from just below the Cle Elum dam to the fishing access about a mile above the Teanaway River confluence.

The Cle Elum below the dam is fast, but it only has a few rapids, all of which are easy. The biggest problem on this stretch of river is logjams, but these come and go. This year, the run was clean. We had lunch about 2 miles above the confluence with the Yakima. When the Yakima comes in, the gradient drops and the river slows down a bit. This time of year, the Yakima is a lot lower than the Cle Elum, so it only added a little water to the flow.

Just after we got onto the Yakima, a couple of guys paddled past us in a canoe. A couple more miles down the river, we ran into them again. As we turned a corner, we saw one of them standing in the water, then the other, and then their overturned boat. We pulled over above them and walked down to see how we could help. Their boat was on its side pinned on some tree branches. One of our group used his line to help lever the boat off the trees while the other two of us went downstream to catch the boat when it was pulled off. I was able to right the boat, and the other person was able to get the line and pull the boat - still full of water - to an island. We then emptied the boat and waited for the paddlers to walk down. We used throwbags to help get them to the island and we lent them a paddle since they had lost all but one of theirs.

Afterwards, we camped near the put-in at a nice little clearing in the woods. We had a delicious dinner and watched the stars.

By the Numbers

Ever since I started whitewater boating, I've kept track of my runs. At first, I kept detailed records and wrote long stories, but after a few years I got behind and just wrote enough to remember the run. At some point, I lost all of the details, but I had a sheet of paper with yearly counts on it, so I started over with that to keep a count.

To date, my total number of river days is 640, which averages out to 32 days a year for 20 years. Prior to 2004, my best ever year was 1992 with 50 days. In 2001, I boated 3 days because I spent most of that year with tendinitis and it wasn't a great water year. By 2003, I had 207 days, with an average of under 14 days a year.

The years since 2004 have been much better. I've averaged around 75 days a year. My best ever year was 2006, when I hit 90 days. The biggest contributing factor to the increase is getting a drysuit. You simply can't IK very much in Washington without a drysuit.

My next boating day will bring me to 52 days, which is only significant in that it averages to 1 day per week. Unless I get injured, I expect to reach 75 days again this year.

It would be fun to try to reach 100 days. I know a number of people who do this, but most of them are retired and the others are just crazy...

51 - 8/8/09 - Upper Skagit

Every August, WRRR puts on the Carey Berger Memorial Poker Run (Carey was an early club member who died before I was in the club). This event involves people going down the river and adding cards to their "poker hands" (technically, since you can't draw new cards or bluff, this is really just an interesting way of doing a raffle, so it's not gambling). Since I was running one of the card stations, I had to start down the river early and I was one of the last people off the river.

The Upper Skagit is not too much of a whitewater run. It does have some class III whitewater, but it's concentrated in a small area. The other nice thing about this run is that it runs reliably in August, when pretty much everything else is too low.

50 - 8/7/09 - Lower Lower Sauk and Lower Lower Skagit

Continuing the trip, we got up and left camp at around 8:30AM. The current was still reasonably fast, and there were no problem logs in the river. As we approached the confluence with the Skagit, the channels got more and more braided, and we had to choose carefully.

Once on the Skagit, the current picked up and we moved pretty quickly. The confluence of the Sauk and Skagit is below the town of Rockport, so we had to use a fishing access downstream. We chose to use one about 4-5 miles down, which had a nice beach that we could drive onto to load the boats.

As we got near the takeout, we noticed some houses next to the river. There were PVC pipes sticking out of the bank, and at first we thought they might have been drainage pipes or pipes for pumping water out of the river, though they were quite a way up the bank. Looking at the aerial view of the houses on Google Maps, it appears that the houses used to be quite a bit further from the river. These pipes were in the back yards, possibly part of a sprinkler system, and were uncovered when high water eroded the bank.

All in all, I'd say it was a fun overnighter on a nice section of river. I hope to do it again sometime with a larger group of people.

Solo Whitewater Boating

Let me start by saying that you should never boat alone. Even going with just one other boat is potentially dangerous.

While it's not something I commonly do, I have kayaked alone quite a few times. Most of my solo trips have been on a class II+ run near my home. For this run, I can go to my house and ride my bicycle back up to get my vehicle at the put-in. I did once have some trouble when I dropped my paddle and couldn't get back to it for a while. I learned on that trip that it's worth taking a spare paddle even on an easy trip you know well.

My longest solo run was on a long stretch of water in Northern California, on the Trinity River. This one was quite an adventure. I was traveling alone, and I couldn't find anyone else in the area who was running the river that day, so I decided to solo IK a stretch of class II (with a couple of easy class III rapids) that I had run a few times before with friends. I began by leaving my gear with the campground host. I then drove 25 miles to the takeout and started hitch-hiking. I wore my wetsuit in hopes that the people driving by would realize that I was boating and know I only wanted a short ride. I had a couple of offers from rafting companies, but they weren't going far enough upstream. The one thing I didn't want to do was to get 10 miles up the road and have to walk 15 miles back to the campground. I figured that if nobody picked me up after a couple of hours, I would drive upstream a few miles and try again. Luckily, within 30 minutes I caught a ride back to the campground. I carried my gear down to the river and was on my way. The water level was medium-low, so I figured I needed to paddle a little. At the same time, I didn't want to get off the river too early, as it was very hot at the campground. As it was, the trip only took me about 6 hours, which was 2 hours less than I had hoped.

My hardest solo run was not an intentional solo run. I was running a fast and continuous class III run with some friends and I decided to put in below where they did (I didn't like the look of one rapid). When they got to where I was, they didn't see me, but I didn't know this. I still had 5 minutes of preparation, so when I got into the river, I was surprised to find that they were gone. For 3 miles, they thought I was downstream of them, so they had no reason to slow down. Luckily, they pulled over at a bridge to look for me and I was able to catch up. That was one of the most exhilarating situations I've been in. I knew that if I screwed up, I might have to chase my boat down the river, so I had to really be on my game.

49 - 8/6/09 - Lower Lower Sauk

I had been curious as to what the Sauk was like below the Suiattle. When people would talk about running the Lower Sauk, I was always disappointed to find that they were talking about the section above the Suiattle. Finally, I got a chance to do this run, and I did it as an overnighter.

We originally expected to have 7 or 8 people on this trip, but in the end it was just 2. It was a good thing I brought my cataraft, since I don't think we would have been able to carry everything we planned in just 2 IKs.

This is not a whitewater run. There is only one rapid that could be called class II+, and there are maybe 10 class I-II rapids. However, the run is not flatwater - there is enough of a gradient that the river moves along, even at the minimal flow we had (the Sauk at Sauk was running around 2000 cfs). The scenery has great potential, but it was pretty cloudy for us. We camped on a big sandy island within the view of some nice mountains. We were near a road, but there was very little traffic and the trees on the island helped hide them.

How Far Do You Go?

One common question I get is about the length of a typical whitewater boating trip. There really is a lot of variation. I've done runs as short as 1 mile and as long as 120 miles (on a multi-day trip). A lot of it depends on how far I have to travel. It's not a lot of fun to drive 3-4 hours only to do a single 3 mile run, so on a short run with lots of travel, I will tend to do multiple laps. But, if I'm doing a local run, I might do as little as 2.5 miles and call it a day.

The most I typically do in a single day is around 18 miles. I have done as much as 28 miles in a day, but that's a very long day. If I had to pick an average, I'd say 8 miles.

48 - 7/19/09 - White Salmon

As usual, we did a short run on the second day at the White Salmon, taking out above Husum Falls. I had a great run. There's not much more to say about the day.

47 - 7/18/09 - White Salmon

It's mid-July and time once again for the annual WRRR White Salmon trip. We had a good-sized group, but the river was relatively uncrowded (no problems finding parking and no big crowds at the put-in and takeout). I ran my IK and had a good run. I portaged Husum Falls because I had heard that it had changed for the worse.

46 - 7/12/09 - Sauk (Day 2)

When we got up, the sky was clear and it started to warm up. The sun came over the mountains and helped to dry out our gear, but this didn't last long. We got going at about 10:30AM and the sky was cloudy and the temperatures had dropped into the mid-60s.

We got to a place where there was a log across the river. We had considered trying to move the log, but that proved to be too difficult, and we found that some of the boats could make it under one side of the log. We carried the other boats around. About a mile later, we came to a place where there were two trees in the river with their root balls facing upstream. This looked bad, but it turned out to be fairly easy to deal with. Interestingly enough, this was next to the camp we had been looking for. We had made a good choice to camp where we did, as the beach we were looking for no longer existed. A little further downstream, we went around an island and the rain really started coming down. It felt almost like hail, but it was just big raindrops.

We pulled over for a break just above Rocky Road, which is the last rapid on the Upper Sauk. The end of this rapid can be seen from the bridge going over the Sauk, but people are often fooled into thinking that this is the entire rapid. Below this is the confluence with the Whitechuck River, which brings in more water and a lot of glacial silt. After this point, the rapids get more difficult. Because I was paddling with most of my camping gear in the boat, I went a lot faster than the rest of the boats. I took conservative lines to avoid flipping because any swim I took could be a long one.

We took out at the new takeout near the lumber mill in Darrington. On the shuttle, we found that the weather had improved on the Upper Sauk, and it was sunny and hot up there. It stayed cool and cloudy on the lower section.

Overall, it was a great weekend!

45 - 7/11/09 - Sauk (Day 1)

I had been looking forward to an overnighter on the Sauk all year. We ended up with 8 people on the entire trip, and 3 more people joined us for the day. It was a good mix of rafts and catarafts with 2 IKs. We met at noon and got on the river at around 2PM.

The trip started on the NF Sauk at Bedal Campground. The first 1/4 mile is very shallow and ends at an easy class III rapid. After this, the SF Sauk comes in a increases the flow. As we wound our way down the valley, we enjoyed the hot, sunny weather. The temperature was in the mid-80s, but it was cool down at the river.

We were aiming to camp at the beach where some of us had camped the year before, but we found an even nicer one earlier in the trip. It had a huge beach with both soft sand and firm gravel, and it had a great view of the mountains. We cooked dinner and enjoyed the evening around the campfire.

At around 2AM, there was some rain. An hour later, we had a thunderstorm with lots of lightning. It was cool outside, but my tent stayed warm.

44 - 7/4/09 - Middle Middle

This was my 100th IK run on the Middle Middle, though oddly enough it was only my 99th run of House Rocks. On my first run of the Middle Middle, the person who led me down wanted to scout the rapid. The scout was tiring and mostly useless. When I started down to my boat to run the rapid, I slipped on a wet log, fell, and bruised some ribs (I ended up sleeping on my couch for 5 weeks to relieve the pressure on my ribs). We ended up portaging House Rocks and then I kayaked the rest of the run.

This was a much less eventful run. We had 6 IKs, including a first time solo IKer, and the flow was around 1000 cfs. We put in at First Island Drop.

43 - 7/3/09 - Middle Sauk

I had originally hoped to do a weekend trip on the Upper Sauk and Middle Sauk, but things never worked out, so I opted for a day trip instead. Even though the flow was on the low side (under 1200 on the Upper Sauk gauge) I decided to take my cataraft. There were lots of people, and we split up into several groups.

It was a beautiful sunny day. The rapids were easy and fun, and we didn't have any problems on the run. We ended up going down to the new access at the mill in Darrington. This adds a couple of class III rapids to the run, and extends the run by about an hour at low flows. On nice days, it's probably worth extending the run this way, but most times I think we'll still take out at Bachman Park.

42 - 7/2/09 - Middle Middle

The Middle Middle can be run down into the 500 cfs range without it being too sticky. We had 830 cfs, which was plenty for a small group of IKs putting in at First Island Drop. It was sunny and hot, and some of the rapids had bright sunshine in our faces. Luckily, we know the run well, so it wasn't hard to run parts of rapids blind.

This will probably be our last Thursday run. By next week, the flow will be under 500. We'll get chances to run after work when we get freak summer rainstorms and when the fall rains start.

Mid-year Roundup

The first half of 2009 has been very good for boating. It started off with a bang, and good water on the Green gave me lots of chances to improve. I'm very happy to have gotten in 4 new runs so far. It's hard to get many new runs now without a lot of traveling, so in future years I need to be prepared for that. I got to run some favorites like Peshastin Creek, the NF Snoqualmie, the Middle SF Stillaguamish, and the recent NF Lewis overnighter, and I got to do several trips in my new cataraft.

The closure of the Middle Fork Road for repairs didn't help much, but it didn't really affect us as much as we had expected. They got the road fixed quicker than expected, and the water was low during a good part of the time. I really wanted to run the Lower Owyhee again, and was disappointed when that didn't happen, but the John Day is still a great alternative.

The biggest negative this year has been the injuries to my shoulder and elbows. I need to keep working to fix these problems and keep them from coming back.

The second half of the year should be very interesting. We still have a little bit of snowmelt left before we have to start traveling for whitewater. Things should improve again in October when the rains return, but we have been warned that El Nino will bring us a warm, dry winter. I hope I get a chance to run some Oregon rivers this fall. Happy boating!

41 - 6/28/09 - NF Lewis (Day 2)

(Clear water on the NF Lewis)

My IK camping setup for the trip consisted of my umbrella tent, a Big Agnes air mattress, a fleece sleeping bag, and a pillow, as well as camp clothes, food, and the all-important chair. Most of the gear went into a Watershed Colorado (large) drybag, which fits in the back of my IK. I strap a folding camp chair onto the top of this bag. The remaining gear went into a Watershed Ocoee (small) drybag. Watershed bags are expensive, but they work - keep in mind that my boat spent a few minutes getting pummeled by water when it was wrapped the day before. I've taken to using compression bags for the gear that can compress (pillow, sleeping bag, and clothes). This was the first time I had slept on the Big Agnes mattress, and it was very comfortable and it wasn't all that hard to blow up.

We had originally decided to sleep in, but I was awake at the usual 5AM. Luckily, I had an iPod with me so I had entertainment for a couple of hours before I couldn't take it and got up. We ended up leaving camp a lot earlier than we had planned. We only had to boat a half hour or so before we reached the bridge that is used as the put-in for the lower run. A few minutes later, we were at Curly Creek Falls, which is a double waterfall with a stone arch in the middle. There is another waterfall a few hundred feet downstream. A little later, we came upon the other campsite we had used on our first trip. This used to be a larger beach with more sand on it, but now it would be a difficult place for more than a couple of people to camp.

The rapids pick up a little at the end of the run. A few creeks and the Muddy River bring in a bit more water, making the going easier except in one place where a big logjam blocks the main channel and a side channel siphons off 1/3 of the water. We hit the takeout at around 11AM and were on the road before noon.

40 - 6/27/09 - NF Lewis (Day 1)

(Above Ski Jump rapid)

A few years ago, some friends and I decided to run the two lower sections of the NF Lewis as an IK camping shakedown run. We ran it again the following year. We didn't get a chance to run it last year, so we made sure to plan it for this year. The flow was pretty low (around 800cfs on the gauge), but it was high enough for us. Since this was an overnighter, we all carried our camping gear. Even with relatively light gear, this makes the boats a little harder to move. The weather was perfect. It was warm, but not too hot that we were sweating in our drysuits. The water was clear and not too cold.

The upper section begins with lots of little class II+ rapids with forest on both sides. The first class III rapid is Ski Jump, which is just a ledge drop next to a big wall (see picture above). A couple of miles later is Spencer Drop, which is a class III-IV rapid that consists of a handful of ledges and ends in a hole. Not long after this, we reached the camp we had used on previous trips, but this time we decided to try a later camp. This meant that we would be taking on Big Creek Gorge on the first day.

Big Creek Gorge is a narrow canyon with a lot of basalt boulders in it. We normally run this by stopping in eddies and checking to see what is below. The rapid was clear of trees, so it should have been an easy run, but I ended up complicating things. I missed the first eddy and didn't understand the instructions to go down to a lower one. So, I ended up in a bad place. When I tried to continue, I didn't make the right moves, and I ended up wrapped against a huge boulder. I came out of the boat and couldn't drag the boat with me. The other guys were able to get it back out, and we portaged my boat over a couple of rocks. This allowed me to continue down to the last eddy, where one of the guys pushed my boat up and over the last ledge. While climbing on the rocks, I slipped and fell a couple of times, which resulted in a few sore days.

Once we were through Big Creek Gorge, we started looking for campsites. We had seen a nice site on the right side of the river the last time we ran this section, and had planned to stop there. When we got there, we weren't very pleased with the site. It was right on the trail, and we had seen a few people riding and hiking, so we knew it wouldn't be private. It was also a very small site - I believe that the river bank has eroded a bit in that area since we were last there. We continued down the river looking at possible camps. The established camps on the right were all next to the trail, and the possible camps on the left tended to be rocky and overgrown.

We finally found a camp that turned out to be perfect, which is why I won't say where it is (so there!). It had a nice beach area and lots of room for tents. There was also a creek nearby to drown out the sound of my snoring. After setting up camp, we built a fire and cooked dinner. It was a great end to a great day.

39 - 6/25/09 - Middle Middle

Some recent rain brought the Middle Middle back up to over 1300, and with the side creeks going, the flow was even better. We had 4 IKs, an inflatable canoe, and a cataraft. It was cloudy and cool, but not too cold - another nice run on the Middle Middle.

By the way, I've been counting my Middle Middle IK runs, and I'm now up to 98. I haven't decided how to celebrate number 100. Of course, who knows when it will be.

It was 20 years ago today...

Saturday, June 24, 1989.

The day before, my friend Kelly and I took off work early and drove from Boulder, Colorado to the Royal Gorge (about a 4 hour drive). We went to the campground, which was basically a windswept field, and claimed some good spots near the fence. I had just bought my first tent and Thermarest, and my second sleeping bag (the first I had gotten by selling greeting cards when I was 8), and I was set. We drove over to the gorge and walked across the bridge to nowhere and talked excitedly about the trip.

In the morning, we had a quick breakfast and got dressed for the river trip. I had wanted to go whitewater rafting for years, but this was the first time the opportunity came up that made it easy. Our group of 21 people from work headed over to the rafting company building and listened to the lecture. We then piled into a bus and headed to the put-in. which was just a wide spot by the road.

When we got off the bus, they quickly herded us over to a pile of orange lifejackets and paddles. I don't remember if we got helmets, but I don't think we did. Next we went over to the boats and got into groups. I was in a raft with several of my coworkers and a couple of their family members.

Within just a few minutes, things went bad. We bumped a rock and one of our people fell out. His swim was uneventful, but we found out later that this meant that our guide had to buy a round of beer for all of the guides that night. It also scared the heck out of half the people on our boat. When we stopped for lunch, half of our crew was ready to quit because they felt that it was too dangerous. It took a little bit of convincing to get them to continue, but we all got back into the boat after lunch ready to go.

The big rapid of the day was Sunshine Falls, and we screwed up. When we hit the bottom of the drop, two of our crew fell out of the boat - including the guy who had fallen out earlier, who took his footcup with him this time, ripping it out of the boat. I fell into the middle of the boat, and tried to help us paddle to shore while on my knees. That was a big mistake. The guide was furious at the people who had fallen out, even more at the guy who took out the footcup, and decided to take it out on me for not grabbing them and for not getting back up onto the raft tube quickly enough.

Everyone was distraught, but we resolved as a group to do better. There were only a few rapids left, and we were going to enjoy them. The rest of the day was a lot of fun. After the trip, we went back to the rafting company place for dinner and to watch videos from our trip. We went back to camp and retired to bed early.

On the way home the next day, Kelly and I couldn't stop talking about how fun the trip had been and how we wanted to go again. I also remember seeing the first double rainbow of my life. The next Monday, I was unable to go to work. I was so badly sunburned on my hands, thighs, and ankles that I had to spend 2 days in an oatmeal bath. Despite the bad parts of the trip - the getting yelled at and the sunburn - I continued to go whitewater boating. I did 3 more trips that summer, including my first inflatable kayak trip, and then moved back to California. Colorado was just not for me.

Now, 20 years later, I have gone over 600 times and I hope to enjoy it for 20 more years. Thanks to everyone I've boated with, and especially thanks to Paul and Kelly for that first trip.

38 - 6/20/09 - Lower Cispus

The Lower Cispus isn't an easy run to do. It's an easy run, but the takeout is behind a locked gate and getting and keeping a key to the gate is difficult and annoying. So, when the Lewis County PUD has the gate unlocked, I like to help make sure they know there is interest in doing the run. This was my third run on this section of river.

On this run, I helped act as a kayak "probe", meaning that I ran out ahead of the rafts to help locate logjams and direct people around them. On this trip, there was only one place where there was an issue. It was easy to see from upstream, so all I really did was to try to help people get through with a minimum of hassle.

We had a reasonable flow (around 1800) due to the rain the night before, but it was a cold and cloudy day - more like early March than mid-June. There were 4 catarafts, 2 IKs, and 2 rafts.

37 - 6/18/09 - Middle Middle

The last time I ran the Middle Middle in my IK was nearly 3 months ago, right when the county started road repairs. On this run, we had 3 IKs, 2 rafts, and a cataraft. The flow was low for the big boats, but just fine for the IKs. For the most part, the run was uneventful, but I did have one interesting situation. About halfway through Second Island Drop, I was pushed sideways into a big rock with lots of current pushing into it. I was starting to get wrapped on the rock, and felt the boat going vertical. I realized that a swim here would be annoying, so I decided I had better do something to try and avoid it. So, I leaned over and put my paddle in the water to brace, found the current, and pulled myself off the rock. If I can learn to do that instinctively, that will make a big difference.

36 - 6/13/09 - Upper Klickitat

The Upper Klickitat has been on my list for a while, but logistics and timing have made it a difficult one to catch. The run is usually best done in late May and early June, when lots of other rivers are running. Also, it's a 4-5 hour drive from the Puget Sound area. Despite this, a small group of us decided it was worth the trouble.

We had 2 IKs, 2 rafts, and a cataraft on the run. There were two other groups running the river that day, but much of the time we were alone. The shuttle roads were better than expected, but the shuttle directions didn't make it easy (no road markers where we expected them). We got on the river close to 1PM.

The river was easier than I expected. It was still continuous class III, but at 2000-2100 cfs, it was very straightforward. We were lucky that there were no problem trees, which was our big concern. The run took longer than we expected. It was around 20 miles, but we expected the current to take us down faster, so we were surprised when we got off the river after 6PM.

Some of us drove home, which meant we got home after midnight. I think that in the future I will make this a 3-day trip: Run the entire run on day 1, run the entire run on day 2, and then run just to the hatchery on day 3 and go home.

Walking away

Sometimes you have to walk away from a run. It could be due to high water, low water, being tired, or being scared. It may feel bad, especially if you've traveled a long way to do the run, but you have to keep in mind that you might be protecting more than just yourself.

The first time I walked away from a run was on the main Tuolumne in California. I had driven 4 hours to the put-in the night before and camped out in a precarious position. The flow was very low, and I just wasn't feeling up to the 18-mile extended run. I ended up helping out with the shuttle and heading home.

The second time was on the NF Nooksak in Washington. This was also a 4 hour drive, and I was feeling fine until a local "expert" told us about the run. He made it sound very difficult, and I was concerned about flipping and taking a long swim. Now that I've done the run several times, I know it's an easy run. That day, I went home and ran a more familiar river.

I nearly walked away from the Lower Tilton in Washington. I was taking a new medication that made me feel weak and nauseous, and I wasn't sure I was up for the run. I had a little snack and felt better. I was glad I didn't walk away from that run. Despite 3 swims, it was still a great day on the river.

The third time I walked away from a run was on the NF Teanaway in Washington. I felt fine until I hauled my boat down to the river. There, I encountered two problems. First, I was sweating and tired, even though I hadn't really carried the boat very far. Second, there were logs across the river right off the bat. I was concerned that I would encounter more logs and have problems dealing with them. In the end, there were no logs to worry about (even the ones I had seen could be skirted without a portage), but I still think it was the right decision.

While I have had to abandon a couple of runs due to equipment failure, there was one run that I abandoned because I was worried I couldn't continue. This was my first cataraft run on the Tieton River in Washington. I had done the run before in rafts and an IK, but I hadn't used my cat in several years. I quickly found that I could not control the boat, and I was dangerous to myself and the others in the group. I decided to take out after 3 miles, and a few weeks later I sold the boat.

35 - 6/11/09 - Middle Middle

As the snowpack begins to run out, we take advantage of the remaining raft flows on the Middle Middle. We had 6 catarafts (including mine), 5 IKs, and 2 rafts. The flow was around 1800, so I did have to deal with some rocks, but it was still fun. Next Thursday, the flow will probably be down in the low teens, so it will probably be all IKs and maybe a small cat or two.

34 - 6/9/09 - SF Snoqualmie

With the snowmelt starting to run out, it was time to take advantage of the nice weather and run the SF Snoqualmie. I went with my next door neighbor, who will turn 80 in a couple of weeks. The flow was around 400 cfs, which is low but still runnable (I have run the SF Snoqualmie as low as 200 cfs and had fun). At one point, we passed under the bridge at a local camp on the river and had an audience of about 40 kids. The water was clear and it was great weather for kayaking.

Before I forget, here's an update on my shoulders and elbows. I've been doing to stretches and exercises and getting acupuncture treatments for about a month now. My left shoulder is the worst problem, and it's only sore after I work it hard. My elbows only hurt if I apply direct pressure to the areas that were sore before. So, I'm keeping up the exercises and stretches and hoping to keep going strong.

33 - 6/7/09 - Peshastin Creek

The night before, several of us discussed running Peshastin Creek again. We started with around 10 takers, but by the time we left in the morning, we were down to 5 - 2 IKs, a raft with 2 people in it, and a small cataraft. We decided to put in just below Fresh Squeezed because the bigger boats would have trouble without more water, and we decided to not run the Wenatchee afterwards.

Carrying rafts down to the put-in was not much fun and it took a bit of effort. The IKs left first, and I immediately got stuck on a rock. After that, the rapids were fast and fun. When the IKs made it past the first few rapids, we stopped to wait for the other boats. They showed up after 5 minutes and we continued on. The run was a blast as usual, and everyone had a good run. I'm already looking forward to next year's trip.

32 - 6/6/09 - Peshastin Creek/Wenatchee

(In my cataraft in Snowblind on the Wenatchee)

The first weekend in June, WRRR holds the annual Bob Johnson Memorial Wenatchee Rendezvous (Bob was one of the founders of WRRR). The first few times I went, I just ran the Wenatchee River both days. As I would drive to the Wenatchee, I would look at Peshastin Creek, the small creek that parallels highway 97. In 2007, the Wenatchee was running high and Peshastin Creek had enough water for a first run. So, on the Sunday rather than running the Wenatchee again, I ran Peshastin Creek, and it quickly became one of my favorite runs. In 2008, I ran it again. So, when people started talking about 2009, Peshastin Creek had to figure in our plans.

We had 10 IKers on the trip. 5 put in up above the Ingal's Creek Bridge to get all of the hard whitewater. 1 put in just below the class IV rapid, Fresh Squeezed. 4 of us put in another mile below that, where the whitewater was merely continuous class II+ with frequent class III rapids.

Some people have called Peshastin Creek "the Tieton on steroids". The character of the run is similar, and there's even a runnable dam on the run. A better analogy is Joe Sauve's "the Tieton on crack" because Peshastin Creek is much more jittery and narrow. Whatever the case, it's a blast.

When we got to the Wenatchee, we had lunch and ran shuttle to continue down the Wenatchee. I switched to my purple cataraft and we launched just below the Dryden dam. At over 13,000 cfs, the Wenatchee is the polar opposite to Peshastin Creek. The waves and holes are huge, and you tend to have to run them hard because they are hard to avoid. I was very nervous and I was relived every time I made it through a rapid without trouble. At Rodeo Hole, we avoided the hole and then watched as a group of people in a raft lazily went in and flipped. The aforementioned Joe Sauve got to play hero by jumping on their overturned raft and reflipping it.

After the run, we all went back to the campground for food and festivities.

31 - 6/4/09 - Middle Middle

With the river flowing in the high-2000s, I decided to see how my arms would hold out on this run. We had a big group (around 25 people) in all kinds of boats. I did very well, with the only pain being in my left shoulder. It kept me awake a little bit during the night, but I took some ibuprofen and it calmed down.

ATuffy Instant Tent

A few months ago, I was searching the web for something, and I came across a mention of Apache Tents, which is a company that makes tents that they describe as "instant". Like most people, this brought to mind the tents used in the movie "Congo" that do pop up instantly, but are not very sturdy, not easy to take down, and kind of large to lug around. But, I looked at the reviews and the video on the Apache web site, and I decided to give their ATuffy 2-man tent a try. I found a deal for $220 for the 2-man version - not cheap, but a reasonable price for a good tent with the right specs.

One of my old tents is a primitive version of this tent. The poles stay in it, so when it's time to put it up, you unroll it, shake the poles until they are together, and put them into place. This doesn't always work - if you get the poles mixed up the tent is all twisted and you have to pull it apart again, which is annoying when you arrive at camp after dark. This is also a tiny tent, so I don't use it all that often.

Anyway, I ordered an ATuffy 2-man tent and when it arrived I gave it a try. It's not a gimmick. You unroll the tent, grab it by the top, swirl it around until the poles snap into place, reach inside, and pull the umbrella mechanism. You attach the umbrella pole to a T-hook inside of the tent. If it's not cold, rainy, or windy, you're done. If you need to put up the rainfly, that's also pretty quick. You unroll it, unfold the pole (which is attached to the fly), snap the pole into a hole in the top of the tent, and unfold it over the tent. It takes less than a minute to put the rainfly on. The tent comes with enough stakes for a full stakedown if you need it.

Taking the tent down is pretty easy. The rainfly poles come apart and the entire rainfly rolls up easily. There are bungee loops to keep it rolled up. Taking down the main tent takes a little bit of practice, but it's really not hard to learn. One really nice thing is that the bag is big enough to put the tent and rainfly in without having to roll it perfectly or spend 5 minutes tugging on the bag.

The tent is made with good quality material and well constructed. There are pockets in the corners, and T-hooks in the ceiling for a gear loft (sadly, Apache doesn't sell these, but they are probably a standard size). Most of the tent is nylon fabric, with 2 small net windows. The doors have both fabric and net panels with 2-way zippers. There are doors on the long sides, so it's easy to get in and out. It weighs under 7 lbs. I have another tent that is around the same size and cost a little more, and it weighs 2 lbs more and takes a lot more time to put up and take down.

I recently used my tent on a 7 day rafting trip. We only had rain one night, and the tent was brand new, so I can't really make a fair assessment of how it will hold up in strong rain and with lots of use, but I didn't get wet that night. Overall, I found the tent to be very comfortable. It was easy to open and close the doors without getting up, so it was easy to control the temperature. The one complaint I have is that the walls kind of droop a little. For me, this means that I need to push my Paco Pad into the foot of the tent, which leaves some room at the head for my pillow to fall off. I fixed this by putting my small drybag up there.

I plan to try out this tent in an inflatable kayak trip soon.

30 - 5/30/09 - Green River Gorge

I just couldn't stay away from boating with the great weather we've been having, but I did avoid injuring myself further by going in someone else's boat and only paddling a little. It was a beautiful day and lots of people were on the river. Afterwards, we attended a BBQ for Friends of the Green (FOG).

The photo is John (not in his Puma) standing up while surfing Paradise Ledge.

29 - 5/25/09 - Middle Middle

Back from the John Day and unpacked, I took the holiday to run the Middle Middle for the first time in 2 months. Normally, I would have already done a dozen runs on this stretch so far this year, but the road closure made that impossible.

I rowed my cat and took pictures. Sadly, this day taught me that my tendinitis is getting worse, so I need to take a break to take care of that.

28 - 5/23/09 - John Day River (Day 7)

This was our last day on the river (I think we got on the river before 8:30). Usually, I end up in the back of the group taking pictures, but my left shoulder and right elbow were giving me some trouble. I was worried about upstream winds coming up and slowing me down, so pretty early in the day I pushed ahead of the group and I arrived at the takeout a few minutes before everyone else. We got packed up pretty quickly and were on our way home by 2PM.

27 - 5/22/09 - John Day River (Day 6)

Today our trip leader forced us to wait until 9AM to leave camp. Yes, we had to wait about 30 minutes. We got to our camp before lunchtime. The camp is just below "Hoot Owl Rock". This would be our last camp, so to minimize carrying gear, we had our kitchen by the river and 3 of us slept down there.

26 - 5/21/09 - John Day River (Day 5)

After a day off from boating, we were all ready to get going, and we got on the river at the usual 8:30. We got to start the day with some nice whitewater, and we floated down to the next camp (yep, we made it before lunchtime).

In camp, we had another rattlesnake. We also noticed an A-frame cabin on the mountain to the West of us.

25a - 5/20/09 - John Day River (Day 4)

After the previous 30-mile day, we took a layover day to relax. It was hot and sunny once again.

25 - 5/19/09 - John Day River (Day 3)

It rained most of the night, but it stopped just before I woke up. Once again, we got on the river at 8:30 (we weren't trying to do this - it just happened). There was a wind blowing, and it was a 30 mile day, but the current was good and we got into camp at around 3PM. There were a couple of rattlesnakes that came through the camp, but they didn't stay long.

The picture is from Clarno rapid, which we ran at around 8000cfs.

24 - 5/18/09 - John Day River (Day 2)

We got an early start, leaving the camp at 8:30. It was a hot, sunny day and we once again made it to camp by lunchtime. At camp, we enjoyed an afternoon of "Rock TV", which involves finding shapes in the rocks. At our camp, there's a great rock that looks like Homer Simpson as the Sphinx.

23 - 5/17/09 - John Day River (Day 1)

Some friends have started a tradition of doing a week-long raft trip in May, and I have been lucky enough to get to go for the past 3 years. The first year we ran the John Day River in Oregon. The second we ran the Owyhee River, also in Oregon. The plan this year was to return to the Owyhee, with the Grande Ronde River (Oregon) as the backup. As you may have guessed from the title of this article, we ended up going back to the John Day. The Owyhee was too low for our tastes and the Grande Ronde was too high. The John Day was high, but not uncomfortably high, so that was our final choice.

There were 7 people in our group, each in their own boat: 4 catarafts, 2 rafts, and an inflatable kayak. I rowed my Aire Ocelot cataraft. We drove over on Saturday and set up our gear. We camped at the put-in and left in the morning at around 8:30. With the fast current, we made it to camp by lunchtime and spent the day playing dominoes and relaxing.