55 - 7/18/2010 - Middle Sauk

Brian's new boat

 

We had a few more folks join us for Sunday. My friend Brian had just gotten a new set of cataraft tubes, and I let him borrow my frame (I had a new frame, but wasn't planning to get tubes for it until later in the year).

We had a very interesting run. There were no problems until we got to Whirlpool. One IKer flipped near the top, followed by the other, and they both got to swim the entire rapid. Near the end of the run, I got to try out the Aire Panther. It felt very weird, but it was a stable boat.

54 - 7/17/2010 - Middle Sauk

Aire Panther

My back was starting to bother me a bit more, but I decided that I could take my catboat out on the Middle Sauk. I met up with some old friends and some new friends, and we had a nice day on the river. One of the new people had a very interesting boat - an Aire Panther. This is a 14' cataraft with double tubes. It's very wide, and relatively short.

We went out to dinner after the run, and then went and camped at the put-in so we could boat again the next day.

53 - 7/11/2010 - Upper Klickitat

Basalt wall on the Upper Klickitat

Normally, we would have done a second day on the White Salmon, but some of the people on the trip had come from very far away and it was worth doing another run nearby. The Klickitat flow was medium-low but was still fine for IKs, and probably better for a first run. We had met a couple the day before who wanted to do the run with us.

We chose a takeout that cut off the last hour or so of mostly flatwater, and then headed up to the put-in. The run started off with no real problems. We got to a place where there had been a river-wide log when I ran this back in the Spring, and I saw people pulling over to the right bank. I figured people were going to portage, but then I realized that the log was gone and one person had lost the backrest out of his boat and it was floating downstream. This was one of the people we had just met. I pulled over and he walked up to me and said "I'm done. I'm walking out". I responded "There's no walking out. Look behind you. There's a 200 foot cliff to the road, which is probably a mile away. Look behind me. There's a 50 foot cliff with nothing beyond it". After a couple of minutes of discussion, I convinced him that he had to continue.

Not long after this, someone flipped and lost a paddle. We had 2 spares in the group, so that took care of one. A little later, another person broke a paddle, so we had no more spares. Luckily, not far above the fish hatchery, I saw the lost paddle floating in an eddy and I was able to retrieve it.

This was my 3rd run on the Klickitat, and I always run the fish hatchery dam. I had never seen it at low water, and I didn't realize how many rebar spikes are actually sticking out. I was able to locate a route wide enough for my boat, but it was close.

The rest of the day was easy and we all had a great time. I did hear that the couple who went with us sold their kayaks the next week, but I'm hoping that it was to buy better kayaks, and not because they were quitting.

52 - 7/10/2010 - White Salmon

The IK crew

Every July, WRRR goes to the White Salmon. As usual, I drove down to Vancouver, WA the night before and stayed in a hotel. This makes the drive easier, since it's only a couple of hours to the put-in on Saturday morning. I took 84 (in Oregon) over to Hood River and crossed rather than taking the slow and winding 14 in Washington.

We had a good flow - a little higher than usual - and some people were nervous. We had a couple of people flip in the first rapid, but it really wasn't a big deal. Once everyone got their minds into the game, we pushed through and had a great time.

51 - 7/8/2010 - Middle Middle

Karie and Mark in their catboats

We had 2 cats and 3 IKs. We got a little bit of a late start, but that's not a big deal in July.

River Flow Disagreements

I was running the Sauk River and got into a conversation about the river flow. I had been watching the river flow, and I knew that the flow was dropping, but one person was sure it had come up since the day before. He had convincing evidence - when he ran it the day before, there were rocks that were not covered that were covered the next day. The only problem was that he was wrong. Both of the gauges showed that the river had come down somewhat significantly, and there was no reason to think that the river had come up. It wasn't hotter and the rain had stopped the day before.

I realized that this wasn't an uncommon situation. Many times I've heard people say that a river was higher or lower, and then checking the gauge showed that the flow was unchanged or had changed in the opposite direction. In most cases I can recall, people said that the flow had come up when it had in fact gone down.

A similar discussion came a couple of weeks later, when someone claimed that the Wenatchee had been lower a year earlier. The estimate was that this year the flow was very high, while it had been about 3000 cfs lower the year before. In fact, just the opposite was true.

I believe that this phenomenon is caused by people associating high water with difficulty, while some rivers can actually get easier at some higher flows. Rapids will "wash out" - holes turn into waves, waves stop breaking, and new routes open up that aren't as hard. Another factor is the "fractal" nature of rivers - rivers have similar characteristics as they get larger and smaller.

I've gotten to the point where I no longer argue about it. I just gather the opinions people have and then check out the information available when I get home.