The Miracle Mile - 10" (6.26.11)

The Miracle Mile is one of my all-time favorite runs, and one which I’ve logged literally hundreds of laps on. To me it feels like more of a training course than your typical kayak run. Since it’s essentially a mile-long boulder garden dropping ~250’, it’s a great place to practice steep creeking, with eddy catching and reactionary boating making up a majority of the curriculum. A couple of other pluses are its relatively long boating season and close proximity to Eugene (about an hour drive). All of these things have made “The Mile” the go-to run for class IV/V Eugene area boaters.

Although The Mile does have a long season, as stated above, it typically drops out by mid to late May -- however, because of the unseasonably deep snowpack, we were now boating it in late June with good levels. This was great news for our buddy Jason, who had moved to San Diego (for work) a few years back, and was making a return visit. I’ve done many laps on The Mile with him over the years, and I was looking forward to a few more. The plan was to get some of the old crew together for boat & BBQ festivities there on Sunday. The forecast called for sunny skies & 75 degree temps, and it looked like we’d have just under a foot on the bridge gauge, what more could you ask for?!

When Sunday morning rolled around, I was still pretty tired from the get together at my house the night before. After rubbing the sleep from my eyes, I went to the store to pick up some food for the BBQ, before Jason showed up at my house. Once he had, we loaded up our gear and headed to the meeting spot in Pleasant Hill. Only four of us ended up showing up there, but we knew that Dan and Kristen planned on joining up later, so we figured we'd still have a good sized group.

As we reached the takeout, we checked the bridge gauge and confirmed that we had 10”, not a bad flow for this late in the season! The sun was out and energized us as we setup the grill and our camp chairs before heading to the put-in, just one mile upstream.

10" on the bridge gauge

It's gonna be a good day!

After unloading the boats and gearing up, I quickly put on the river so I could boat down and setup for photos while the others were setting the back shuttle. This was pretty much the routine for the first couple of laps, so I could get photos of all the main drops on the run. Basically, as soon as they came down and eddied out, I’d jump back in my boat and head down ahead of them to take shots on the next drop. Even though The Mile is basically one long rapid, the named sections make it nice for communicating locations of potentially new hazards (e.g. wood, etc.) and/or meeting points during the run.

The first named section of the run comes just around the corner from the first road bridge you pass under, and is aptly named “Initiation”. Once you pass underneath a couple of overhead logs, the typical line is to run down the left side before breaking right behind a couple large midstream boulders. Below this move it’s pretty much read and run to the bottom of Initiation and a large river-left eddy. This is one of the easier (and cleaner) drops on the run, so if you’re feeling a little over your head you might consider walking off.

The entrance to Initiation

Roman and Andy enter Initiation

Jason, partway down Initiation

Making the move over to river-right

Roman runs the last stretch of Initiation

Jason finishes being Initiated

Now that we had been initiated and were warmed up, we headed down toward the next drop, "Ricochet". This drop can also be identified as the first island, with the only clean routes down the left side of the island. Once you’ve gone left of the island, you can either run left or center-right, with left being quite a bit cleaner. The line that I always take is to run the lead-in down the left, drop into a small diagonal hole, and drive down the main part of the drop toward river center. It’s a fairly bumpy ride, but usually goes better than expected. There is also a fun eddy to catch on river-right just below the drop, which is where I setup for the following photos -- however, getting back in the water was kinda challenging and required me to do a fairly interesting seal-launch.

Shawn drops into the crux of Ricochet

Workin' back to center

The run-out below Ricochet -- Confusion is just out of sight

Just below Ricochet is “Confusion”, which is the longest single drop on the run. There are two main ways to enter this drop, either over a 3-foot ledge in the center, or the more exciting flume to the right. Whichever way you decide to enter, the rest is pretty much read-&-run through a gauntlet of boulders, with some passages cleaner than others. I typically run the first half down the center and the second half down the left. It should be noted that there is some wood on both the hard left and hard right in the second half of the drop. Like most of the run, Confusion benefits from a little more water, and can be quite trashy at low flows (< 8”).

Shawn and Jason run the bottom of Confusion

Roman finishes up Confusion

At the base of Confusion is one of the largest eddies on the run, river left. We almost always regroup here before continuing down into “Shark’s Tooth”. Back in the day we used to run the drop off of "The Tooth" in the middle, but most people now run the right line off a 4’ ledge drop, which is a bit cleaner and sets you up a little better for the run out below. Speaking of the run out, it’s one of the pushier sections of the run and makes for a fun little boulder slalom.

Jason heads toward Shark's Tooth

Shawn gets a kick in the boogie water below Shark's Tooth

Roman finishes up nicely

Now at the second island, aka “Whoop-De-Do”, you have the chose to run down either side. The first is the main line down the left side of the island, which ends with a steep drop down a pile of boulders. The goal here is to continue driving right while trying to avoid getting pushed into the center of the river where it drops through a narrow slot with an undercut rock on the bottom left of it. The far left side (left of the island) really isn’t an option, since it’s basically a giant sieve. The other standard route is to run right of the island, it’s pretty trashy and has affectionately been given the name “Gutter Ball”. You basically crash your way down a narrow twisty chute that also feeds past an undercut boulder, however, it’s fairly benign. Hopefully a big flood will come though and clean this drop up a bit, but until then Whoop-De-Do continues to be the most unpleasant part of the run, at least for me.

Jason running the recommend line at the bottom of Whoop-De-Do.
This is one of the manky sections of the run.

Roman finds some mank

Roman in the run-out below Whoop-De-Do

Next up, “Silly Putty Slot"! My typical line here is to enter through a squirrely flume that seems to always test my bracing skills – this is followed by a fast run before dropping over a 4’ double ledge in the middle of the river. The actual “Slot” (which gives the drop its name) is located to the right of this double ledge on the other side of a large boulder -- this also used to be a common line, but a new piece of wood sits at the base, so it should be avoided.

Roman enters the squirrely chute
leading into Silly Putty Slot

Shawn melts the double ledge at Silly Putty Slot.
If you look carefully, you can the wood in "The Slot"
to his right and on the other side of the large boulder.

Jason drives for an eddy a little below Silly Putty

Below Silly Putty the gradient seems to taper off a bit, but the run remains action packed and has a more wide-open and pushy feel. There are basically two main straightaway sections separated by a boulder fence and large eddy on river right. Both sections are read-&-run with some great boofs here and there. The second section should be entered either hard left or hard right, to either side of the fence. This last straightaway also produces some of the biggest hydraulics of the run; if you run it down the middle – it’s quite a wild ride! We also call this stretch “Swimmer’s Alley” since this is where most people seem to come out of their boat.

Dropping into the straightaway below Silly Putty

Shawn exits the first of the two straightaway sections

Roman and Jason making the moves

Jason drops into Swimmer's Alley

Shawn makes the typewriter move at the top of Swimmer's Alley

Jason near the bottom of Swimmer's Alley

Shawn safely below

Once below Swimmer’s Alley, you are faced with two short stretches separated by the confluence with Christy Creek, a great class V run in its own right. The first part runs through a fun S-turn flume with banked corners. After this the river makes a sharp turn to the right and drops over a fun 4’ boof ledge, typically run on the right. A nice eddy sits on river-right just below the confluence, which can be used to setup for the final stretch of the run. Since you now have the added water from Christy, the river has some good push and fun hydraulics. With the bridge now in view, make your way to the takeout spot just above it on river-left and celebrate. Whew, what a great workout!

The crew heads toward the Christy Creek confluence

Ed gets ready to boof the fun ledge at the Christy Creek confluence

Gabe in the final stretch

Jason and Ed finish up
(photo by Kristin Alligood)

Just another lap on the ol' Mile
(photo by Kristin Alligood)

On this trip we did a total of 4 laps, pretty standard affair for a Saturday or Sunday trip to The Mile. We were also joined by Dan Dellwo, Kristin Alligood, Ed Fredette, and Gabe Flock for the last couple of laps and BBQ, which added to the fun. All of us felt pretty blessed with the bright sunny skies, warm temps, aquamarine water, and good flows. The boat & BBQ on The Mile has been a tradition for us the last couple of years, I just can’t believe that the flows and weather allowed it to happen in late June, what a crazy snowmelt season! I'm already looking forward to next year’s event…

Taking in some much need fuel

Shuttle logistics...

Some head-cam footage of a lap down The Mile at 10" on the bridge gauge:


The mile at 15" on the bridge gauge:

"The Mile" (1.25') from Nate Pfeifer on Vimeo.

*New Gauge*
The USGS has added a new gauge to the NFMF Willamette, which can be found here.
I've started to list to try and create a correlation between it and the bridge gauge:
Date:_________ USGS Gauge:___ Pat's Correlation:___ Bridge Gauge:
Rain Fed:
11/11/10__________2.7' __________ 825cfs _____________5"
11/27/10 _________2.87' __________980cfs _____________6"
12/04/10_________3.58'__________1450cfs_____________13"
12/24/10_________3.09'__________1130cfs_____________-9"
01/02/11_________3.55'__________1364cfs_____________13"
01/09/11_________-2.9'___________970cfs_____________-7"
01/22/11_________-4.4'__________2300cfs_____________24"
01/30/11_________3.08'_________-1054cfs_____________10"
03/26/11_________-3.4'__________1225cfs_____________11"
04/24/11_______-__3.6'__________1393cfs_____________14"
Snow Melt:
05/01/11_________-3.7'__________1600cfs_____________16"
06/11/11_________-3.65'_________1625cfs_____________-17"
06/16/11_________-3.35'_________1450cfs_____________15"
06/18/11_________-3.25'_________1325cfs_____________12"
06/27/11_________2.85'_________-1100cfs____________-10"
07/06/11_________-2.5'__________900cfs______________5"

The Mile (2.27.10)

After another disappointing week of botched forecasts and lack of significant rainfall, we were once again forced to head to the Miracle Mile for some low water laps. "The Mile" as it is commonly referred to, is a ~1 mile stretch of whitewater on the North Fork of the Middle Fork (NFMF) Willamette about 12 miles up the road (northeast) from the town of Westfir, Oregon. The gut of the run falls at a rate of ~250fpm between two bridges. Essentially, it is one long boulder garden punctuated with small eddies throughout, and larger ones below the steeper pitches. Locals have named a few of the drops on the run for reference, but few breaks come between.

Levels for the this run can be determined by the painted gauge on the base of the takeout bridge (near the Chrisy Creek confluence). There is an online (correlation) gauge that can be used as a ballpark figure, but there can be a large discrepancy between this and the painted gauge, even within the same season. For reference, most people figure that for every 100cfs on the internet gauge you should have about 1" on the bridge gauge. Once again this can be misleading, and as an example, last week some friends went up there with 650cfs on the internet gauge only to find 0" on the bridge gauge. Most people run The Mile when the gauge is somewhere between 6" and 1.5', which marks the high and low water levels. Once The Mile rises above 1.5' it really starts to get some push and you had better be on your stick or it can turn into a train wreck in a hurry. Even so, people have run it at 3' and above. On the low end, below 6" starts to get pretty trashy, and if you don't know the lines, pins are commonplace. My feelings are that a level of 8" to a foot is a good first-time flow, although this will vary based on what type of boating people are comfortable with.

The bridge gauge (~5" for this day)

The online gauge (for reference)

As for the difficulty of the run, there is some debate. Most people that I have talked to agree that the run feels 4+ at levels below 1.25' and as the level rises from there so does the difficulty. There are no single drops of significant difficulty, however they are stacked on top of each other giving the run a much harder feel, and even seasoned paddlers can be intimidated their first time down.

On this day, the internet gauge was reading around 750cfs and the bridge gauge was reading ~5"; a little low but we had bright sunny skies, warm temps (for February), and a great crew. From Eugene we had Roman, Aaron, and me, from Corvallis we had Dan Delwoo and Dan Thurber, and from Seattle had Tom O'Keefe of American Whitewater. Last and certainly not least, we had the veteran boater Jim Reed. After assembling in Eugene, we made the hour drive to The Mile, a drive I have done many times during my limited boating career. After changing at the take-out and discussing the best shuttle logistics we headed to the put-in. Both Aaron and Dan Delwoo decide they were going to get in a couple quick ones and went out ahead. Since neither Tom or Dan Thurber had done the run before, we decided to take the run at a medium pace and eddy out often. Due to the continuous nature of the run, I rarely get out to take video or pictures, but today's weather would give perfect lighting and the slower pace would allow me get down below in spots and setup. Once everyone was geared up we slid into the water and were on our way.

The first quarter mile (or so) is class 2-3 and acts as a nice warm-up before dropping into the main part of the run. You know you're getting to the steep part when you pass under a bridge and the river bends to the left and out of sight, this marks "Initiation". Initiation is fairly straight forward, but at lower water a boulder fence forms just below a large mid stream boulder with a tree balanced on it. The cleanest passage is on river right, but even that throws you into an undercut if you don't line it up correctly. The rest of the rapid is pretty much a straight shot to a large eddy on river left at the bottom of the drop, and the top of the first island. The group had held up above Initiation to allow me time to paddle down and setup for some shots; they all had clean lines and joined me in the eddy below.

Dan leading a part of the group through
the bottom section of Initiation

The island we were now sitting beside marks the next drop, aptly named "Ricochet". Due to wood in the right channel, going left of the island is the only option; from here you have a couple of lines to choose from (both left of the island). The first is the right side, which after running a small lead-in drops you blindly over the boulder pile that is Ricochet. The only advice I can give you for this line is to run center right and keep it straight (and upright) to avoid getting pinned. The second option, which I prefer, is to run the lead-in down the left side and over a diagonal pour-over just above the main part of the drop; from here I typically run from the top-left of the boulder pile, angle right down the drop to catch the eddy below. On this day, everyone made it though the drop without issue except for some minor hangups.

From here it is only a short distance and and a couple of turns to the top of "Confusion", the longest single drop on The Mile. This drop has many line options and it would be difficult to describe the preferred lines, so I won't even bother trying to describe them. If you do find yourself above this drop, you would be wise to stay close and follow someone through, with some reactionary boating thrown in for good measure. The bottom of Confusion is marked by a large eddy on river left. Once again, I had gone down ahead to snap some shots and was able to watch everyone make it through using a variety of lines.

Eric leading the group about halfway down Confusion

Eric leading the final stretch of Confusion

Roman all alone in the middle of Confusion

From this eddy, you are now sitting above the drop known as "Shark's Tooth". My understanding is that the name comes from a line that was usually taken which dropped you though the seam of two rocks (the teeth). The first couple of years that I boated The Mile, I would take this line; however since then a small piece of wood has gotten wedged there, and this has persuaded me (and most others) to take a boof down the right side of the drop, which I feel is a better line anyways. We all made short work of this drop and re-gathered in the eddy below.

With Shark's Tooth out of the way, you are now faced with the second island, marking "Whoop-De-Do". This is by far the trashiest drop on the run, and typically run left of the island down the right side. It should be noted, that staying right can be difficult due to the current (and some rocks) which do their best to force you to the center of the river, and through a slot against an undercut boulder in the steepest part of the drop. This move actually becomes much easier at a foot and above (on the gauge) as it cleans the line up quite a bit. With that said, my preferred line is to run right of the island through a gutter ball section which drops through a couple of slow moving pools. There is much debate on which side of the island is cleaner, but due to less consequence (and being a creature of habit) the right side is where I usually find myself. It should also be noted that just this year a new line has opened up which splits the island about halfway down and is entered on the left side. This became possible after some wood that was blocking the line moved, presumably down stream. On this particular trip (lap) we all went right of the island.

Next up is "Silly Putty Slot" with some boogie water between it and Whoop-De-Do. This drop is named by a slot on the right side of the drop that is used by many as the standard line. However, most people I boat with these days don't bother with the slot and instead run a fun boof right down the middle.

Once below Silly Putty there are no more named drops and it turns into more read & run, but there some obstacles that should be avoided so it's best to follow someone that knows this section. It should also be noted that even though the drops are not named, the action is still fast and furious, and at higher levels forms some of the bigger holes. This section is also somewhat broken up by a large eddy on the right just above a near river-wide log balancing on some mid-stream boulders, and just before the river bends to the right. Everyone in our group caught this eddy and rested up a bit before dropping into the final few stretches.

The group running the section just below Silly Putty Slot

Dan all smiles as he heads for the eddy above the log

The crew in the eddy above the log

Below the log are a multitude of options with no real hazards expect for some pushy water in the middle and a hidden mid-stream boulder just below a pour-over that could cause a nasty piton or pin. After shooting some pictures, I rejoined our group just before the confluence with Christy Creek. From Christy Creek it basically a 100 yard dash through some fun boogie water (thanks to the added flow) to the takeout bridge.

Running the final stretch above Christy Creek

Jim lines 'er up

A shot from the take-out bridge

Everyone in the group cleaned the run (a relative term on The Mile) with only a few minor pins, which is somewhat expected at this low level. Tom and Jim had to leave so that Tom could make the train back up to Seattle, but before they left they were nice enough to give us a shuttle ride for another lap. The rest of the group ran multiple laps before we called it a day. I was pretty pooped after 5 laps and really felt it on the way home.

A parting shot of the group between laps
and Eric with his happy face on...

Here is a video I put together of The Mile from top to bottom. It was taken on multiple trips from 4" to 8" on the bridge gauge. It also includes footage from my first ever run down The Mile, thanks for taking video Steve!

And here is some head-cam footage of the whole run (top to bottom) at 10" on the bridge gauge:




and here is some 3rd person perspective footage of the whole run at ~6" on the gauge:

*New Gauge*

The USGS has added a new gauge to the NFMF Willamette, which can be found here.

I've started to list to try and create a correlation between it and the bridge gauge:

Date:_________ USGS Gauge:___ Pat's Correlation:___ Bridge Gauge:

Rain Fed:

11/11/10__________2.7' __________ 825cfs _____________5"

11/27/10 _________2.87' __________980cfs _____________6"

12/04/10_________3.58'__________1450cfs_____________13"

12/24/10_________3.09'__________1130cfs_____________-9"

01/02/11_________3.55'__________1364cfs_____________13"

01/09/11_________-2.9'___________970cfs_____________-7"

01/22/11_________-4.4'__________2300cfs_____________24"

01/30/11_________3.08'_________-1054cfs_____________10"

03/26/11_________-3.4'__________1225cfs_____________11"

04/24/11_______-__3.6'__________1393cfs_____________14"

Snow Melt:

05/01/11_________-3.7'__________1600cfs_____________16"

06/11/11_________-3.65'_________1625cfs_____________-17"

06/16/11_________-3.35'_________1450cfs_____________15"

06/18/11_________-3.25'_________1325cfs_____________12"

06/27/11_________2.85'_________-1100cfs____________-10"