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.