CASCADE CANOE CLUB

NEWS LETTER

JULY 2001 Volume VIII Number 7

July Meeting

Tuesday, July 3^rd, we will meet at the Aspen Street Landing in Springfield. For us gray beards it is perhaps better know as "D" Street Landing. If neither name rings a bell take Centennial Blvd. To Aspen Street. Turn North, go to end of street and keep going into the park. There is very limited parking down by the water, so parking just inside the park gate may be the better option.

As usual, we’ll meet at 6:30 p.m., snack on finger food pot luck and then paddle. There are three paddling options - paddle on the flat pond right at the landing, portage to the canoe canal, and run the Willamette down to Alton Baker Park. There are also options for those who don’t want to paddle. Hike a little ways and look at the Great Blue Heron rookery and/or hike down the river and watch people run I-5 rapids.

Think about where you would like to paddle and bring ideas to the meeting or share them thru the website.

Omar.

June Meeting

Lost in the e-mails.

Trips

I failed to get the South Slough trip put together as a club function. By the June 5 meeting five boats wanted to go on July7. I called June 6 and there is only one opening lift on July 7. Aug. 4 is still completely open, but by the time I get five boats lined up it probably won’t be.

My advice is for individuals to call the Estuary(1-541-888-5558) and sign up on an open date.

Sorry we can’t go as a club, but I have participated twice in their trips and both were well worth the $10 fee. Good luck.

Phil

Eugene Celebration

It’s time to make a decision to have a booth at the celebration OR not. We must have the form and deposit (55 bucks) in by the 31^st of July. If our treasure chest can handle it, then I say go for it. Reasons: It’s fun talking "paddling" with people, the exposure is good for the life of our club (maybe there is a pres. and vice pres. out there who have let their paddles down and can be nabbed) and it is fun talking paddling with people. Let me know what you think ----also if anyone has one of those spring -up canopies we could really use one for the booth that week-end.

The celebration is Sept. 14, 15, and 16. As in the past, we would as members, volunteer 2 hours of our time to talk the above aforementioned language with people willing to listen to our "water-talk" and do it willingly. The community causeway is from Saturday morn on the 15^th to 5pm the 16^th. I will need some hardy sole (sounds fishy) to help me set up on Saturday morn at 9am.

Robert.

Umpqua Trip: May 26-28

We, (Karen, Joan, John, Maggie and Phil) left the boat ramp in Winchester Bay about noon on Saturday. The river crossing was calm, but the tide was still too low to land without slogging through calf-deep mud. When we finally braved the mud to get ashore, I couldn’t find the previously scouted campsite: the group was very patient and understanding (that "understanding" part was a little embarrassing, but I’m getting used to it)

The campsite was finally located, and by then there was enough water to land our boats on dry sand. Everyone set up camp and immediately took out the reading materials. I was the only one without a book. Joan took pity on me and loaned me one.

We had a fire after dinner - - a pleasant conclusion to a pleasant day. The weather gods had smiled on us.

Sunday was a circus of sorts. Karen had decided to spend just one night, and there was a chance another member would join us around 10 am at the ramp. I planned to accompany Karen out and the new participant in, but due to some planning errors, we got Karen launched beyond the mud, but my boat was stuck about 50 feet from the water. I watched Karen until she entered the boat basin. The "new plan" was: she would give her boat to the new person.

Three hours later when my boat was free, I paddled to the ramp to see what had happened. Where was Karen? Where was her boat? Did she meet anyone? I found the boat by my pickup and no one around. (I found the note of explanation, tucked behind the door handle, on Monday, just as we were leaving.)

Back at camp, Joan, John and Maggie had hiked out to the ocean. They had a good hike and I had a good paddle –not a bad day. The day ended with dinner, a fire, and dominoes. ---- Then the rains came.

Monday morning was partly cloudy until we had broken camp and everything was piled on the beach. Then the rain returned. First everything got wet, then everything got sandy, then we put it all in the boats (makes one dread the clean up to come.)

Paddling back across the river with the current running out against the wind was a roller coaster ride. However, it was fun after we realized the big waves were benign. It was a pretty good trip: I’d do it again next year.

Phil

Canoe and Kayak Registration

There appears to be a bill in the legislature (house bill 3483) which would require an annual $15.00 registration fee for canoes and kayaks - - I guess they need the money for more facilities for power boats and PWC"s. I ran across reference to this on the Kayak Building Bulletin Board. www.kayakforum.com

Not sure what we can do about it, but, since I haven’t seen any reference locally, though you might want to know.

Aloha (I like to rub it in)

Chris.

Trips

I just returned from a River House trip on the Service Creek - Clamo run of the John Day River. Thursday afternoon when we put on the flow was about 830 cf’s and dropped to 700 cf’s by the time we took out at Clarno Bridge on late Sunday morning. The trip is 47 miles of intense beauty.

The scenery is spectacular with steep canyons, amazing basalt and other rock formations. Then there are the painted hills striped with brilliant bands of colors. The birding was also excellent - mergansers, Canada geese with goslings, canyon wrens, red wing and yellow wing blackbirds, morning doves, swallows - cliff, bank and violet green and maybe rough winged too, osprey, peregrine falcon, and a few people saw golden eagle. Oh yeah, I shouldn’t forget the western king bird that made such a racket at our last camp or the western grebe. And wild flowers, one couple on the trip stopped innumerable times to examine yet another beautiful plant. The fishing parties we passed were catching lots of bass.

I just can’t gush enough about this trip. It’s my third trip here and first at low water. Because of the low water some places were easier and some harder than at higher flows. The usual recommended flows for this trip are 1200-4000 cf’s. Russo Rapids was rocky but not pushy. Homestead was shallow water over a cobble bed, almost no waves and the eddy on the right was very gentle. Burnt Ranch Rapids - the third Class II rapids on the trip was more difficult with route finding required to dodge rocks. There was no pushy current along the rock wall so the rapid divided itself into an upper and a lower part. For the upper part we started right and had to work our way left and then back toward left center at the bottom. All that in maybe 50 yards of river distance. The lower part was just a bit of rock dodging.

The scenery is great, the birds beautiful, the water fun and warm, the weather was mostly great. Did the trip have any down side? Yes, Saturday the wind was upstream all day. Not hard but something to work against all day until late afternoon when it blew so hard it was nearly impossible to hold an angle or course against it. The gear raft even had to row down riffles, the wind was so strong. We made camp earlier than we wanted that night, but the camp site was perfect. Great views of canyon wall, hills to hike without much cheat grass to fill our socks and the wind settled down about the time we had camp set up. The moonlight on the cliff faces that night was incredibly beautiful.

Anybody want to do a seven or eight day trip next spring? That would give time for easy paddling days and lots of hiking and sightseeing. It is an easy self support trip. We don’t need a barge boat although if someone wanted to row one , we wouldn’t turn down the offer.

Omar

Buy-Sell-Trade

Cascade Paddles and Portage/hiking Staffs made to order- you choose the length, style and type of woods, over a dozen blade styles to pick from. Bent or Straight. Pick from an inventory of paddles and staffs in stock, both strong and light. Robert 342-2246

CLUB MEETINGS; First Tuesday of each month.

Fall, Winter, Spring; 7:P.M. at Episcopal Church of the Resurrection 3926 Hilyard St.

Eugene

Summer; 6:30 P.M. potluck at various nearby paddle locations.

CHECK OUT OUR WEBSITE; www.efn.org/~canoe. What you will find: Updated information on club trips, paddling reports and notes, newsletter archive, paddling events planned by other groups a gallery of images and links, links, links. Want to be published or have news of interest to paddlers: Check the site for submission guidelines.

CONTRIBUTIONS TO NEWSLETTER; akaGary@clipper.net. Due by the 20th of the month.