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MF Willamette River (Soggy Sneakers run #71), Oct. 5th, 1300 cfs
On a cool and foggy Sunday morning 7 of us got together to float the MF
of the Willamette River from Reservoir to Reservoir, Hills Creek to
Lookout Point that is. The brave souls were Clarence('lake'(!) kayak),
Bob(whitewater kayak), Lana (canoe), Lee and Ellen (canoe), Horst (IK),
Jeff (IK). Chris and Kathy J. from Oakridge met us at Westfir Bridge
where we scouted Hells Gate Rapids. Chris then guided us to the put-in,
2 mi. above Oakridge, an undocumented access point he had researched
earlier (see detailed description below).
By the time we reached the put-in the sky had turned blue and stayed
clear throughout the day -- until we returned back into The Valley. Too
bad, we had to dress down and stash away our fancy raingear.
The launch was an exciting moment: all but myself have never been before
on the Middle Fork, and I had only done the documented stretch once, two
years ago -- and I always love to explore new territories
The first two undocumented miles turned out to be very nice and busy
class 2 water, more than just a warm-up for the rapids between Oakridge's
Greenwater Park and Salmon Creek. All of us did well and we stopped for
lunch past the Salmon Creek rapids. Between Salmon Creek and Hells Gate
the river keeps you busy with several class 2/2+ rapids. On that stretch
we had three swimming events, one w/o any 'good' reason in fairly slow
and shallow water, the other two in class 2+/3 rapids, Hells Gate
included. Everybody recovered w/o bodily or boatily injuries.
Past Hells Gate the action slows down a bit, though there still remains
quiet a bit class 2 fun. The only damper was the wind kicking in at the
last third of the trip. Some of us had to work hard, and the solo canoe
even harder. Still, running those 12 miles in less than 4 hours (time for
lunch and rescues included) gives you an idea about the overall pace of
that stretch of the river.
I had the impression that everybody had a good time, and personally, I
remember this trip as a nice conclusion of my whitewater season for this
year. Many thanks to Chris from Oakridge for scouting the upper put-in,
which added an extra kick to our adventure.
On a general note, our club had a pretty active season, with a wide
variety of trips, and several new folks taking the initiative to
coordinate a trip. Thanks to everyone! And special thanks to Jeff, our
tireless editor, who kept us all informed and going!
- Horst
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Directions to upper put-in: East of Oakridge from Hwy 58 go right
on Hills Creek Rd. At the 1st fork take a right on FR-21; just before
crossing the MF of the Willamette take a left onto a dirt road, and go to
the end to an undeveloped boat ramp; this is the put-in (it's river-
right, just to make it clear). To avoid vandalism drive car back to road
fork after unloading. I didn't look at my odometer, but road sections
mentioned above are within quarter-mile range.
Shortening the run: if 12 miles are too much, and you enjoy
splashy class 2+ action I'd suggest to include the upper 2 miles and to
cut short at the lower section, somewhere below Hells Gate rapids. We
didn't look for alternative take-out spots, but there are roads on both
sides of the river.
Umpqua River/Winchester Bay Overnighter - Oct 25th & 26th
(from Phlog - a SiMpLe journal: gopher://beaker.mdns.org)
Sun Oct 26 17:38:57 PST 2003
Just got back from our Winchester Bay trip. Nice sunny weather but
oh the wind: we were bouncing around on both crossings and I was
actually thinking about which way I'd be floating when I capsized.
None of us swam but it definitely could have happened.
Crossings aside, the trip was rather pleasant. We camped on the
edge of the north spit dunes adjacent from a smallish island that
becomes a walk-over at low tide (would have been mucky). We found
a small cabin hidden in the brush on the island which was furnished
with two bunks, small table, various cans of food and a wood stove.
It even had a ceiling light that runs off a car battery (not
present). I found an old address book with several journal entries.
Evidently the place is called "The Duck Shack" and there were
several references to bagging ducks so I surmised that it was
erected by hunters as a way to make the November nights a tad bit
nicer.
Phil brought along Blue, his Australian cattle dog, for the trip.
Blue was a bit anxious about being in the boat but perked up among the
dunes. At one point he started barking in the direction of the big dune
we were camped near; we all looked over and saw a good size black bear
running full speed across the dune (away from us). The bear kept
running right up to the end, jumped in the Umpqua and swam across! We
all stared in amazement until I started wondering where he came _from_
and remembered I had my food bag in my tent up on the dune! I hurried
up to the tent; it and the food bag were intact but the prints ran
right past the upwind side of the tent. I can only guess that he
smelled us before he got a whiff of the food and took off running.
Whew!
In addition to land carnivore, we saw quite a few seals. I had the
fastest boat and had it out in the surf on the south end of the
island. The seals apparently gather there at high tide and appeared
to just be playing. I got pretty close several times. They would
rise up about 18 inches then slap a flipper down and dive.
We did some hiking; I was having problems with my sciatic nerve
which tempered my explorations some. I would have liked to have
gone on a night hike; the stars were out in full force and on the
dunes it feels like you're on a different planet.
I took several pictures on the dunes which I probably post so other
members can see them. I'll definitely be going back; there were
few people around - surprising since its very scenic. So many places
on the Oregon coast have gotten crowded in recent years; it was
nice to find a place were you could feel like you were "away from
it all".
--Jeff
Logistics:
We put-in at the Winchester Bay boat launch. There is a $5 launch fee
which we paid so as to be able to park overnight in the lot near the
resetrooms. We opted to launch adjacent the restrooms as there is a
nice pebble beach. There were no problems getting in/out of the marina
though one should definitely watch out for the larger boats as their
wake can upset a tippy kayak. Paddling the bay is best done at high
tide +/- 2 hours. At any other time there are significant currents and
mud flats. The seasonal shift of the predominate winds is also something
to consider if planning a Fall trip.
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