Jesse, Jason, James Bagley and I got lucky a couple weeks ago and got a good run down Panther Cr. With low snow levels all year and only a modest amount of rain, I wasn’t really sure Panther would have enough water to make it fun. When we got to the put-in and looked at the gauge it was about 17". I couldn’t really remember what the level was the last time I did Panther because it was 4-5 years ago, but Jason seemed to think it would go. Well, he knew it was below the 30" level he last did it last time and was pretty sure we’d have enough water. I figured even if it was a bit low Panther would be better than the other alternatives.

James running the first big rapid on Panther

Once we started moving downriver I realized it was actually a bit higher than the lower level I’d run it so knew we’d have a good day. Panther is like an easier version of Getting Busy on the Little White Salmon; pretty continuous boulder garden drops with good clean lines. The first big drop has three narrow slots and a hole at the bottom. There is a short pool below the rapid and then a big slide rapid. I’ve never run either of these drops but after watching James and Jesse clean both of them, I might run them next time. The slide used to have a big hole at the bottom but it seems to be more forgiving now.

Jesse finishing the slide

Below the first two big rapids the pace really picks up with some great continuous action. We stopped a couple time to scout and shoot pictures and enjoy this cool creek. We did find an inconvenient log in one of the bigger rapids but we were able to move it enough to allow a good line for James and Jesse. The log is still there so be sure to scout what you can’t see!

Fun rapid on Panther Creek

The long boulder garden with a hidden log at the very bottom

The only problem with Panther Creek is it’s only about a mile before you enter the Wind River. Once on the Wind there are some great big-water rapids. The Flume is always fun; I got stopped by the hole at the bottom and had a weird squirt move before getting pushed downstream. James and Jesse both fired up Beyond Limits and had great, exciting lines through the big holes.

Jackson Creek

With mostly cold weather and low water up around Portland, I was able to convince Jason and Jesse to head down to Southern Oregon to explore some new runs. Flows looked good and I thought the S. Umpqua drainage was having some snowmelt and lower snowpack levels would allow access to some exploratory boating. Unfortunately, a storm came in the night we were driving down south and snow levels and water levels dropped.

After getting in at 1:30am on Friday night, we awoke to clear skies and headed out to try and get up on the Upper Black Rock Fork of the South Umpqua. Jason had explored the lower section the Black Rock last year and we were hoping to explore the steeper upper section this year. We were pleasantly surprised to find that the road was plowed for several miles as we tooled upriver along the S. Umpqua. Unfortunately, the plowing stopped about 3 miles from our planned take-out and there was way too much snow to attempt to drive anywhere.

After briefly contemplating hiking into the run (it was now close to noon), we decided it would be more prudent to hop over for a run on Upper Jackson Cr. and then get an early start on Sunday to hike into the Black Rock Fork. We had a little trouble finding the put-in for Upper Jackson as the road has been moved so the description in the guidebook is out of date. We were also disappointed to see that the river seemed really low. I think the water was locked up in all the snow we had at the put-in and wasn’t melting fast enough to raise the river level.

Jason below the put-in for Upper Jackson Creek

Since we were out of other options we decided to put on Upper Jackson despite the low water. After a couple fun, steep boulder gardens, we encountered several portages around wood and very scrapy sections of river. Just as everyone’s patience was wearing thin, the river began to consolidate and the drops got much cleaner and the wood less prevalent.

The author in one of the best rapids on Upper Jackson

Photo by Jason Rackley

It had been 7 years since Jason had run Jackson Cr. so we were having a hard time matching the rapids to the guidebook description. This was particularly funny for me as, for once, nobody could blame me for problems with a guidebook description since I didn’t write this one.

Jason in a fun rapid

As we got to the last couple miles of Upper Jackson Creek, the boulder gardens gave way to some interesting ledge drops. A couple were a little manky and a couple were pretty fun. I’d been beating my way down the boulder gardens with some pretty ugly lines so it was nice to get to some cleaner drops that I could at least look like I knew how to boat.

On Sunday, with prospects of a long hike to Upper Black Rock and very low water levels, we decided to do a quick run down Lower Jackson Creek and then do a short exploratory run on nearby Elk Creek. Lower Jackson Creek was really nice with much better water levels and some fun, clean drops. There was a fair amount of flat water in between the drops but the scenery was nice enough that I didn’t mind too much.

Nice scenery on Lower Jackson Creek

Jesse on a fun ledge drop

Photo by Jason Rackley

Lower Jackson Creek finishes with several really nice rapids. They are just steep enough to make things interesting. My favorite rapid was a steep, fast slide which banked to the left and then dropped over another small ledge as the river bounced to the right. I ran this one blind after directions from Jesse and nailed the entrance slide and then had a great boof into the bottom eddy off the lower ledge. Really fun stuff!

The author on his favorite rapid on Lower Jackson Creek

Photo by Jason Rackley

After Lower Jackson we headed a few miles down the road to hit Elk Cr. I’d been looking at this one for a long time as it is set in a cool gorge and is visible from the road. I’d never seen it with water, though, so didn’t have much idea whether it was worth doing. After a short hike down the steep bank, we pushed off and ran some fun boulder gardens. It would’ve been nice to have more water but the rapids were still fun. There was also some mank towards the end of the run. We finished on the S. Umpqua and packed up for home under warm, sunny skies. The drive out along the S. Umpqua with the stereo cranked, windows down, beautiful scenery and a beer in hand was a perfect way to finish the weekend.

Of course, we hit hail after a couple hours of driving north. What a year!

Written by peteg - Visit Website

This entry was posted on Monday, April 7th, 2008 at 11:59 am and is filed under Kayaking. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.