The 2009 boating season has been a bit of a bust here in the NW, at least for me.  After pushing the kayaking passion for years now, lots of things (mostly good) are pulling me away from my kayaking time. A low-water El Nino year hasn’t helped but “back in the day” water levels never seemed to be a big issue and there was always the possibility of a good adventure around the next bend. I find myself contemplating past adventures, wondering if I had my window and it’s time to move on or if there is another window opening and I just can’t see it. Of course, life rolls along and kayak adventures are supplanted by life adventures and that seems appropriate.

More than any other year, I’ve felt the urge to re-visit some of the runs that were exploratory for me. Not to say that most of the runs are particularly difficult or even very far off the beaten track, but, whether because of where I was at in my life or the friends I was with on the run or the nature of the river, these rivers draw me back.

The WF Hood was one of my mainstay rivers when I returned to Oregon in ‘98 and was discovering the boating around Portland after spending most of my early boating in Corvallis. The WF is one of the best Class 4 runs in the state with friendly rapids in a beautiful setting. The 3 mile section of river just above the regular put-in on the WF was also one of the earliest “exploratory” trips I did. That story is here.

This is a short update on this wonderful river. I was very curious to see what I thought of this section since it’s probably been at least 8 years since I paddled it.

 

View from the put-in bridge

 

Good stuff just downstream of the put-in

Somewhere near the beginning of the run, I realized that my earlier estimation of mileage was widely inaccurate. There is a great, short gorge just downstream of the put-in and then the river opens up considerably. The middle section is relatively mild with the exception of one nasty drop that totally surprised me. The river splits around an island and it’s tough to figure out which is the better channel. I picked left and was cruising along just fine until I was about to re-join the right channel and the river dropped out over a 6′ ledge. By the time I realized the drop was big enough to warrant a scout, there were no eddies to catch. I picked the left side of the drop and hoped for the best as I saw the landing was rock. In desperation, I got my bow up and splatted on the rock and bounced into the deeper water below. Looking back upstream I realized at the flow I had, there really wasn’t a good line anywhere and the line I took was very marginal and could’ve been a nasty pin. Lesson learned, move a little slower the rest of the way.

 

 Why haven’t I come back earlier?

After the middle section, the river gorges up again with some nice rapids before plunging through a tight, steep boulder jumble. Years ago the exit of this rapid was jammed with wood although I seem to remember running it one time but can’t be sure. Looking at it from a big rock at the top of the rapid, I had no real desire to run. It’s a bit of a mess although there are a couple lines and I suspect Class 5 boaters wouldn’t have problems. The wood near the exit is the biggest worry although it’s on the edge of the rapid. The problem is it is really hard to set safety or scout the bottom except after the portage. Even though the portage is a bit of a steep climb up the left side of the gorge, I didn’t have any regrets about shouldering my boat.

 

The Big One

 

Looking back up at the big one. The exit is clear of wood as long as you don’t get stuffed under the wood on the left or right.

 

 Last rapid in the upper section, just below the big one.

After taking some time to enjoy the last of the upper section, I blasted down a fun line on the right side of the last rapid and headed downriver. I paddled pretty hard the whole rest of the next section hoping to catch up to one of the groups on the river ahead of me and snag a shuttle to the top so I didn’t have to bike the mostly uphill shuttle. I was just barely in time.

All in all I was really satisfied with this run. It has a ton of fun, interesting rapids in a stunning setting. The effort to portage the big one only adds to the adventure. I had fairly low water, about 4.3′, but it was still fun and not really shallow at all. Certainly would like to do it higher though. I plan on adding this section to my next WF Hood trip and I’d encourage others to do the same.

 Paul near the beginning of the regular WF Hood section

Notes on the run: The put-in is just up the road from the regular WF Hood put-in. Turn left when the road splits and go downhill to the bridge across the river. The road is snowed in most winters although in low snow years like this year, there wasn’t any snow on the road at all. I think 5′ is a good minimum level to shoot for although it certainly is worth the trip at lower levels like the 4.3′ I had on this trip. Everything is scoutable if you don’t just blunder downriver like I did at the island.

Written by peteg - Visit Website

This entry was posted on Monday, March 15th, 2010 at 7:00 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.