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
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