Mini Huck - Fall Creek Falls (4.1.12)

Recently, for some reason, it always feels like there is either too much or too little water whenever the weekend hits. On this particular weekend, we seemed to have a little too much, but of course that wasn't going to stop us from getting out. On Saturday I headed up north for an awesome day on Hagen Gorge/NF Washougal, but Sunday I was looking for something local. The only person I was able to recruit was Roman, probably my most reliable kayaking buddy. With only a few options, I suggested an exploratory day of sorts, in the Fall Creek drainage. Based on the alternatives, he agreed, and we made plans for our departure.

After meeting up in town we headed east toward the Fall Creek watershed, one of the closest to Eugene. The creek I was looking at was near the top of the drainage, so it took a bit of time to get there. Driving up the creek it looked like it had a really good flow, and after hiking down to take a look at one of the drops, I starting thinking that the run just might be worth it. This would change once the road started ascending in a hurry and peeling away from the run. Since we weren't really prepared for a full-fledged exploratory mission, we decided to cut our losses and run some laps on a 10'er, located on Fall Creek itself, not far downstream.

The falls are situated just above a mile long mini-gorge, which is very scenic but has minimal whitewater. Unfortunately it also has a couple pieces of poorly placed wood, making it not really worth the venture. As for the falls, they aren't very tall, but they do have a perfect lip for practicing your delayed boof -- in fact, it's very similar to Little Brother on The Green Truss, just smaller. It's also about as easy as it gets for lapping, with bank access just above and just below. With that, we geared up and got ready for some good ol' boof practice.

Roman dropped in first

The author on his first attempt
(photo by Roman Androsov)

(photo by Roman Androsov)

(photo by Roman Androsov)

By the time we had tired ourselves out, we had each put in about 6 or 7 laps. Before we headed home I thought it might be worth doing a falls-to-falls run on Portland Creek. Unfortunately when we got up there, we noticed a new log just below the takeout falls, killing any motivation we had to put on the run. Even so, I figured it might be worth running just the top falls (Triple Scoop), so we headed up there to check it out. Since it didn't look like it had good takeout access below, Roman opted out, but also offered to shoot photos. I figured, "what the hell, I'm already geared-up", and ended up running two laps before calling it a day.

The author goes for the single scoop on Triple Scoop
(photo by Roman Androsov)

Although we didn't put in any river miles, I still had a good time. With its relatively close proximity to Eugene, easy access, and good characteristics for boof practice, I'd say it's worth heading up to for some mini park & huck if levels are good -- we had ~2,500cfs on the Fall Creek gauge, located here.

The flow on the day we ran the falls (~2,500cfs)

Wildwood Falls - Park & Huck (2.24.11)

After a couple weeks of dry and/or cold temps in the Pacific Northwest, we were running out of boating options. Normally I'd wouldn't stress it too much, but one of our good buddies, Jason Naranjo (a former Oregonian), was flying up from San Diego for a couple days of boating, and the weather wasn't cooperating. Due to the weather situation, we were planning to head to the Smith River drainage in Northern Cali for the weekend, but I also wanted to get him on something local during the week. Jason arrived Wednesday afternoon, and the next day we were still unsure of what to do. After a lazy morning, I threw out the idea of a "park & huck" at Wildwood Falls, on the Row (rhymes with Cow) River, which drops about 16' to 18'. I had always wanted to run it, but had never actually made an effort to do so, or when I did, it was a little high with a pretty nasty hole. We checked the level online, and it was sitting around 650cfs (inflow to Dorena, here). We figured it would be a little low but still be at a fun runnable level. With a quick phone call we were also able to wrangle Roman into joining us, which wasn't hard since he was looking forward to meeting back up with Jason.

When we left town it was a blizzard of wind and snow. None of us spoke it but I knew we were all thinking, "why the hell are we doing this?!" Wildwood Falls is less than an hour away, and by the time we reached it, the winds had died down, the clouds had dissipated, and the sun actually showed itself! After giving the falls a brief scout we determined it was good to go down the right side of the main falls. The entrance was a little screwy, but we figured we could still line up on it, and heck, the consequences seemed pretty low since we knew it was plenty deep and there was really no hole to speak of. Roman offered to fire it off first while I setup for photos and Jason set safety.

Jason and Roman scouting their lines over Wildwood Falls

Roman's first line went relatively well, but he did have to snap off a roll after being flushed away from the base. I had noticed that, above the falls, the current had pushed him left and toward the center rock outcropping, complicating his line a bit. seeing this, I planned further left and start driving right a little higher up; sometimes it's nice getting to watch your buddy go first...

Roman fights to get back on line after getting pushed left

Roman probes Wildwood Falls

Now my turn, I walked over to the lip of the falls to take one more look. After memorizing the line, I strapped into my boat and paddled toward my chosen entrance. Since the water was relatively low, the chute I chose was pretty dry, but with minimal effort I was able to make it through and set my trajectory. As I crossed over into the main current I too was taken off guard by its power and was also driven toward the center rocks. Luckily, it had somewhat of a pillow that deflected me back into the main line of the falls. I was able to get off a last minute attempt at a boof stoke and finished off the drop better than my entrance would have suggested. It was certainly a harder line than it appeared during the scout.

The author takes his turn
(photo by Jason Naranjo)

The author gets put in the back seat
(photo by Jason Naranjo)

Jason went next and had a similar line to both Roman and me. I have to give it to him for coming off the couch and firing it up!

Jason diggin' in nicely for his first run
(photo by Roman Androsov)

We each enjoyed more runs over the falls, with some lines being better than others. I believe Jason got in 2, I got in 3, and Roman took the cup with 5. On my last run I decided to give'er the old "Oregon Tuck" for kicks and giggles (come on, we are in Oregon). I ended up going pretty deep and resurfaced on a deep brace; fun stuff indeed!

Roman drops in on another lap

Jason braces for impact
(photo by Roman Androsov)

The author throws in a final stroke at the lip
(photo by Jason Naranjo)

Bracing out of the pile
(photo by Jason Naranjo)

Roman gets a little vertical

The setup...
(photo by Jason Naranjo)

...and dive (Oregon style)

I think we were all pretty surprised at how much fun Wildwood ended up being. It also brought back some memories, as the pool at the base of the falls was also the put-in for one of the first runs I had done in a kayak, and one that I had done with Jason many times during the first year of my boating career. Roman made the comment that we should run it more often for practice, since the line is somewhat challenging but the consequences are relatively minimal. I'd certainly go back for more, and would love to run it at higher flows when the center rock outcropping creates a boof option, it would probably make the lead-in a little nicer as well.


Some head-cam footage of our trip to Wildwood Falls: