I'm not sure which section of the Clackamas River we did but most of it was fun. Water level: about 1000 cfs.
As I write this I am lying in bed, my pants are pulled down, and there is a bag of ice on my waist/back/butt area. I have a bruise the size of a cantaloupe and the color of an eggplant on the back of my waist, another that is just getting started going down my spine for about five inches. (These two bruises will, in a few days, become one big giant bruise.) All of this was from a swim through Carter rapid, my first swim of the day. This swim rattled me pretty good and shook my confidence for the rest of the day. Here is the whole story...
The day started out really good as I ran several minor rapids and a couple of bigger rapids without too much problem. The first of the bigger rapids that I remember is Instant Replay, a long boulder garden then a small pool that took us around a bend to be met with another long boulder garden! A little zigging, zagging, and dodging and I came out the bottom just fine. The next rapid, Hole-in-the-Wall, we had scouted from the road as we were driving to the put-in. The river curves in a C shape to the right with a cliff wall jutting out to make the end of the curve. A good portion of the water hits that wall, most of it bounces left into the "hole-in-the-wall" making a nasty recirculating eddy. This eddy is so bad that there is a ladder bolted to the cliff wall so swimmers who get stuck in there can climb out! A portion of the water bounces right around the cliff wall and puts you in a nice big pool. To add to the danger the cliff wall is undercut which could mean you get sucked under the water and pinned under the cliff. I missed my line by a little bit and was too far left heading for the cliff. I was determined that I was not going to get stuck in that eddy! I pulled the boat forward as hard as I could to get the bow into the water going to the right, away from Hole-in-the-Wall and I almost made it. I was pushed up against the cliff with the water pulling me back towards Hole-in-the-Wall and also pulling me to the right and the pool, back and forth. At the same time I am leaning against the cliff face to keep the water from flipping my boat over and using my paddle to push against the wall to move me to the right. It was quite the balancing act but I did get to the right and paddled my boat swamped with water to an eddy to bail. As I was bailing one of the kayakers wasn't as lucky as I was but he was still pretty lucky. He ran up against the wall and flipped over, the water held him upside down trapped against the wall for several seconds before he was able to exit his boat and swim around the corner, a few seconds later his boat also came around the corner. He was okay but definitely rattled and he had swallowed a bunch of water. After a few minutes of rest he got back in his boat and everyone continued downstream.
I did okay on Fish Ladder rapid or maybe it was Fish Creek, Armstrong, and several other smaller rapids. The one that really got me was Carter rapid. I didn't make it across the channel going left to right above a hole so I ended up going through the hole sideways and it flipped me right over. I swam over another hole a little farther down that had a little more height to it and there was a rock at the bottom that I landed on. Luckily, this was the bottom of the rapid and Russ, a kayaker, gave me the stern of his boat to hang onto while he paddled and I kicked our way to shore. I caught my breath for a few minutes and then got back in the boat and continued downriver. The next few rapids weren't too bad, and Sling Shot a bigger one went no problem! The next BIG one was Three Rock, we had scouted this from the road on the drive and I remembered it as being pretty hairy! Carl and I pulled out above the rapid and walked down to watch the others run it. Carl had been giving me the low down on the rapids since Michael was leading the way down the river. My confidence is a bit shaken from my swim in Carter and I decided that I wasn't going to run the main rapid, there is a left side channel that was a little shallow and rocky but it pretty easy so I ferried across the river and started down the left channel. At the very bottom, the very bottom, literally the last two rocks before the pool, I hit a rock, turned sideways and got jammed on the last two rocks! As I went over my paddle shaft got caught on something and was pulled out of my hands never to be seen again! No one saw it float downstream and we couldn't see it stuck underwater in the rocks. This wasn't even my paddle! The couple who lent me the boat, Mark and Audrey, also lent me the paddle! I had a spare paddle strapped in my boat so I wasn't stuck upstream without paddle but this was it for my confidence. The the last rapid of the day, Toilet Bowl was coming up and no way did I feel up to running it. I ferried back across the river and Pat helped me carry my boat across a bunch of great big, slippery boulders then he held the bottom of the boat while I pulled it up the steepest part of the hill. Pat then went back to his boat to catch up with the others and I finished dragging my boat the rest of the way up to the road. Once there I sat watching the river and waiting for Michael and Pat to pick me up during the shuttle. Even though they picked me up pretty quickly, more quickly than I expected, I still had plenty of time to contemplate my mistakes of the day and to become pretty disappointed in myself for giving up on the rest of the river. Ugh, not too much feels worse than disappointment in yourself for quitting.
I was cheered up by a quick stop at the Fearless Brew Pub in Escalada, Oregon for a beer. We are having dinner tonight at Carl and Nancy's house. We stayed with them last night and we will stay with them again tonight. They have been great hosts and it has been a lot of fun hanging out with them watching the birds in their backyard.
Paddlers: Carl Poston (blue Caption), Ted (kayak), Doug (Prelude), Greg D. (L'Edge), Russ (kayak), Ken K. (IK), and as always, Michael, Pat and I.
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