The Dude Bus Rolls North

Its been a long time since Dan or I have posted anything, but I just got back from my trip up to British Columbia and of the 500 or so pictures I took, I think about 20 of them aren't just different shades of gray. Everything is still pretty muddled in my head, so hopefully I can post a more coherent write-up in the next week or so, but here are some highlights from a really incredible trip.



Here, The Dude Bus (the name given to us by the dorky shopkeeper at Eastsound Sporting Goods) is leaving Orcas Island on October 26th under fair skies and with all the environmental education staff looking on. This is last time that we'll see the sun for the next 4 weeks.






We paddled north for a few days in decent weather. Here Jake, Kibbee and Andrew are crossing into Plumper Sound after clearing customs in Bedwell Harbor. A hurricane off the north tip of the island has forecasters predicting 50 knot winds in this area. Weather forecasts for greater Vancouver Island are always, always wrong.













We paddled up to Prevost Island, and then decided to make a break for the beautiful sandy beaches at Dionisio Point, just on the eastern side of Porlier Pass. Here we are stopping for our tot break on the north tip of Wallace Island before crossing Trincomali Channel and passing through Porlier Pass.
A beautiful sunset at Dionisio Point was our reward for crossing the straight. From there, we paddled up the eastern side of Gabriola Island, and poached a camp spot on Breakwater Island, whose owners were not home, but, if an island is any indication of the quality of its owners, were surely stellar people.














Sorting food on Breakwater Island. Jake's dad (driedfood@hotmail.com) is surely one of the world's greatest food dehydrators, and throughout the trip we at incredibly well, dining on curried chicken, tons of rehydrated fruit, pizza, and other foods that would have been completely innaccessible for paddlers packing out two weeks of food at a time.



Leaving Breakwater proved to be a bit more difficult than getting there. Here, Andrew, Jake and Kibbee get the boats ready for our first semi-surf launch.










Jake is paddling out like he means it. Most of the challenges on our trip came more from the climate (upper thirties and raining) than from the sea state, though we did have a couple really memorable days of big water. Somehow, I didn't really manage to get the camera out of the case to document them.







From Breakwater Island, we bucked some serious current through Gabriola Passage and on up to Nanaimo, BC, our first bit of shore leave on day 7. We landed at Newcastle Island late in the evening, set up camp at record pace, and managed to finish everything in time to catch the boat across to Protection Island, home of theDinghy Dock Pub, surely one of the finest establishments in the world. We stripped off our paddling layers and enjoyed some "jugs" while we looked over the charts. We knew that the water was going to be bigger and the creature comforts farther apart as we moved to the northern part of our trip...















...or not. These sirens called to us from their hot tub outside of Nanaimo the next day and persuaded us to scale a cliff, climb a rickety ladder and get in their hot tub. They were both gymnastics instructors. Seriously. Jake is very happy.

Two days later, we were completely winded in at Qualicum Beach, halfway between Nanaino and Campbell River. The locals who were out surfing (always a good sign) said that this surf beach (basically the only one on the entire east coast) only goes off 5 or 6 times a year. We considered ourself pretty lucky to land at the only surf beach on the entire island on the only day that the surf is actually up. But we had a nice breakfast in town and got a ride from someone named Gartlett in his creepy van.



Once we passed through Seymour Narrows, things changed really suddenly. We began hanging our food at night to ward off predators (below). Seymour Narrows also represents the border of two different bio-climactic zones, according to the guidebook. Translation: it got really cold.

Here Andrew and Kibbee demonstrate the first rule of The Dude Bus: we don't paddle on snow days. This picture was taken in Sayward, where we had to take a rest day because I had gotten really sick and couldn't keep myself warm. I also pooped my pants. It was a really fun illness.

However, we had a pretty nice place to stay, and our neighbor Dan let us use his garage to dry gear and cook. We also met some really interested people, among them Tom. Tom owns a kayak company which operates out of Sayward and Telegraph Cove called "Village Island Tours," which specializes in an aboriginal kayaking experience. Tom has lived in the area most of his life, and knew all the great spots to go and the history of pretty much everything, including the Bikush. Bigfoot, to the layman.
Most of what Tom told us about the Bikush is secret, but I will tell you this: bigfoot is real, and if you hear wood knocking on wood, turn around and slowly return the way that you came.
Here we are with Tom, his son Hunter, and his dog Land Claims. Tom is THE guy to talk to if you're interested in paddling in the Discovery Islands or northern Vancouver Island, and he's got a webpage at www.villageisland.com. Maybe if you go drinking with him he'll tell you about the bikush as well.
We told Tom that we were planning on paddling up to Telegraph Cove, and that we were hoping that there was a hot tub that might still be open at the resort. Unfortunately, Tom told us that Telegraph Cove, a beautiful summer destination, was "closed up tighter than a nun's cunt"...

...and it was. We camped on the front lawn of the general store and headed out early the next day.
We continued north from Telegraph Cove to Port McNeill, and then on to Port Hardy, our final destination. We arrived in Port Hardy on November 17th, our 23rd day on the water. By time that we arrived, we were all definetely pretty haggard--tired bodies, breaking gear, and, more than anything, just quite tired of being cold. It was strange to arrive at a goal after so many days on the water and come to the realization that Port Hardy, though it occupied some kind of mythic status in our minds, is just a place on the map.


So we had the First-Annual Dude Bus putt-putt golf tournament at our RV park. Here Kibbee, trailing by a few strokes, focuses on the castle obstacle while I look on. Our celebration evening went from putt-putt golf to the Babe's Sports Bar (where Kibbee broke up a fight between the bartender and the only other patron) and eventually to the hot-tub at a local hotel, where we were all unceremoniously thrown out by Jennie, who just could not be convinced that we had rooms at the resort.
End of the line--me, Kibbee, Andrew, and Jake with one of the RV Park dogs. In the end, we paddled 271 miles in 23 days on the water. Suzie and Mikkel picked us up on the 20th of November and we were back in Seattle for Thanksgiving. I realize that I haven't done the trip justice at all, so I will try to post an itinerary and a less scattered trip report at some point. This trip was an amazing experience that I hope I won't have to do again for some time. Kibbee, Jake and Andrew are the best expedition-mates that I could have ever hoped to have, and we saw some of the most beautiful, open country that I have ever seen. Everyone that we met (with one exception--you know who you are Quadra Island) was helpful and interested in our trip, even though they thought we were crazy. All in all, we had a hell of a time.

Gulf Hagas

A little while back Alex Bender, Dan Mcgrath and I were in the Moosehead lake region for a weekend of paddling and hanging out. We had planned on just heading to the seboomook and west branch, but with a few scattered reports of rain in the area we decided to load the creekboats just in case. On Saturday we took a quick run on Seboomook in the morning, headed over to the West Branch for a gorge/crib lap or two in the afternoon, and then called it a day. As we were getting ready to head down to Greenville for the night the skies completely opened up and rain just pummeled the ground. A little smile started to grow on each of our faces... we knew we had a chance of making it over to Gulf Hagas if this kept up. No one said anything, we didn't want to jinx it, but it looked like the clouds were sticking around all night.

...skip over the rest of the night, hoping for more and more rain...

We packed up early, headed over the gauge bridge, and were pleasantly surprised to find just enough water. The level was about 3 inches below the abutment, definitely on the low side, but completely runnable. We got in our boats as fast as possible and headed downstream. It was a great way to end what was an amazing creeking season. This spring had more new rivers and creeks for all of us than in the past two years combined. Here are a few pics, whish we had taken more but we were all too excited to bust out the camera much. Make it up there if you get any chance at all!

Alex drops over Billings



Myself running the left side of faceplant, contrast this to how much water was in the Karen Roy article in No Umbrella... completely different river at the two levels I'm sure.



...and about to drop over Buttermilk



The first series of drops from downstream. The water was low, but all the lines were there and everything was runnable.



Dan drops over Billings



Could maybe have used a little more water



The whole run was just beautiful drop, boogie water, beautiful drop, boogie water... all deep in the gorge



followed by a 5 mile walk, uphill, to the car. The foot shuttle sucks for this one.



Hope you enjoy, if you ever get a chance to get up there, go go go. The water was low at 3 inches below, but I'm sure you could run even a few more inches down.

Finally hit the Cold Brook

After 4 attempts we finally made it on the Cold Brook at a manageable level. Here are some pics, Ill get someone who can write to put a story together.

Dan


Braden was a little excited to get going in the morning. You can see the stellar, rainy weather we've been having, something 24 of the last 27 days.

Entrance exam, where Jeff had a slightly longer than expected surf.

But he's a trooper, and volunteered to take some pictures of the rest of the drops.

Dan entering into the ledge above backbreaker (in the foreground).

A ncie shot of Braden dropping over backcreaker.

And Dan plugging right into the hole at the base of backbreaker. At this level there isnt too much stick below the falls, unlike the last time we tried!

Directly after backbreaker, Braden dropes in Particle Accelerator. The first run of drops on the Cold Brook has a 4 footer into some boogie water, into a 5 footer, into back breaker, and then right into particle accelerator. Its got to be one of the best starts to creek I've seen.

Just after particle accelerator is NO2 Chute, a crazy looking chute/slide into an auto boofing 6-8 footer. We all scouted the nasty, backed up, deep, gross, bla bla hole at the entrance to the chute for a long time.

And after a look here at the run out, into a 6-8 foot drop...

We all seal launched just below the hole. It was cold and rainy, give us a break!

Heres a nice shot of Braden getting blasted out of NO2 chute, about to go very deep in the pool.

And then the camera died... too bad there was a LOT of nice stuff downstream. I can't say enough good things about this creek!

California 2005 Part III

It took long enough but I was finally able to put a video together, figure out how to store it online, and then figure out how to get it on here. Theres a section of photos, video from the lower Cal Salmon, and some surfing at Bob's Hole. Enjoy!

Moonstone Beach, 5/18

After a couple days of pushing pretty hard, we decided to head for the coast. We said goodbye to our campsite, hitched the trailer back up, had one last stop at the Salmon River Outfitters, and headed west. We stopped in Arcata, hoping to run into Jack Johnson, and finally headed to Moonstone beach, which was north of Arcata. There were some really clean, mellow waves, and we all had a great day surfing, laying on the beach, and relaxing. We stayed at the beach all afternoon, and then headed back to the campsite that we had stayed in 4 days previously. When we arrived, we were surprised to find so many people there—we hadn’t been keeping track of time, and didn’t know that it would be so busy on the weekends. We were lucky to find a spot, and it was kind of a rude return to reality to be camping with so many people and motor homes around. Still, we bought some ridiculously overpriced wood from the Park Service, stoked the fire, and had a few beers before turning in.

Smith River Gorge and Oregon Hole Gorge, 5/19

Our plan for the next day was to paddle the Smith River Gorge again, this time with Will on his game, and then head to the Oregon Hole Gorge, another Class V that would probably be a little easier with less water. We were planning on spending the next night at the same campsite, and then heading north for Pat to make his flight. The best laid plans, though, can change with a little rain. We woke up that night to the sound of rain, and by the time we woke up in the morning, it was a grey, cold, and wet day. We continued with our plans to padde, but Dan A. began slowly turning the group to the dark side, suggesting that we ditch our campsite that night, and make for his sometimes-girlfriend’s house in Corvalis. Such was the power of his persuasion, that by the time we got off the second river that afternoon, none of us had any qualms about being fair-weather outdoorspeople, and the decision was unanimously made to head for Corvalis.

The rivers that day were both great. We had paddled the Smith River Gorge before, and it was great to be back on it. All of us ended up walking the same rapid we had walked four days ago, except Dan, who wanted another crack at it. He tried a boof on the other side of the river this time, got pushed off his line again (making us all wonder if there really was a clear line down the thing), but punched the hole and came out fine.
After the Smith River Gorge, we took a quick run in the Oregon Hole Gorge, which was fun but very short. There is a great little write up on Jason Rackely's Oregon Kayaking page you can check out (http://www.oregonkayaking.net). We were also tired and wet and ready to get moving, so by the time we had the boats loaded up, we didn’t waste any time in checking out of our campsite and heading North.
Corvalis was everything Dan said it would be—the promised land of milk and honey. We spent the night in a nice warm house, had great food, and drank large quantities of microbrewed beer. Though I had my doubts about ditching our campsite, waking up in a bed at Trish’s house was much preferable to waking up in the wet tent with the guys, whose farts were beginning to have potential for chemical warfare.

Bob’s Hole, 5/20

Our trip was drawing to a close—it was our last day on the water before Pat flew out the next morning. We thought that the rain that was plaguing us in California might have energized the Clackamas River, and so we headed up to Bob’s Hole for a little play. When we arrived there, we almost immediately realized that it was still really low. Still, we had a good time playing in the boats and getting some fair surfs on the wave. We stayed there until about 3, when we decided that it was time to take Will to the hospital.
A small dot on Will’s temple, which we all called a “spider bite,” because we had no idea what it was, had been slowly growing over the past few days, until it began to look like he had been absolutely clocked with a two by four.

Something seemed just a little "different" about Will after our trip...


By the time we got out of the water at Bob’s Hole, the whole side of his face was swollen, his eye was nearly closed, and he was not loving life. We decided that a detour to the hospital was probably in order, and after admitting him, checking out his “spider bite” aka “monstrous infection,” they gave him a shot of big-time antibiotics in the ass and sent him on his way.

After the hospital, we headed for Seattle. We had paddled for 10 consecutive days, and we were tired. All of us were physically exhausted, Will was on death’s door, and the car had reached a new level of terrible smell. The trailer was filled with wet and dirty paddling gear, and the inside of the car looked like it had been ransacked by badgers. I think that, as we drove North, all of us couldn’t help but look back on the trip and smile. We had paddled some incredible rivers, camped in some beautiful places, and I think that any of us would have gladly gone back out for another two weeks after a hot shower, a run of antibiotics, and a sunny day. California was absolutely amazing, and I hope that next year at this time I can write another trip report about our trip down to the Sierras, and another spring of California whitewater.

Heres a link to the video, it is an mp4 format, so download the latest version of quicktime you can anyways. Also, it is a bit large, 98 megs, so it may take a few minutes to download. Its worth the wait, I know I love it :)

http://photos.imageevent.com/aquaticevolution/video/Gnarltron2005dslhigh.mp4

another great weekend in the state of maine

overcast, rainy and chilly. It really doesn't get much better than that. We took off on saturday morning with a little confusion and sort of just started driving. Larry called from up in skowhegan and thought some creeks would be going off so we decided to head that direction. We didnt get on the river till late in that day, sometime after 12:00, but it was well worth it. Chris, who lives up in Skowhegan and apparently is a bit of a name around that state, took us over to Carrying Place stream. It was a great little creek the runs into Wyman lake, halfway between Skowhegan and The Forks. The first mile or so was pretty low and rocky, but towards the middle of the run things deepened a bit. The rapids were all pretty tight and required quite a bit of twisting and turning. Some highlights.... skip over a submerged log to get to a teeny slot on the river left, scramble back all the way to river right to run the next corner blind and see chris in an eddy hollering something (apparently center, boof), finally get shot out over a perfect 8 ft auto boof... also there was the 30 ft slide in the middle of the river that looked A LOT bigger from the cockpit than the shore. The last little bit was a sort of low and tight for my liking, and Anna actually had a solid, but quick pin and swim. All in all its was a beautiful river, pretty close to home, and on the way to the Kennebec and Dead. If they ever put the play park in Skowhegan that area will make for some good summer trips.

Sunday morning we headed out early for NH and tried again to catch the Cold Brook. We got there and once agan the place was just flooding. Greg Hanlons book lists 7 inches on the abutment a "high but fun" level, and Miah, who pulled up while we were getting dressed said his ride at 8 inches was "very exciting." Well after a lot of scouting, a lot of deliberation, and a lot of frustration from driving all that way Mark and I fired it up at a meaty 10+ inches. From the put-in down to the bottom of Particle Accelerator took all of about 15 seconds, even with the few eddies along the way. In retrospect it was definitely at the edge of control and I dont suspect any of us will ride that thing again so high. We both got back endered in entrance exam and had soem solid downtime at the base of backbreaker. Mark got caught just shy of straight on in the hole at the bottom of particle accelerator. A few nasty window shades and rock bumps later he lost his paddle and swam. I fished him out, and we all cruised down stream to find his boat pinned in a rock pile below NO2 chute. The recovery was pretty easy and everyone was okay, but Mark is now short a all black carbon werner... paddles should all be bright neon orange and lime green.

Dane opted out of running it after watching Mark, and all the better because I was not very exited about getting back in the water for another go. Instead we trekked over to Beede falls, close to Sandwich, and found some nice big slides. After a quick scout Dane didnt waste any time and dropped the big one at the top. Mark and I followed, and it was so much fun we all took a second round.

Heres a quick little vid we took of Dane and I running the top slide.
http://photos.imageevent.com/aquaticevolution/video/beede%20falls4.mov

Give it a look. Someday soon Ill actually purchase a DV camera and take some quality video footage. Just need to hit the lottery first.

Smalls Falls, Sandy River

We got a chance to head up to the head waters of the Sandy, near Phillips Maine, and run smalls falls. The water was pretty low, so we only ran the last three drops in sucession. A little more water would have padded out the landings on the top drops, and none of us felt like bruising our asses in the name of kayaking glory.

We scouted in the morning and with everyone feeling a little nervous we decided to head down to the town of Phillips to check out some other drops that Mark and I had scouted at super low water in the fall. The drop in town was pretty constricted compared to the rest of the river, had a lot of volume, and a river wide hole shoving water into 1, a slot full of wood, 2, a large undercut boulder in the river center, and 3, and pretty manky hole on river right. None of us were stoked about the options, and after a couple minutes we loaded back up and took our chances with the waterfalls.

Mark and Dane set safety on a ledge below the first fall, even though we all kind of agreed that they couldnt do much from there except get a good view of some carnage. Dan M, Alex and myself made small talk about who would run first, and with no one stepping up I figured what the hell. Someone has to go first, and it really isnt THAT different than going second or third.

I dropped into the eddy above the first fall, saw my line and peeled out. It was nice to stop thinking about what I was going to do, and actually do it. I saw the rock gaurding the falls, brushed by it with my left edge, and threw in a hard left stroke as I went over the lip. The landing was soft and before I knew it I was looking for the next horizon line. I re-grouped with a hand on the river right wall, peeled back into the current and headed for the second drop. The 10-12ft fall normally required a boof to the left to avoid a large rock outcropping on river right just downstream, but the low water exposed some rocks on the river left and we all agreed to boof towards the center. I paddled hard to the left, turned downstream and boofed, just missing the rock wall to the river right (just like I meant to...right!). The last drop was a small slide/fall into a little hole that was over before I knew it. Needless to say I was very excited at the bottom and let out of a few yelps to no one but myself!

Dan M and Alex had some interesting lines, and both came out okay. Lets just say some clutch, last second rolls were made and Alex threw in the high brace of a lifetime (mere mortals would have dislocated a shoulder on this one, but not Alex). Both were psyched and ready to take another crack at it. Unfortunately Dane had to catch a boat to Vinylhaven for work and we all had to boogie out of there. Mark and Dane both opted to wait for the next time, and we loaded up and headed out.

This was a pretty sweet find, given that is only about 2.5 hours from door to door, and it looks like there was a lot of snow left in the area. I bet we will be back for another sunny day at smalls falls soon.

This is the only picture we took of the day, Dan(blue boat) and myself getting ready to run the quick slide at the top.


I am trying to figure out how to post videos, so here are some links --some might work and some might not. The files are all pretty large (like 40 megs) so I have a feeling it will take a WHILE for anything to actually download. I would say try to right click and save the file, and then come back in like 20 minutes. Soon I'll have this all figured out!

Happy Paddling
Dan

DanA Runs one of the smaller upper drops, that could use a little bit of water.
http://photos.imageevent.com/aquaticevolution/video/MOV01781.MPG

DanA makes a clean line through the falls.
http://photos.imageevent.com/aquaticevolution/video/MOV01783.MPG

DanM just makes it down the falls!
http://photos.imageevent.com/aquaticevolution/video/MOV01784.MPG

And Alex had what would have been the line of the day, except for the self-induced flip.
http://photos.imageevent.com/aquaticevolution/video/MOV01788.MPG

California 2005 Part II

Two days on the California Salmon!

Lower CalSalmon, 5/16

We drove until late that night as well, through Crescent City, down highway 101, and then east towards the small town of Somes Bar, CA.

Packing up at the take out of the Smith River Gorge. From here we were headed south and east towards the mighty Salmon River we had read so much about.


We thought that there would be plenty of camping available in the Klamath/Salmon area, but when we finally arrived, we learned that 6 Rivers National Wilderness was “closed”. None of us had considered the possibility that a National Wilderness, probably the size of New Hampshire, might be something that one could open or close, but all of the campgrounds were roped off, and we had to spend another frustrating hour at 1 in the morning until we were able to find a place off the road to camp. We pulled onto a dirt road, drove for awhile, and then just kind of picked a spot and crashed. One exciting feature of going to bed in the dark is that you never really know where you’re going to wake up.
As it happened, we were in the middle of a large field, probably 50 yards from a great established campsite, complete with fire ring and tent sites.

We were all a bit confused when we woke in the morning. I don't think any of us expected to be in such a nice place... but apparently everywhere in Northern California is a nice place.


That morning, we set up a permanent campsite in the established area. We set up the tents exactly where we wanted them, took off the trailer (we could practically hear the van sigh with relief) and chained it to a tree with a bike lock and locked it up with a janky lock that we found in my grandparents garage. Certainly if someone was interested in stealing the world’s smelliest trailer, it wouldn't have been a problem.

By now it should be painfully obvious how tired the poor minivan was...


As it turned out, we had nothing to worry about. Everyone in Northern California that we met was incredibly nice, and went out of their way to help us. A perfect example was later that morning, when we were gassing up the car and wondering where we were going to paddle that day. A car drove by with some boats on top, and we managed to flag them down. It turned out to be some paddlers who had driven up from Arcata for the day, and were planning on doing some playboating on the CalSalmon. They were really nice, in a somewhat stereotypically spaced-out California kind of way. One of them looked exactly like Jack Johnson, so we spent a good part of the day trying to get him to admit that he really was Jack Johnson. When he was turned the other way, we would yell, 'Jack!', but he never seemed to turn. He was crafty. Dan even played a Jack Johnson CD in the car, hoping that he would start singing or fess up, but he never did.

We decided to change our plans, and ended up following them down the lower part of the CalSalmon, which was a really fun, III+/IV- run.

Some low water play on the lower Cal Salmon... the water was so low that windowshades into rock ledges were the only moves of the day.


After being in our creekboats, some of us felt slow and unstable being back in playboats, and the river never let up for a second. It was one rapid after another, and Jack Johnson and his posse led us down all of them and were really helpful. The only rapid that we got out to look at was called (typically) 'Gaping Maw.' The gaping maw in question was a big hole that, at high water, covers the entire left side of the river. At the level we paddled it, the rapid was just a relatively benign maze of rocks and holes that needed to be navigated. Dan A. and Pat made stellar runs through the gaping maw, while Will, Dan M. and I watched. Dan M. pointed out exactly where his line was, which features he was determined to miss, and then headed down to his boat.

Dan M peels out and heads for the gaping maw


He managed to hit not just one, but both of the holes that he had committed to avoiding, and just trucked down through the hole thing.

Running right through hole number one, so much for avoiding


Will went next but he and the mamba had bonded and he styled his line through the rapid. I got some photos of everyone running the rapid and then had a good run down.

After gaping maw, we stopped at a beach so that Jack Johnson and company could “stretch their legs,” and they proceeded to burn one down with gusto. It was nice of them to get us through all of the hard rapids before they got stoned, and we parted ways at the takeout. After getting in dry clothes, we headed to what would become our new favorite store—the Salmon River Outpost.

Paradise... no really this place is paradise. Microbrews, espresso, blue grass music, and all the free river advice you want.


The only store for miles, it had a wide selection of delicious beers, organic foods, and an incredibly appealing redneck/hippie vibe. We had decided the next day that we were going to take on the Upper Salmon, so we got to bed early that night, dreaming about the tougher, IV-V river.

Upper CalSalmon River, 5/17
We got an early start the next day, loaded up the boats, and headed in to the Salmon River Outpost. This place’s stock just kept rising—not only do they have incredibly beer and food, but the guy who worked their made espresso. We got fired up with some coffee, and got some river beta from the guy working there, who was a big paddler. His best advice was, in Freight Train rapid, 'just go in with a low brace, and it'll feel like the whole rivers closing in on you, but just keep that brace, and then you'll come screaming out. It's radical.'

Low brace, screaming out, radical... right?


We called our parents, checked the river flows, and then headed up the road to the Salmon.

Yes we both called our mommies, what of it.


The put-in for the lower section is the take-out for the upper section, so we dropped the bike at the house where we put in the day before, near the mangy dogs who chase cars, and headed up the road. Every time the road curved, exposing the deep canyon and the frothy water below, we would park the car on the shoulder and jump out, offering our opinions of various river features from 200 feet above. It was ridiculous --"I think that I see a good line on the left...that looks like a manageable rapid." I think that we were nervous about what was coming up, but, honestly, you couldn't see shit from up there.

The put-in for the upper section is a campground about 8 miles above the take-out.

Elliot makes his way back up from river level at the put-in. He proceeded to cut the tension of all the boys changing at the car with a little Metallica rock out session.


We loaded up the boats, had a little food, and then got on the water. The river starts of with a bang --a large drop into a swirly pool called Bloomer Falls.

Roadside scout of Bloomer Falls, just downstream of the benign flatwater putin.


We took a long look at the rapid, supposedly not one of the harder rapids on the river, and all of us except Dan A. ended up walking it. Dan had a good line down the middle, and ended up shooting out of the backwash of the falls in a spectacular stern squirt. I think that most of us regretted not paddling this rapid, but since it was the first rapid of the day, none of us wanted to tempt the fates too early.

As it turned out, Bloomer Falls, even though it was only rated IV+, was one of the more difficult rapids on the river. Because the water was relatively low, I think that some of the punch was taken out of the bigger rapids, and we had a good morning cruising down the river, scouting the larger drops, and moving along well.

Some fun rapids on Upper Salmon




We stopped for lunch around 2, and then continued onward.

Only moments later Elliot tackled Dan A (on the left) in a desperate attempt to grab the last snickers bar of the lunch... says Dan "I'll simply never forgive him..."


The afternoon ended up being substantially more intense than the morning. After lunch, one of the first rapids that we encountered was Cascade Falls, which ended up being kind of a Choose-Your-Own-Adventure puzzle. You could take the more difficult entry, punching a pretty meaty hole on river left, and then have a much easier time of the boulder choked runout. Or you could take an easier entry move, a boof into a swirly pool, but then have a much tougher time getting on track to avoid the rocks at the bottom of the rapid.

Dan, Dan and I decided to run it, and we all ended up going for the easier entry move, and decided to take our chances with the lower section.

Scouting Cascade on the Upper Salmon River, we all opted for the boof entry off the lower left hand spot of green water in the picture. The other move consisted of punching through the hole all the way river left (just to te lower left of where we are standing) that was backed up by the wall and a submerged rock.


Pat took a nice shot from the bottom of Cascade. The low level exposed a number of normally covered rocks.


Everyone had great lines, but Dan McGrath definitely had the hero line, not only for “remembering to boof,” but also for managing to avoid the rocks at the bottom, which Dan A. and myself pinballed off of in various ways.

The rapids continued to be challenging as we moved closer towards the end of the river. We were all getting tired, but I think that it was hitting Will the hardest. In one of rapids, Will had a great line right until he hit the bottom, and then flipped over and never really made it back up.

Sometimes you eat the bar...


and sometimes the bar eats you.


Will had a good swim though, and managed to collect himself at the bottom with grace and panache.

The next big rapid was called Achilles Heel, and, as Dan A. put it, “it was exactly what I expected a California Rapid to look like.” A tremendous amount of water blasted down a wide chute and into a ledge, with most of the water turning to the left, and some pouring over. This rapid was just amazing—there was nothing particularly difficult about it, just stay upright and move towards the left. But it was fun! Dan McGrath and I got kind of bogged down in some diagonal holes, and Dan Abraham had a really clean line. Pat Hughes, never fond of taking too many strokes, definitely missed a key stroke and managed to ride over the pourover basically sideways. We were all really concerned, but Pat is nothing if not graceful, and followed the advice of the guy at the Salmon River Outfitters, threw down a low brace, and came out of the rapid just fine.

After Achilles Heel, we were all on the lookout for Last Chance, which, as the name would suggest, was the last rapid before Class V Freight Train. Each new rapid was assumed to be it, and we would cautiously hop out and find that it was just another little drop with a green pool behind it. At this point, we were all starting to get tired, and wondering when the rapids would ever end. Will added another beer to his list by swimming, and decided that he was done. He hopped out of his boat and hiked up to the road. I walked the next rapid, and then we finally saw Freight Train on the horizon. We got out on the left to scout, and before we had made it halfway down, I think that we had all decided that we were done for the day.

Dan A makes one last search for a clean line down Freight Train in the quickly fading daylight.


Freight Train was an immense and fairly complex rapid, with tight and demanding lines. We walked to the end of the rapid, admired it, and then walked past it on our way to the car and some much-deserved sleep.

A day well done by any measure. The Salmon river lived up to all our expectations, and we made our way back to the campsite for some hot burritos and cold barley sodas.


Part III will be up soon, and hopefully some video of Bloomer Falls, Cascade, and Achilles Heel once I find someone to host a couple megs of video!