Eleven of us (Audz, Bill, Bri, John, Bets, Carl, Eleanore, Steve, Murray, Chad, and myself), all in open canoes, paddled the Narrows at 1,500 cfs. Great level, great weather, great time. Some of the surf waves on the run were in excellent form, particularly one just down from the put-in at MP 15. No videos on surfing that one, but I did catch folks surfing a wave right at the put-in.
Bill Jordens, Witt Anderson, Murray Johnson, Curt Peterson, Kendall Springer, Ken Keating, Chad Price, Alex McNeily, Audrey Bergsma and I all braved the snow, the rain, and the hail to have a perfectly wonderful day on the Kilchis. It was flowing at a great level. Apparently when the Wilson is slowing dropping (2500 to 2450 cfs while we were on the Kilchis) the Kilchis is prime for play and surfing. Long an advocate of the NF Trask, I’m coming around to agreeing with Carl Poston that the Kilchis might be the most beautiful of the two runs … though its still close.
The Butte Creek gauge we use is an algorithm done by Pat Welch, so it’s not an exact reading. On the morning of Feb 18, I checked the gauge and it was 270 and rising. The Molalla, another good reference point was also 1800 and rising. Seemed like good conditions for a run of Butte Creek. What I didn’t know what that as soon as I walked out the door, both readings had hit their high marks and were beginning to fall despite the day’s prediction for at least a 1/10 inch of rain or more. The level ended up being the lowest I’ve ever run Butte Creek. Still fun. Still doable, But a bit sticky on some of the ledges as you’ll see in the video. As we were scouting on the drive up the rapid known as Knucklebuster, a group of Seattle IKers drove up and we started talking to them. They were down here for a run of Butte Creek because of a video they had seen online. With the few times we run Butte Creek a year, what are the chances of a group of paddlers coming from out of state and running into the guy who made the video?
This year’s Sweetheart Paddle was another sweet paddle on the Nehalem River from Vernonia to Big Eddy. The gauge was at 199 cfs, but that’s enough to float your boat and average about 5 MPH on the river. Seventeen LCCC members showed their love of rivers, the outdoors and Mary Ann’s chocolate gluten-free cookies. A big thanks to Mary Ann for organizing.
Thirteen members of the LCCC paddled the NF Trask at 2200 on a chilly January 28th. All agreed it was a great level with some excellent surfing. On the trip: Patty Bolden, Brianne Condon, Bill Jordens, Cliff DeBride and his friend Ben, Curt Peterson, Greg Davenport, Eric Lindenauer, David Poole, Kendall Springer, Ken Keating, Audrey Bergsma, and myself.
This is a look back at 2011. The video includes clips and photos of club day trips, weekend trips, far off adventures, the Roaring River Slalom, and people simply having fun paddling.
On January 7, fourteen of us gathered on the banks of the Wilson and ran the section known as the Narrows–MP 18 to MP 12. The actual Narrows is a small slot with deep turbulent water. Level was around 1800 cfs and actually made the entry rapid to the Narrows easier. On the trip, first names only, were: Curt, Terry, Susan, Leon, Denny, Karl, Dee, Kendall, Greg, Eric, Paul, Alex, John, and myself. Another excellent day on the water and planet Earth.
Once again Bill Jordens hosted the first paddle of the year. This time it was on one of his favorite runs, the Devil’s Lake Fork of the Wilson, and he pulled out all stops, giving us a perfect level (3600 cfs) and even some sun. But what you all want to know is whether there was a first swim of the year and if you’re off the hook. But to find out that you’ll have to wait for the February newsletter. So send in those dues checks to make sure you get your copy and the full account of the day. Paddling on 1/1/12: Audrey Bergsma, Mark Scantlebury, Ken Keating, Greg Davenport, Kendall Springer, Bill, and special guest paddler Kris Knight from the Paddle Trails Canoe Club (Seattle). There was another group on the Kilchis that was coordinated by Carl Poston that included his new tandem partner Eleanore, plus Karl Dinkelspiel, Ted Housen, Leon Aliski, Tom and Blake McCord, and Jim Coker. Here’s a short video of the action on the DLF of the Wilson.
This is a video mash of two successive weekends running the Sandy Gorge. Levels were low–500 and 450 cfs by the Sandy River at Marmot gauge. Perfect time to try it. The common denominators were myself, Greg Davenport, and Denny Egner. Joining us on one weekend or the other were Kevin Lane, Dee Brodigan, Audrey Bergsma, Chris Watson, Gerry Orr, and a kayaker named Craig Hermes who I didn’t get much footage of. A particularly gnarly-looking drop is at the end. It’s called Revenue and is a forest of rocks. There’s a great slot though if you can make the first move into it. Scouting from shore, the view of this slot is blocked by several rocks so it’s an act of faith that it’s there and you can make it down it. Perhaps that’s why I chose the gospel song.
A group of club members ran this section of the Wilson on the last weekend in November. Level was around 3400 cfs and perfect for a first run of the season of this hard-to-catch-at-a-good-level section. Paddlers included Bill Jordens, Audrey Bergsma, Carl Poston, Kevin Lane, Murray Johnson, Jim Coker, Kendall Springer, myself, Scott Holmberg (a guest paddler from Colorado), plus a cameo appearance from Colm Lenaghan.
