12 - 3/28/09 - Green River Gorge

After a week of planning various possibilities, the weather turned wet and the Green came up. This was a suprise, as we were told that they were trying to fill the reservoir for some tests. Still, there's no reason to look this gift horse in the mouth - any chance to get on the Green is worthwhile. There are so many good rapids on the Green.

It rained all day, and near the end of the day it started snowing. It always seems warm in the gorge, but when we get to the bottom it gets colder. I think part of that has to do with the amount of work we're doing while paddling the gorge, but I also think the gorge traps warmer air.

My Second Swim

My first swim was really inconsequential. I was in the back of a raft, we bumped a rock, and I fell out. The guide was able to grab hold of me and several people pulled me back in before I knew what had happened. My second swim was quite a bit more interesting, as it resulted in an actual injuty rather than just flopping around in the water.

I had just bought my new IK and was taking it down the South Fork American in California. The original plan had been to join some former coworkers who were doing a standard commercial trip in rafts - the (lower) Gorge run on Saturday followed by the (upper) Chili Bar run on Sunday. Since I had my own gear, the rafting company allowed me to come along for free. The week before the trip, a group of boater friends invited me to run with them. I had to refuse, since I already had plans, but they told me they were going to run the entire river, meaning starting at Chili Bar and running the Gorge. So, I told them I would run the Chili Bar section with them and then join my other group to run the Gorge.

This was only my second IK run on Chili Bar and my 3rd in my new IK, but I was feeling a little cocky. One of my friends said he was going to run further left than the main line, and I agreed to follow him. We made it through a little more than half of the rapid when I hit a hole sideways. I flipped and lost track of the boat. I swam to the bottom of the rapid and got out on the right. A solo rafter came by and informed me that my boat had eddyed out on the right about 50 yards upstream, not far from where I had flipped. He also pointed at my right leg and mentioned that I was bleeding. I hadn't noticed, but I had a nice hole punched in my shin, about an inch long. I didn't own a wetsuit at that time, and it was hot enough that I hadn't really needed one for warmth, and a rock had gotten me.

I went up and got into my boat and finished the rapid. There was nothing else I could really do at that point, so I continued on and met up with my other friends. After about an hour, my leg had swollen enough that I didn't feel like kayaking anymore. I should have gone to a doctor and had the hole stitched up, but I decided instead to go home. That was a tough drive. A couple of weeks later, I visited my doctor for other reasons, and he admonished me for not getting it stiched up, but he admitted that it was healing.

That was one of the rare occasions where I've gotten hurt on a swim. I've been hurt on scouts and portages more than in the river. I hope my luck continues.

11 - 3/25/09 - Middle Middle

Today was a very interesting one. It started snowing before dawn, and by 10AM we had 3 inches on the ground. By 4PM, it was almost all melted. Lyles and I decided to do a quick Middle Middle run. The road was in horrible shape and the water was muddy, but there was plenty for kayaking. We decided to do the full run from the concrete bridge. This adds about 45 minutes to the run, and at this flow the rapids up there are fun.

We had a flow of about 1300 at the put-in, but when we got to the hardest section (Right Angle Drop, House Rocks, and the next couple of rapids) the side streams had contributed enough that it felt more like 1600, which is a great medium level. There were some rapids we had to run almost blind because of the sun. Luckily, we know this run very well.

This was my 600th river day since I started almost 20 years ago. It was also my 96th IK run of the Middle Middle.

10 - 3/21/09 - Middle SF Stillaguamish

This was my 3rd run on this section of the river. The first time I ran the section above, which meant that there was enough water to make the lower section pretty difficult. The next time was very low, which made it very rocky and technical. I had a short swim on that run because of the rocks. This time was a bit higher than the second time (5.7 feet), which made it a pretty comfortable level. A little more water would make some sections easier, and would make the more difficult rapids a little tougher, which on this run means more fun.

One thing to note is that the gauge is a long way below the run, which means that it doesn't correlate exactly to the run. A 5.7 feet level in June or July will probably be a bit higher than today.

Overall, this run is class III with 3 rapids a little tougher than the others. The 3rd of these is very near the end, and it's right above a large logjam. The logjam is passable, but the current kind of pushes you over to the logs. The portage is very easy.

We started at Boardman Creek and ran down to the highway bridge above Verlot. Ideally, we would have run from the red bridge down to the Verlot Campground, but there were trees down across the river above Boardman Creek and Verlot Campground isn't open yet.

My Inflatable Kayaks - Part 10 - Yet Another Stiletto

I'm not going to tell the story of how I got this boat. I will simply say that it's a red Stiletto that came without a floor or backrest, and that the original owners of the boat are friends of mine. My plan is to get Sotar to make an inflatable floor and backrest for it. The floor would be designed to be removable so that people who have complete boats could still use their original foam floor in cases where they don't need to flexibility of the inflatable floor.

My Inflatable Kayaks - Part 9 - Another Stiletto

In the fall of 2007, I saw a nice Stiletto for sale, but the seller wanted a special deal. She was from Europe, and she was going back to Europe, and she really didn't have a practical use for the boat there. However, she wanted the option of buying the boat back for the same price if she returned. I agreed to buy the boat from her with the understanding that she could buy it back if she returned within 2 years (in fact, she can buy the boat back after 2 years if I still have it, and I don't intend to sell it at this point).

This is a guest boat. I've never tried it out, but it has been used by several people since I bought it, and everyone likes it.

The Late Winter Doldrums

Two weeks ago, our snowpack was around 50% of average. Now it is over 100% of average and is about the same as what we had a year ago. The 10-day forecast calls for a continuation of this, so we could significantly increase that. Last year was a very good year for whitewater boating. Despite all of the recent rain and snow, most of the rivers are running very low. If you want to boat, you have to travel.

This is not all that uncommon for this time of year. It's just cold enough that the snow and ice aren't melting. The recent heavy rains couldn't soak into the cold ground enough to keep a flow going. The flows will head up quickly, only to peak just below minimum boating level. In some areas, the flows are high enough to run, but the roads are closed because of snow.

Welcome to the Late Winter Doldrums... soon to be the Early Spring Doldrums.

This is the time of year when we should take advantage of the lack of boating to repair our gear and get things organized. It's the time of year to get back to working out and going to a lake for flip practice. It's the time of year to handle all of those jobs around the house that we're not going to have time for when the rivers start running. It's the time of year to rack up vacation days and "family days" so we can take advantage of them later. Good luck with that.

My Inflatable Kayaks - Part 8 - Stiletto XL

The Stiletto, originally made by Skykomish Boatworks (not to be confused with the boat of the same name made by Star Inflatables), is considered by many to be the best whitewater inflatable kayak you can get for hard whitewater. The boat is sleek and fast, yet it's stable. The foam floor makes for high performance and a low profile. These boats were made in the mid-90s, and their audience was somewhat limited (mostly Washington, a few in Oregon and Idaho, and a handful scattered throughout the rest of the country). By 2005, it was nearly impossible to find one in good shape. The company that made them had been out of business for years, but one of the creators of the boat was still in business. After a lot of pressure and people promising to buy the boats, he agreed to make another run. In the end, there were less than 25 boats, all in dark blue with most having grey floors (a few, such as mine, had white floors).

My Stiletto is an XL model. It's a few inches longer than the normal Stiletto, and the main part of the tube is a little bit bigger. The floor, on the other hand, is the normal length. This has a small disadvantage when going through large waves and holes, because it allows pools of water to stay in the bow and stern of the boat for a long time. With my other boats, I can lift the bow and keep water out of the boat, and if the boat fills up, it drains quickly. This doesn't happen with the Stiletto. I have to plan to run big rapids full of water. This isn't necessarily a bad thing - it's hard to flip a boat that's full of water, and the flat floor of the Stiletto makes it easy to maneuver even when it's full - it's just different. I've planned to create some sort of foam inserts for the bow and stern. This should help reduce the amount of water that can stay in the boat.

I rarely use my Stiletto, except as a guest boat. I like it, but I always worry that I'm going to hit a rock and tear the floor, so it's only a good boat for me in high water. Since I don't use it much, I only use it on easy high water. I've put the boat up for sale, but I haven't been trying very hard to sell it. It's such a nice boat.

My Inflatable Kayaks - Part 7 - Sun Runner (Young Bessie)

Back in the late 90s, I realized that Old Bessie was not going to last forever, and I would need a replacement. Every year I'd send out a feeler to try to find a similar boat. Finally in 2005 I got a reply from a park ranger in Oregon saying that he had a boat like I wanted, and he would be willing to sell it so he could buy a new boat. I took him up on his offer and bought the boat. The boat looked years newer than Old Bessie, but according to the serial number info, she was only a few months newer. I named her Young Bessie. She came with a really strange backrest, which involved an inflatable pad, a piece of PVC pipe, and a chain. It was very uncomfortable and it didn't work all that well. I ended up buying a couple of different sized replacement backrests from Hyside, one of which eventually went on my Wing. The other went on Young Bessie.

The boat has really not seen much use. I've used her once, and one other person used her, only to find that the pressure relief valve on the floor is leaky and needs to be cleaned out or replaced. Since I started using the Wing, Young Bessie has mostly just sat unused waiting to be repaired and sold. She'll be a great boat for a big person someday.

My Inflatable Kayaks - Part 6 - Aire Lynx

By 2005, I realized that I wasn't going to use my Aire Force XL anymore. It wasn't a good guest boat, and I didn't want to use it. So, I put it up for sale. After a couple of attempts, someone offered me an Aire Lynx in trade. It wasn't really a good deal for me. My boat was still under warranty, while the Lynx was so old it didn't even have a serial number. Still, it was a boat that someone could actually use, so I took the deal. The boat had a 3-piece foam floor, and was in excellent condition considering its age. The story was that the person who owned it for the majority of its life only used it for lake trips.

I used it as a guest boat for a couple of years, but I eventually sold it to help pay for another boat. Just before I sold it, one of the inner bladders ruptured and it cost me a bit to replace it. I guess the Aire Force was getting back at me for trading it too cheaply.

My Inflatable Kayaks - Part 5 - Wing Probe

In 2003, I was looking for a replacement for Old Bessie. She was big and heavy, and after several hundred trips, I was worried she was going to start falling apart. The dealer who sold me Old Bessie recommended the Wing Probe as a stable boat that was lighter and more manueverable. I took a chance, and my first trip in the Wing was terrible. I felt like I was going to fall out of the boat backwards. I ended up using the boat for guests for a year and I even considered getting rid of it until I decided to try putting in a bigger backrest. I tried a large Hyside backrest first. After just a couple of rapids I could tell that the boat was much more comfortable and stable. I tried the smaller backrest as an experiment, but it just never felt right.

I was still a little bit tentative with the Wing. That summer, I ran Rattlesnake Creek in Old Bessie for comfort, and I wished I had the Wing for lightness (there were at least 9 wood portages on the trip). By the middle of summer, I switched full time to using the Wing.

The next year, I added a foam footbrace to the boat. I considered putting in footpegs, but I just wasn't sure about them. In the end, the footbrace has worked out great, except for the couple of times I've forgotten to bring it. Another thing I did was to get a friend to devise a set of webbing loops in the floor for attaching gear. This makes it very easy to tie in everything from a pump and lunch bag to a weekend camping bag.

The Wing has become my primary boat. I've even tried to get a spare, but I have been unable to get one since they made so few of them. I've only found one other, and the deal on that one went sour. I continue to try new boats, but it's going to be hard to beat the Wing.

The Chair Rule

Some people will try to save weight and space on a camping/rafting trip by cheaping out on a chair. They'll bring one of those little 3-legged camp stools or one of those things that makes a Thermarest into a chair, or they'll plan to sit on a cooler, or they won't bring anything. Invariably, these people find out that these chairs aren't very comfortable, and they end up plopping down in whatever chair is free, and hope that the owner is too polite to say anything.

The Chair Rule has 3 parts:

1. You must bring a good chair.
2. If you do not bring a good chair, you don't get to sit in someone else's chair.
3. You must help enforce the chair rule for others.

The 3rd rule means that nobody is allowed to grab your chair and then suggest that you go and use a free chair - everyone in the group is supposed to back you up if you ask for your chair. In other words, helping someone violate the Chair Rule is a violation of the Chair Rule.

If you're going on a trip with more than 4 people, it's a good idea to bring an extra chair. Chairs sometimes get broken, or someone may not know about the Chair Rule. Better safe than sorry.

My Inflatable Kayaks - Part 4 - Aire Force XL

In 1999, I moved to the Cascade foothills near Seattle. I was told that there were many smaller rivers there, so I decided to buy an Aire Force XL. The Force was a new design that was supposed to be faster and more manueverable than other boats. It was the first boat I had that came with thigh straps and a footbrace, and it would have been impossible to use otherwise. At first it seemed like a great boat, but after a few flips I realized that it had all of the disadvantages of an IK and all of the disadvantages of a hardshell, but very few advantages of either. Basically, it allowed me to manuever around obstacles that would cause problems. But, in a larger boat, I would have been able to plow through these obstacles safely. Also, there were cases where the only route contained something I would want to manuever around. After a couple of seasons in this boat, I went back to Old Bessie once again. I eventually traded this boat away because I couldn't use it as a guest boat, and I hated running it myself.

There is one fun story about the Force and the Sotar. I was running the West Fork and Main Teanaway Rivers with some friends. I was in the Force, one friend was in the Sotar, and another in Old Bessie. I came around a corner and saw a river-wide tree, so I headed for shore and began to portage. I heard my friends yelling, and I looked around just in time to see the Sotar go under the tree and get stuck. I hurried to finish the portage, but I wasn't quite fast enough and the Sotar began heading downstream. I got into the river and chased it down. It took me about a half mile to get to it.

One of the tricks of inflatable kayaking is to use the strap that you use to keep the boat together as a "flip strap". You attach the strap to the back of the boat so that you have something to grab onto when you are trying to get to the boat after a flip. You never use a rope for this because a rope can compress and get stuck between rocks. This won't happen to a strap.

When I reached the Sotar, I grabbed the strap and paddled for shore. As I neared the shore, I needed both hands, so I stuck the strap in my mouth and proceeded to get out. The current grabbed the Sotar and the sudden force on my head pulled me over. By the time I got back up, the Sotar was on the shore and the Force was heading down the river. I had to go another quarter mile to get the Force back to shore. Five minutes later, my friends showed up in Old Bessie, and we continued on down the river.