The Farmlands is a high quality run on the White Salmon River, nestled across from Hood River in the Columbia River Gorge (WA side). It is often overshadowed by the classic Green Truss section, located just below it. The Farmlands is ~5 miles long and can be run by itself or combined with The Truss for one of the best 10-mile stretches of whitewater in the Pacific Northwest. You should plan on a long day if you want to do both, especially if you haven’t done either run before. The beauty of the combo is that you are relieved of the put-in/takeout that splits the two runs, which may or may not require boat lowering/raising depending on your footwork and comfort level. On this day most of the crew decided to takeout at the Truss bridge (including me), while a few in the group continued down. For a trip report of The Green Truss from last spring, go here.
Based on lack of water in the Eugene area, I had actually sent out an email early in the week wondering if anyone would be interested in doing The Farmlands, since the levels would be good and I hadn’t done it in some time. I was feeling quite social and decided to cast a wide net hoping to snare at least a couple of willing participants. What I didn’t expect was that almost everyone on the list was game, setting up what could be a rather large floatilla and great après-paddle. I also didn't expect Stephen to offer up the use of his parents' cabin as our base camp, which was conveniently located on the banks of the White Salmon. Wow, this was shaping up to be a great weekend in front of us!
On Saturday morning I met up with some of the southern crew (Eugene/Roseburg) to carpool together. The plan was to meet everyone else at BZ Corner at 10:30am, which should give enough time for those that wanted to do both runs. Since we would have such a large crew it was probably a bit optimistic that everyone would arrive on time. On the way up we stopped to check the gauge near Husum Falls, I was surprised to see it reading between 3.5’ and 3.75’, perfect for The Farmlands and juicy for The Truss.
By the time everyone got to BZ, we were running about an hour behind. The parking lot was the most filled I had seen BZ Corner in a long while, and typically this turnout would only occur in the summer when the raft companies were taking clients down the river. Since there was really no feasible way to coordinate based on the size of our group, we just started heading up in packs to the put-in, near our base camp.
We would actually be putting in a bit down the run from the upper put-in. This would eliminate a couple of drops, including the often portaged Sidewinder. The problem with this drop is that most of the flow piles into a “grotto”/undercut against the left wall, and it’s really hard to clean it. I had hiked up to check it out while everyone was getting ready. At this flow it actually looked really good, with a nice line off the hard right with a small boof; unfortunately I wasn’t able to talk anyone else into hiking up to run it.
As I was down at shore level getting ready to put on, more and more people just started showing up; it was like a never-ending line of boaters. After a quick discussion with a couple of the others, we agreed it would be best to form our own core group for our descent, and even at this we were about a dozen strong. After letting a couple groups go down in front of us, we found our way in line and headed down. Before long, and much sooner than I remember it being, we reached our first main drop, Doorbell. At lower flows (below 3’) a pin rock is uncovered at the bottom of the drop, river center. This rock is what gives the drop its name (assuming you were upside down), and has folded at least one kayak that I’m aware of. At this level it was completely covered, and we made easy passage on the left.
This is the point in the run where the walls really gorge up and it can feel quite claustrophobic at times; it is also where our string of carnage began. Just below Doorbell are a couple of fun drops before the next named ledge, Little Lava. We did have one swim just above this drop, but luckily both gear and paddler were quickly corralled. Once I had repacked my rope I quickly headed down to the eddy just above Little Lava. After ensuring that the line was clear, I ran the drop about 3 to 5 feet off the left bank as most do. You can certainly run the center line, but make sure to get a good boof in to avoid a stomping.
Here is where things got really interesting. Sitting in the eddy just below Little Lava, I was waiting my turn for the eddies to clear out below me. I heard at least one whistle blow, but couldn’t tell what was going on since it was around the corner. After a couple of minutes the path was clear and I pulled into the next eddy. After getting some quick beta that the left line was the best choice for the next drop (at this level), I peeled out and lined it up. As I dropped in and came through I was flipped by a small diagonal and some swirly water. While upside down I was somewhat twisted up and was having a hard time unwinding to setup for a roll. Wanting some air, I put in a half-assed attempt to get over; this failed along with about five other attempts before I pulled the pin and was bobbing down the river with only my head out of the water. Luckily I had held onto my paddle and used it to swim into a small eddy on river right. Once I had collected myself, I started to walk downstream to collect my boat, which the others had gotten to shore. As I climbed around a rock I noticed that two more of my buddies were also out of their boats and had swam the drop as well. The only difference was that they had gotten mangled in the hole on the right side of the drop, while I just couldn’t hit my damn roll.
Unfortunately, the crew wasn’t able to immediately corral all three boats, and one was swept downstream in the fast current. This forced the owner of the boat to attempt a climb out of the gorged out canyon. While he did that, I made it to my rescued boat, joined the rest of the crew, and we headed downstream. Soon enough we reached the lead-in to Lava Falls, in my opinion the best drop of the run. Lava Falls is a 12 to 15 footer which requires a delayed boof and is very reminiscent of Little Brother on The Green Truss. The difference between the two is the consequence. Little Brother does have a hole at the base that causes swims from time to time, but Lava is particularly nasty, with a cave behind the veil that has trapped its fair share of paddlers and gear, sometimes for an extended period of time. That said, it’s wise to have a solid boof before you run this one. Back to the lead-in, there is a small hole (at this level) guarding the slow moving pool that feeds into Lava. Normally this wouldn’t even be a second thought, but knowing what looms downstream makes it a little more exciting. Even with our large group everyone made it out above Lava without issues, although I was slightly tripped up by the squirrely current just below the small hole.
While we were scouting (and some ran) Lava, Eric Arlington came up and informed us that the paddler who had to hike out was not able to get all the way out of the canyon and needed help from above. Luckily his boat had already been recovered, which we were able to rope out. From here Dan went to search for the boater while the others went down further to find an easier route out of the canyon to assist. In the end (and after about a half hour) they were able to track him down and help him safely to the rim.
Back at Lava, and once Dan had returned, I prepared for my line. There is actually a piece of wood lodged in the drop center-left, however it doesn’t block the line, and I actually felt it helped me line up better. From the eddy, I peeled out and waited for my stroke as I rounded over the lip. I was able to plant it where I needed to and pull myself out and away from the hole at the base, now feeling good to be safely below the drop.
Right below Lava are two separate series of drops. The first is a double ledge with a hole that forms on the right of the second at higher flows. The next series has a total of four small drops separated into two distinct pitches. The second tier of the first pitch has a nasty hole on river right that has made at least a couple of boaters I know of swim, although there is a pretty straightforward line down the left side. Once below this, the next pitch is pretty benign, with a fun left-to-right curler/pillow followed by a straightforward run-out. Our now small crew ran through all of these drops without issue, and prepared for the next couple of miles of mellow water until the next gorge and more class IV(IV+) water.
It was at the beginning of this class II water where we met back up with the rest of the original crew, who had just gotten back from their rescue mission of the aforementioned boater. Now in full force, we fell into formation and continued downstream, taking in the scenery and chatting along the way. With the extra water, this section didn’t seem as bad as it had in years past, although I was glad when we finally reached the fast lead-in that funneled into a fun mini gorge. Basically this section consisted of breaking waves and squirrely water between narrow walls, and lasted for an 1/8th of a mile or so. It also fed directly into the next major drop, Off Ramp.
To be honest, I’ve never really liked Off Ramp, and have actually portaged it a couple of times, which is arguably more dangerous. The problem I have with this drop is that it’s a fairly trashy broken ledge, which looks horrible if you were to get blown left. The typical line is to drive across the entrance current from left to right, and eddy out just above the vertical pitch of the drop. From here, and with basically no speed, you drive off of it and try and put in as good of a boof as you can. One line that I’ve been meaning to try is to let the current carry me downstream as I’m driving right and go for a huge angled boof; however this would be a tough line and missing it wouldn’t be fun. Our whole group went for the conventional line (including myself) with pretty good results across the board.
With the majority of the run and big drops behind us, we headed downstream once again. One more fun mini-gorge separated us from our takeout at the iconic Green Truss Bridge. It’s essentially a fun series of drops separated by short fast-moving pools. There are a couple of small holes and some boiley water that can play with your edges and knock you off line. We actually had another swim in here (which I didn’t witness) that put our total at five for the day. That’s what we call "amateur hour", and quite surprising for the caliber of boaters on the trip; some trips are just weird like that I guess…
Now at our takeout, each of us were forced with a decision, continue down The Truss or climb up the steep pitch to end the day of boating. About 75% chose the latter and decided to call it a day. Hunger, fatigue, not boating well, content...we all voiced at least one reason before roping our boats to the top. Once we had all made it out, we loaded up the cars we had and headed up to base camp to retrieve the rest. While some went up to the house to relax, a few of us drove down to BZ to pick up the crew that ran The Truss. Before too long, and just before dark started to set in, they arrived with smiles on their faces and stories of big clean drops and good/exciting lines.
Once the whole crew was reassembled, we headed to Everybody’s Brewing for dinner, then headed back to our cabin for the evening. Our accommodations were quite impressive and included a 3-story indoor climbing wall and a panoramic dining room view of Mount Adams. The night was filled with good stories from great people and we all slept well as we thought about where our boating destination would be the next day.
Thanks again Stephen (and your parents) for being such amazing hosts, you would be hard pressed to find better!
The head-cam footage of our run:
Showing posts with label White Salmon. Show all posts
Showing posts with label White Salmon. Show all posts
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
The Green Truss (7.11.10)
The last two weekends have been spent in Hood River, (big surprise) and included a couple of runs down one of my favorite rivers in the PNW, the Green Truss section of the White Salmon. This run is truly a classic, but often overshadowed by the Little White Salmon, its neighbor just down the road to the west. There is also a great run above the Truss called the Farmlands (IV/IV+) which can be used as a combo during the longer days of late spring, when light permits. Just below the run is the Middle White Salmon, which is a super fun class III/IV run where most folks run their first waterfall at Husum.
Both weekends we ran the Truss it was ~2.75’, which is a nice medium flow. I’ve run it at a variety of levels and the range I prefer is between 3’ and 2.5’, so this was right in there. The stick gauge that is used for the run is located a couple hundred yards below Husum Falls, just above a road bridge that crosses over the river. It should be noted that there is a difference in flow on the Truss at the same reading between winter and summer, at least for the top half of the run. Unlike most runs which are opposite, the level in the winter will feel higher than in summer at the same reading. The main reason for this is due to the springs below the first gorge that feed the river from underground aquifers. These springs are locked up in the winter, so most of the flow comes from upstream. The springs are pretty impressive during the summer when the walls have water blasting out of them through the cracks. There is also a significant drop in water temperature below the springs.
For reference, there is also an internet gauge that can be used and found here, but the correlation changes based on the seasons, and typically, I only use it to determine if the level has gone up or down since the last time I recently ran it. On 07/11 (the day we ran it) it was reading ~2.4'.
Once again, we had back-to-back weekends on the Truss, and the photos shown in this trip report were taken from both; however, since I have such a bad memory I’ll focus on the one that just passed.
Roman, Bobby, and I left from Eugene early on Sunday morning to meet the rest of the crew at Lewis & Clark State Park, which is on the outskirts of Portland as you travel into the Columbia River Gorge. We would be meeting up with Jason (up from San Diego) and the Portland crew, consisting of Chris Arnold, Nate Bell, and Matt Jordan. We were also joined by one of the veterans of the sport, Stephen Cameron, who I had not previously paddled with. Once we had all met up and exchanged greetings, we headed up to BZ Corner, the takeout for the Truss. We sat around in the sun for ½ hour or so waiting for “Late Nate” before heading to the put-in.
The put-in for the Truss is at the green trussed bridge that gives the run its name. Although this is private land, the land owners have granted access for recreation. To get down to the river from here is actually an adventure in its own right. Basically, you either do a sketchy scramble down an extremely steep slope with your boat on your shoulder, or you lower your boat down using a throw rope. I always opt for the latter, since my balance on technical scrambles is not confidence inspiring. Once I reach the large rock shelf just above the river, I typically use the fun 10’ (or so) seal-launch down the rocks and into the water, although this is optional.
Once we had all made it into the slow moving water at the put-in, we headed downstream. The first mile or so of this run consists of really fun class III/IV drops with a couple that require some moves through or around holes and other obstacles; this acts as a great warm-up for the bigger stuff below. The first big drop you come to, which signals the first gorge section, is Meatball. Meatball has a lead-in ledge right above which creates essentially one rapid. This initial ledge does have the power to surf you at certain levels, so I typically run it center-left and put-in a right boof stroke to hit the left eddy between the two drops. The one time I did get an extended surf the level was ~3’ on the Husum gauge (in early summer). Luckily I was able to rodeo out of it and avoid a swim over the bottom ledge, which is not recommended. Regarding the bottom ledge, the only good line that I know of is through the narrow chute left of the boulder in the middle of the river, which gives the drop its name. At anything other than low water, there is a nice boof opportunity on the left side of this left chute, although the move can be a little tricky since the water flows back to the right, around the rock, to the center of the river. Since I’ve never gone right of the “Meatball” boulder, I can’t say for sure what’s over there, although I’ve always been told you don’t want to be on that side...
Just below Meatball, and a slow moving pool (at medium to low levels), is Bob’s Falls. The hole that this ledge forms packs quite a punch and is supposedly the most swum drop on the run. Although I’ve been lucky enough to avoid its clutches, I have had a couple of close calls and have personally watched a few people get hammered. On the last two trips that we were there, a total of three paddlers were caught by its grips and swam...it was feelin’ extra hungry. My preferred line at Bob’s is to start from the center of the river, angled right and off of a kicker flake on the hard right side of the ledge; it should be noted that this flake disappears at low water. The main problem that I’ve seen people have when running this line is that they start too far right in the pool above, and get knocked left into the hole as they slide down the ledge. The other popular line on this drop is on hard river left using the same approach of starting in the middle of the river and angling that way. There is a much more pronounced flake on the left, but a missed line (not uncommon) puts you into the worst part of the hole, thus my reason for running right, where the hole kicks out.
Immediately below Bob’s is another ledge, about 8’ or so and far less sticky. The preferred line here is to run the right side, angled right. This is easiest done from the river left eddy above it, if you can get over there after running Bob’s.
Just below these two back-to-back ledges is another small twisty ledge that dumps into a generous (slow moving) pool above Big Brother, the single largest drop on the river. This classic 25’ waterfall has been the backdrop for many photos and videos. Just as famous as the image it provides is the cave at the base, which has corralled more than its fair share of unsuspecting boaters who miss the line off the flake by a mere foot or two to the right. I can speak from personal experience, as more than half the time I’ve run this drop I get in some good cave time. Luckily I’ve always been able to paddle out of the cave and have never swam Big Bro. The problem with running the flake more left is the potential for a shallow landing on that side. Essentially you have to thread the needle and land between both obstacles at the base. At this level I wasn’t feeling it (a little high), so I made the portage around with most everyone else. On the second weekend, Chris Arnold and Nate Bell both fired it off and managed to avoid the cave. Nate got a little excitement as he was hammered by the curtain for longer than I’ve seen before on this drop, but he fought it out and stayed in his boat, nice!
Sitting just below Big Brother is its younger sibling, Little Brother. This ~15’ waterfall is a total classic, and a great place to practice your delayed boof off the rolling lip. Although it is a fairly friendly drop, it can dish out some punishment if you land sideways and/or are too far to the left. I remember the first time I ran Big Brother I was so elated that I got complacent and a little cocky, which is just what this drop was looking for. I came over the lip, missed my boof, and penciled into the base of the falls on the left side. A throttling ensued, and I swam out while tasting a little bit of humble pie. Sometimes you just need to be reminded…
In order to run Little Brother you have to either run Big Bro or access it via a sketch route down the cliff wall between them on river left. Although there is usually a rope already set-up for lowering you and your boat down, getting back in your boat can be an undertaking depending on water level. That said, you do have the option of portaging them both which I’ve done on a few occasions.
This photo was actually taken just after the first time I ran Big Brother
and was about to get throttled by Little Brother. Ain't that a mother?!
(Photo by Chris Arnold)
After a couple of fun twisty rapids below Little Brother, we were sitting above the next major drop of the run, Double Drop. This monster squeezes the whole river through a narrow chute over two ledges with barely enough time for a stroke in between. It drops a total of ~18' and is always entertaining from a spectator’s perspective, for it’s sure to dish out a couple of dynamic mystery moves and barrel rolls. Even with the shit show that usually plays out, it's remarkably friendly and you'll most likely get shot out of the bottom hole like a watermelon seed into the pool below. This is also a drop I prefer not to scout and just run blind, since it looks much more terrifying than it really is, and you only have a couple of line options. The two that I usually summon are either 1) put my head down and paddle as hard as I can right down the gut, or 2) attempt a boof off the small kicker on center-left of the first tier to stay high on the pile for the second; usually the latter results in a stern-squirt leading into some kind of new rodeo move at the bottom. Regardless of what happens, I'm usually laughing too hard at the bottom to care about how good my line was. This is probably my favorite drop of the run.
Below Double Drop and the small ledge just below it (with a powerful hole on river left), the river mellows out considerably for a good mile or so until you reach the next named drop, Cheesegrater. Its location can be determined from upstream by the sight of the lava rock dome wall on river left. Although this drop is certainly not the largest or most complex drop on the run, it does deserve some respect. Like the many other ledges on this run that form powerful holes, this one is no exception. The meat of the hole forms on river right, so the safest route is typically to run it left. I actually had one of my worst beatdowns/swims here at ~3.25' when I was typewritered to river left all the way from the river right hole, and shoved into an undercut wall with a recirculating eddy feeding into it. After an extended stay out of my boat at this location, I was eventually able to work into the current and flush downstream; however, my adventure was not over as I was flushed for probably another 1/8 of a mile downstream before I got to shore, completely wiped out. Since this experience, I walk the drop about half the time, which usually depends on my memory of the day the incident occurred. That said, I think this was somewhat of a freak accident and as long as you line 'er up well, it's good to go.
Not far downstream of Cheesegrater is Zig-Zag Canyon, which consists of both an upper and lower rapid separated by a pool that can either be calm or fast moving depending on the water level. Both Upper and Lower Zig-Zag accelerate through sheer vertical walls with the current slamming against them forming large laterals and offset holes. Upper Zig-Zag is often the mental crux for people due to its claustrophobic feel and difficulty that would be associated with portaging it. Also, at higher flows (> 3') the pool between it and Lower Zig-Zag picks up some speed, which increases as the level does. That said, I (and many others) feel that Upper Zig-Zag gets easier with more water and cleans up quite a bit. As levels drop below 2' the entrance can get quite trashy, making it hard to set-up for the rest of the ride. These last two times we were there the levels were good, and everyone made it through without issue and smiling.
Lower Zig-Zag has always given me pause, and I've never made the choice to run it. This is mostly due to the wood that has dropped (and continues to) between the walls that frame it. Most everyone that I have talked to says it’s easier than Upper, and even with the wood the line is still the same. Even knowing this, I just don't like the look of the drop in its current form, but I guess everyone has a few rapids like this...
Once again, I made the decision to portage along with everyone else in the group, except Chris and Steve, who both cleaned it up. The portage on river left is not too difficult, and takes about 15 minutes total if you have a small group. It requires you to lower your boat from a rope at the end creating a bottleneck in the process, so it will take longer for larger groups.
Just below Zig-Zag Canyon the Orletta stretch starts. This section is best with more water and has lots of fun class III/IV splashy rapids. A couple of favorites, and bigger ones in here, are Triple Drop and The Flume. Triple Drop can sneak up on you as you round a hard left-hand corner of class II/III water. It has some tricky hydraulics that has flipped me more than once. The last tier, which forms a deep diagonal seam, is the one that would usually get me, but I've finally learned to run it as an airplane turn from hard left. The Flume is just pure fun, and you can pretty much run it anyway you want. There is a huge set of diagonals at the very bottom which you can catch some serious air off of, if you hit it correctly.
Just below The Flume and after a large pool is the lead-in to BZ. This lead-in is only class III, but the eddies (on river right) get smaller and more difficult to catch the closer you get to the drop. In fact, one of the days we were there an experienced boater slipped out of the last eddy and fell over BZ backwards. Remarkably, he flushed right through and was able to roll up in the pool just below. His buddy was not so lucky, and after intentionally dropping over the lip he was served a good beating which included a recirc or two out of his boat. To be honest, this drop has never looked appealing to me as the whole river basically folds onto itself, and into a stompin' hole. At lower water it does look much better and a nice boof forms on the hard right. On this day, no one in our group considered running BZ, and made the portage around it. There are a couple of options for portaging, 1) seal-launch beside the meat of the hole using a ramp that is etched into the right cliff wall, 2) seal-launch from high up on the cliff into the pool below, or 3) hike all the way around and down to the under-cut cave well below BZ (where there is a rope lined along the wall with carabineers).
Jason lends a helping hand while Steve gets ready to
use the seal-launch right above the meat of BZ Falls
Once below BZ Falls, it’s a mellow ride to the takeout at BZ Corner. You can takeout above or below Maytag/Top Drop, the first rapid of the Middle White Salmon (the run below). The hike-out of the canyon is slightly easier if you start it from above the rapid, but obviously you miss out on one last hurrah. Whatever decision you make, celebrate with a couple beers in the parking lot while you wait for your buddies to run the shuttle. You just ran a PNW classic!
What a couple of great days on the river with good friends. I could tell that these last few trips made Jason homesick, so hopefully it will help get him and Cleo back up here sooner…
Here is some head-cam footage of a summer time run on The Truss:
Both weekends we ran the Truss it was ~2.75’, which is a nice medium flow. I’ve run it at a variety of levels and the range I prefer is between 3’ and 2.5’, so this was right in there. The stick gauge that is used for the run is located a couple hundred yards below Husum Falls, just above a road bridge that crosses over the river. It should be noted that there is a difference in flow on the Truss at the same reading between winter and summer, at least for the top half of the run. Unlike most runs which are opposite, the level in the winter will feel higher than in summer at the same reading. The main reason for this is due to the springs below the first gorge that feed the river from underground aquifers. These springs are locked up in the winter, so most of the flow comes from upstream. The springs are pretty impressive during the summer when the walls have water blasting out of them through the cracks. There is also a significant drop in water temperature below the springs.
For reference, there is also an internet gauge that can be used and found here, but the correlation changes based on the seasons, and typically, I only use it to determine if the level has gone up or down since the last time I recently ran it. On 07/11 (the day we ran it) it was reading ~2.4'.
Once again, we had back-to-back weekends on the Truss, and the photos shown in this trip report were taken from both; however, since I have such a bad memory I’ll focus on the one that just passed.
Roman, Bobby, and I left from Eugene early on Sunday morning to meet the rest of the crew at Lewis & Clark State Park, which is on the outskirts of Portland as you travel into the Columbia River Gorge. We would be meeting up with Jason (up from San Diego) and the Portland crew, consisting of Chris Arnold, Nate Bell, and Matt Jordan. We were also joined by one of the veterans of the sport, Stephen Cameron, who I had not previously paddled with. Once we had all met up and exchanged greetings, we headed up to BZ Corner, the takeout for the Truss. We sat around in the sun for ½ hour or so waiting for “Late Nate” before heading to the put-in.
The put-in for the Truss is at the green trussed bridge that gives the run its name. Although this is private land, the land owners have granted access for recreation. To get down to the river from here is actually an adventure in its own right. Basically, you either do a sketchy scramble down an extremely steep slope with your boat on your shoulder, or you lower your boat down using a throw rope. I always opt for the latter, since my balance on technical scrambles is not confidence inspiring. Once I reach the large rock shelf just above the river, I typically use the fun 10’ (or so) seal-launch down the rocks and into the water, although this is optional.
Once we had all made it into the slow moving water at the put-in, we headed downstream. The first mile or so of this run consists of really fun class III/IV drops with a couple that require some moves through or around holes and other obstacles; this acts as a great warm-up for the bigger stuff below. The first big drop you come to, which signals the first gorge section, is Meatball. Meatball has a lead-in ledge right above which creates essentially one rapid. This initial ledge does have the power to surf you at certain levels, so I typically run it center-left and put-in a right boof stroke to hit the left eddy between the two drops. The one time I did get an extended surf the level was ~3’ on the Husum gauge (in early summer). Luckily I was able to rodeo out of it and avoid a swim over the bottom ledge, which is not recommended. Regarding the bottom ledge, the only good line that I know of is through the narrow chute left of the boulder in the middle of the river, which gives the drop its name. At anything other than low water, there is a nice boof opportunity on the left side of this left chute, although the move can be a little tricky since the water flows back to the right, around the rock, to the center of the river. Since I’ve never gone right of the “Meatball” boulder, I can’t say for sure what’s over there, although I’ve always been told you don’t want to be on that side...
Just below Meatball, and a slow moving pool (at medium to low levels), is Bob’s Falls. The hole that this ledge forms packs quite a punch and is supposedly the most swum drop on the run. Although I’ve been lucky enough to avoid its clutches, I have had a couple of close calls and have personally watched a few people get hammered. On the last two trips that we were there, a total of three paddlers were caught by its grips and swam...it was feelin’ extra hungry. My preferred line at Bob’s is to start from the center of the river, angled right and off of a kicker flake on the hard right side of the ledge; it should be noted that this flake disappears at low water. The main problem that I’ve seen people have when running this line is that they start too far right in the pool above, and get knocked left into the hole as they slide down the ledge. The other popular line on this drop is on hard river left using the same approach of starting in the middle of the river and angling that way. There is a much more pronounced flake on the left, but a missed line (not uncommon) puts you into the worst part of the hole, thus my reason for running right, where the hole kicks out.
(taken on a later trip)
Immediately below Bob’s is another ledge, about 8’ or so and far less sticky. The preferred line here is to run the right side, angled right. This is easiest done from the river left eddy above it, if you can get over there after running Bob’s.
Just below these two back-to-back ledges is another small twisty ledge that dumps into a generous (slow moving) pool above Big Brother, the single largest drop on the river. This classic 25’ waterfall has been the backdrop for many photos and videos. Just as famous as the image it provides is the cave at the base, which has corralled more than its fair share of unsuspecting boaters who miss the line off the flake by a mere foot or two to the right. I can speak from personal experience, as more than half the time I’ve run this drop I get in some good cave time. Luckily I’ve always been able to paddle out of the cave and have never swam Big Bro. The problem with running the flake more left is the potential for a shallow landing on that side. Essentially you have to thread the needle and land between both obstacles at the base. At this level I wasn’t feeling it (a little high), so I made the portage around with most everyone else. On the second weekend, Chris Arnold and Nate Bell both fired it off and managed to avoid the cave. Nate got a little excitement as he was hammered by the curtain for longer than I’ve seen before on this drop, but he fought it out and stayed in his boat, nice!
(taken on a later trip)
Sitting just below Big Brother is its younger sibling, Little Brother. This ~15’ waterfall is a total classic, and a great place to practice your delayed boof off the rolling lip. Although it is a fairly friendly drop, it can dish out some punishment if you land sideways and/or are too far to the left. I remember the first time I ran Big Brother I was so elated that I got complacent and a little cocky, which is just what this drop was looking for. I came over the lip, missed my boof, and penciled into the base of the falls on the left side. A throttling ensued, and I swam out while tasting a little bit of humble pie. Sometimes you just need to be reminded…
In order to run Little Brother you have to either run Big Bro or access it via a sketch route down the cliff wall between them on river left. Although there is usually a rope already set-up for lowering you and your boat down, getting back in your boat can be an undertaking depending on water level. That said, you do have the option of portaging them both which I’ve done on a few occasions.
This photo was actually taken just after the first time I ran Big Brotherand was about to get throttled by Little Brother. Ain't that a mother?!
(Photo by Chris Arnold)
After a couple of fun twisty rapids below Little Brother, we were sitting above the next major drop of the run, Double Drop. This monster squeezes the whole river through a narrow chute over two ledges with barely enough time for a stroke in between. It drops a total of ~18' and is always entertaining from a spectator’s perspective, for it’s sure to dish out a couple of dynamic mystery moves and barrel rolls. Even with the shit show that usually plays out, it's remarkably friendly and you'll most likely get shot out of the bottom hole like a watermelon seed into the pool below. This is also a drop I prefer not to scout and just run blind, since it looks much more terrifying than it really is, and you only have a couple of line options. The two that I usually summon are either 1) put my head down and paddle as hard as I can right down the gut, or 2) attempt a boof off the small kicker on center-left of the first tier to stay high on the pile for the second; usually the latter results in a stern-squirt leading into some kind of new rodeo move at the bottom. Regardless of what happens, I'm usually laughing too hard at the bottom to care about how good my line was. This is probably my favorite drop of the run.
Below Double Drop and the small ledge just below it (with a powerful hole on river left), the river mellows out considerably for a good mile or so until you reach the next named drop, Cheesegrater. Its location can be determined from upstream by the sight of the lava rock dome wall on river left. Although this drop is certainly not the largest or most complex drop on the run, it does deserve some respect. Like the many other ledges on this run that form powerful holes, this one is no exception. The meat of the hole forms on river right, so the safest route is typically to run it left. I actually had one of my worst beatdowns/swims here at ~3.25' when I was typewritered to river left all the way from the river right hole, and shoved into an undercut wall with a recirculating eddy feeding into it. After an extended stay out of my boat at this location, I was eventually able to work into the current and flush downstream; however, my adventure was not over as I was flushed for probably another 1/8 of a mile downstream before I got to shore, completely wiped out. Since this experience, I walk the drop about half the time, which usually depends on my memory of the day the incident occurred. That said, I think this was somewhat of a freak accident and as long as you line 'er up well, it's good to go.
Not far downstream of Cheesegrater is Zig-Zag Canyon, which consists of both an upper and lower rapid separated by a pool that can either be calm or fast moving depending on the water level. Both Upper and Lower Zig-Zag accelerate through sheer vertical walls with the current slamming against them forming large laterals and offset holes. Upper Zig-Zag is often the mental crux for people due to its claustrophobic feel and difficulty that would be associated with portaging it. Also, at higher flows (> 3') the pool between it and Lower Zig-Zag picks up some speed, which increases as the level does. That said, I (and many others) feel that Upper Zig-Zag gets easier with more water and cleans up quite a bit. As levels drop below 2' the entrance can get quite trashy, making it hard to set-up for the rest of the ride. These last two times we were there the levels were good, and everyone made it through without issue and smiling.
Lower Zig-Zag has always given me pause, and I've never made the choice to run it. This is mostly due to the wood that has dropped (and continues to) between the walls that frame it. Most everyone that I have talked to says it’s easier than Upper, and even with the wood the line is still the same. Even knowing this, I just don't like the look of the drop in its current form, but I guess everyone has a few rapids like this...
Once again, I made the decision to portage along with everyone else in the group, except Chris and Steve, who both cleaned it up. The portage on river left is not too difficult, and takes about 15 minutes total if you have a small group. It requires you to lower your boat from a rope at the end creating a bottleneck in the process, so it will take longer for larger groups.
Just below Zig-Zag Canyon the Orletta stretch starts. This section is best with more water and has lots of fun class III/IV splashy rapids. A couple of favorites, and bigger ones in here, are Triple Drop and The Flume. Triple Drop can sneak up on you as you round a hard left-hand corner of class II/III water. It has some tricky hydraulics that has flipped me more than once. The last tier, which forms a deep diagonal seam, is the one that would usually get me, but I've finally learned to run it as an airplane turn from hard left. The Flume is just pure fun, and you can pretty much run it anyway you want. There is a huge set of diagonals at the very bottom which you can catch some serious air off of, if you hit it correctly.
Just below The Flume and after a large pool is the lead-in to BZ. This lead-in is only class III, but the eddies (on river right) get smaller and more difficult to catch the closer you get to the drop. In fact, one of the days we were there an experienced boater slipped out of the last eddy and fell over BZ backwards. Remarkably, he flushed right through and was able to roll up in the pool just below. His buddy was not so lucky, and after intentionally dropping over the lip he was served a good beating which included a recirc or two out of his boat. To be honest, this drop has never looked appealing to me as the whole river basically folds onto itself, and into a stompin' hole. At lower water it does look much better and a nice boof forms on the hard right. On this day, no one in our group considered running BZ, and made the portage around it. There are a couple of options for portaging, 1) seal-launch beside the meat of the hole using a ramp that is etched into the right cliff wall, 2) seal-launch from high up on the cliff into the pool below, or 3) hike all the way around and down to the under-cut cave well below BZ (where there is a rope lined along the wall with carabineers).
Jason lends a helping hand while Steve gets ready touse the seal-launch right above the meat of BZ Falls
Once below BZ Falls, it’s a mellow ride to the takeout at BZ Corner. You can takeout above or below Maytag/Top Drop, the first rapid of the Middle White Salmon (the run below). The hike-out of the canyon is slightly easier if you start it from above the rapid, but obviously you miss out on one last hurrah. Whatever decision you make, celebrate with a couple beers in the parking lot while you wait for your buddies to run the shuttle. You just ran a PNW classic!
What a couple of great days on the river with good friends. I could tell that these last few trips made Jason homesick, so hopefully it will help get him and Cleo back up here sooner…
Here is some head-cam footage of a summer time run on The Truss:
Summertime on The Green Truss from Nate Pfeifer on Vimeo.
Labels:
Creeking,
Green Truss,
Washington,
White Salmon,
Whitewater Kayaking
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