Lower Brice Creek (3.5.11)

Finally the rains had returned, and it looked like we'd have some local options to boat in the Eugene area. Based on the flow forecasts, we had put Brice Creek on the top of the list. It's no surprise that Brice is one of, if not my favorite, home runs. It's broken into two distinct sections, with the upper being continuous and steep, and the lower being more pool-drop with some sticky holes. Since the flow/weather forecast are often wrong, we decided that it would be best to wait until Saturday morning to make the final call. Sure enough, after waking up early to take a look at the flows, Shawn Haggin called to get the word. The level had come up more than I had expected and was still on the rise. It looked like it would be on the high end of good, if not too high. We decided it would be worth heading up there since we did have other options in the area. With that, we made the remaining calls to assemble the crew. From Eugene we would have Roman, Aaron, Joni, Bobby, and me. From down south, Shawn would be coming with Jared and they would be meeting us there.

We had ~6.5' on this day. Typically you want between
5.75' and 6.5' for the Upper run, and between 5.25 and 6.25
for the Lower run. Since the snow level was fairly low, this translated to a much lower flow than expected (especially on the Upper).

Once at the takeout (to Lower Brice) we noticed that the level was not as high as the online correlation gauge would have suggested. It still looked like a good level for the Upper/Lower combo, so we suited-up before heading upstream. Once we passed over the bridge separating Upper from Lower, we started to hit snow. Also, the flow in the creek dropped dramatically, making the upper stretch somewhat starved of water. As we continued up the road the snow became deeper, and we were eventually stopped by a large tree that had fallen across our path: "looks like we'll be hiking from here". Luckily we only had to hike about a 1/2 mile before a good put-in at the top of the lead-in to Bubble Trouble, one of the first major drops on the upper. The level was indeed on the low end, which translated into boat bashing for most of the Upper run. Since I've already done a trip report of this stretch at a much better flow, I'll point you to that for reference, (here) and instead concentrate on presenting the Lower run, which had a great flow.

Hiking into the Upper run

Luckily the hike was short and we were able to tow our boats

Jared fires up Bubble Trouble, the first big drop on Upper we ran.
Once again the flow was low, this drop forms a big hole at high water.

Bobby gives Bubble Trouble a go

Once we passed under the Champion Creek road bridge and entered the Lower run, the river came to life with water. We regrouped before proceeding downstream at a good pace. After some fun class III boogie water we reached the first named drop of the run, Upper Trestle. Upper Trestle, is a 5' ledge with a super fun airplane move on the hard left. The ledge forms a nasty looking pocket hole, but luckily the left line allows you to skirt the meat of it. In fact, if you hit the line correctly you probably won't even get your head wet. We all ran the left line without issue, which is good since the drop immediately below, Lower Trestle, could provide a swimmer an experience they wouldn't soon forget.

Aaron makes the move at Lower Trestle.
The right side pocket is where you don't want to be.

Bobby coming out of Upper Trestle

Lower Trestle is actually a really fun drop, at least at medium to low flows. At higher water the cauldron the ledge pours into becomes a drowning machine. It is run even at these higher flows, but you certainly don't want to screw it up. Unfortunately, a log moved in earlier this year, blocking the main (and only sane) right line. With that, we all portaged using various platforms for re-entry. Aaron decided to seal-launch just below the base of the left (and nasty) line. As he landed, his boat stalled out and he had to put in some good digger strokes to claw his way away from the hole. With my hand on my throwbag, I breathed a quick sigh of relief once he was a safe distance away.

Lofty chooses the hero launch...

...and almost pays the price.

Jared chooses the river right platform

Booooof

Just around the corner we arrived at "Pogo", where we all got out to give a look. This is the only drop on Lower Brice that I had never run, which is quite surprising since I've done this run countless times. Basically Pogo is a broken ledge that drops about 6' into a highly aerated hole, with no hope of escape in your boat if you get stuck in it. Further, the entrance at lower flows is really shallow and trashy, basically forcing you to fall into the hole with little or no speed. As I looked at it, I thought (and voiced), "Wow, this is the best I've ever seen this drop look". Not that it looked great, just not as bad as it usually does. I soon made the decision that this would be the day to finally check it off the list. After setting bag and taking photos of a few of the others that had decided to run it, I carefully chose my line and entered the water. I decided to start a little further right than the others and come out of the eddy instead of riding down the main current. The downside was less speed, but I liked the angle of this line a little more. With that, I drove out of the eddy trying to get up as much speed as I could. I hit the narrow flake right about where I planned and sailed off the lip, clearing the hole and easily paddling away. I was pretty happy with my line, as well as finally running Pogo.

Jared digs in at Pogo

Jared, airborne at Pogo

Shawn goes deep in Pogo

The author hits the line
(photo by Joni Randall)

After some class II water and a short flat pool, we arrived at the lead-in to Cheesegrater, a shallow slide dropping about 15 feet in height. At all but higher flows the line is down the center of the drop; however, as flows increase so does the power of the hole at the base. In fact, I swam out of it a couple years back, and I was also not alone as I was joined by two others at the same time! Typically, when the hole is beefy, you can sneak the drop on the far left, but unfortunately a new tree now blocks this option. On this trip the hole wasn't bad so we all ran the main line.

The crew hangs out below Cheesegrater

From here we enjoyed a mile or so of fun class III/III+ boogie water at a nice pace. I do this run so often that I really take the scenery for granted, so it's good to take it in on this stretch. The creek cuts through a lush forest with almost every rock and tree covered in a carpet of moss. It's really a beautiful place and also a popular destination for hikers and mountain bikers, who use the trail that follows the entirety of the Lower run (ride report here).

Before long we arrived at the next series of bigger drops, "Fun" & "Not Fun". Fun, as the name implies is a great drop. It has a rather long lead-in, and at the bottom, the current splits around a round "gumdrop" boulder, with the standard line on the left. In the past, right of this boulder was clogged with wood. It appears that this has cleared out, but since it's a pretty narrow slot, and I've never seen anyone run it, I stick with the left side. There is a small hole at the base of Fun, but it's fairly forgiving as long as you hit it straight on.

Joni finishes up Fun

The crew takes a rest in the pool below Fun

A short pool separates Fun from Not Fun. Although it's not quite as good as its predecessor, it's still entertaining. Basically it's a 4' to 5' ledge with a busy run-out. If you haven't run Brice in awhile it's best to jump out and take a quick look, as wood has collected below this drop in the past.

Roman drops into Not Fun

Aaron finds out that Not Fun is actually kinda fun

More class II/III water followed until we reached the lead-in to the grand finale, Laura’s. The lead-in itself is actually pretty fun, and also gives some excitement since it feeds directly into Laura’s with only a couple of small eddies on the right to get out and scout her. That said, Laura’s should always be scouted, since wood in the bottom slot would be disastrous to anyone dropping in unknowingly. This is the largest and hardest drop on lower Brice, but luckily it does not contain a nasty hole like some of the ledges upstream, at least at anything other than super high flow. This is a multi-stage/move drop starts with about a 5’ pour-over that is usually run on river right. The line is fairly tight as you must thread between a large boulder (just breaking the surface) and the right wall. Make sure you are also aggressive on this part, since it has a tendency to give you a nice back ender if you come into it lazily.

Aaron entering the first part of Laura's

Aaron melts through the top drop of Laura's

Jared drops into Laura's

Just below this entrance move, the water builds up speed for a short stretch before pinching down through a 4 to 5 foot wide crack that can be difficult to stay upright through. The power of the water in this slot is quite impressive and it’s not uncommon to mystery move the whole thing. I’ve been upside down a couple of times in here, which is not fun since your head usually takes a couple of knocks from the narrow side walls.

Loft enters Laura's crack

Jared lines up the crack...

...and gets a face full

Shawn goes deep in Laura's crack

All in all, Laura's is quite intimidating, but also super fun at the same time. Usually we hang out for awhile, running a couple laps and watching each other produce a variety of entertaining lines. On this trip I had a terrible first run, and basically pitoned into the left wall of the slot upon entry. As I came through upside-down I tweaked my thumb pretty bad, presumably from the violent water pulling on my paddle. Not satisfied with the line, I decided to give it another go. This time I ran the drop clean and finished it off with a stern squirt into a 180-degree back pirouette (seen near the end of the video below).

Once past Laura’s, it’s just a short distance to the takeout bridge at Cedar Creek Campground. Wow, what a great day! Although the Upper was a little low, the Lower more than made up for the drive. I still believe that the combo run provides the best sustained quality and variety of drops in the Southern Willamette Valley. If you live in Oregon, and flows are good, you owe it to yourself to get on it. In fact, if you’d like a tour guide or more beta give me a shout, I’m always up for a trip to this great run.


The head-cam footage of our run down Lower Brice:

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:

SF Coquille - "The Gem" (2.19.11)

The South Fork Coquille has been on my radar for quite some time. There are multiple sections on this stretch of river, although, one in particular had peaked my interest more than the others. It is simply referred to as “The Gem”. After reading Steve’s write-up (here) and seeing things such as “instant class V classic” and “a more difficult version of the Miracle Mile”, I was foaming at the mouth to get on it. Further, the stated gradient of 300fpm (600fpm in the first 1/8 of a mile) for a boulder garden run was also quite appealing.

So why had it taken me so long to get on it?! Well for starters it's quite a ways away from Eugene (~3hrs). In addition convincing weekend warriors to take a chance and abandon plans on one of our roadside classics can be tough. This weekend seemed to be the perfect excuse to head down, all of the standard Cascade runs were snowed in (and would require a good deal of hiking), plus due to the snow levels, the flows weren’t that attractive either. Knowing that the SF Coquille was in the coast range, the elevation wouldn’t be all that high, and the flow also looked like it would be medium low (based on the stated range), which would probably be good for a personal first descent. After a round of phone calls and emails the crew was formed. Joe Bushyhead, Roman Androsov, and I would be coming from Eugene, and Shawn Haggin would be joining us from Roseburg; pretty much the usual suspects.

Our level for the day (~1200cfs at Powers)

After meeting up at LCC, the Eugene crew headed south, where we met-up with Shawn right off the I-5, just south of Roseburg. From there we headed west, and into the coast range. The drive was long indeed, and by the time we reached the takeout, 16 miles upstream from Powers, we were pretty much in the middle of nowheres-ville, Oregon. The first thing we noticed upon inspection of the river, was that it looked really low. The gauge at powers was reading ~1200cfs, and the stated flow range was 1000 to 2000, so we optimistically thought, “Well, maybe it’s more channelized up higher…”. Since there were no painted markings on the bridge pillar (they must have been removed since Steve's write-up), we couldn't verify the level, but we decided to just take a chance. With that we got changed and headed toward the put-in, which shouldn’t have been far, since the run is only ¾ of a mile long.

Getting geared up at the takeout

Looking a little low from the takeout bridge...

The "16 mile" bridge pillar I assume used to have a painted gauge on

We had a little bit of snow at the takeout, but it started getting deeper and deeper as we made the steep climb up the road. As we approached a summit, we turned left off the main road and continued to climb. Since there was only one other set of tracks (which were already partially covered), it was puttin’ my Suby to the test. Soon the snow was up to my under carriage, and not wanting to get stuck (plus our other car was only 2wd), we opted to park on the side of the road and continue by foot. The nice thing about hiking through the snow is that you can drag your boat behind you without burning a hole though it. However, your feet still get a little heavy.

As far as we got with the car

Joe starts the hike

We hiked for probably another half mile before crossing over a road bridge and cool little waterfall. Just on the other side of this was our marked trail down to the river. Although the trail wound through a snowy forest, it was nice and wide and headed downhill, which made for hastily descent down another half mile or so of trail. If you’re counting, we are now at 3 hours (one-way) of driving and 1 mile of hiking, for a .75 mile stretch of river; hmmm…

Roman checking out the trailhead sign,
while Joe finishes up the road climb.

The start of the trail down to the river

Our efforts were partially rewarded when we rounded a corner and both the river and awesome cascading waterfall, Coquille Falls, came into view. This multi-tiered, nearly 100’ tall waterfall, is far from runnable, but created a wonderful backdrop for the start of our adventure. Although only ½ mile from the road, it felt like we were in a highly remote location.

Coquille Falls in all its glory

The crew at the base of the falls, and our put-in.

There was a drop directly below the falls which plunged ~10’; although, both sides of the forked entrance had issues. The right went through a narrow (and shallow chute) that would have been hard to clean and get a boof stroke in. The left approach was far better but also sent you into the gut of the pocket, and most likely a beat-down. After giving it a little thought, we all wisely chose to put-in below it. As soon as we put on, we had to ferry across the pool to start a portage of a log blocking the channel. It was an easy portage, but we hoped this wasn’t a precursor to what lie downstream.

Looking downstream from the put-in
(you can see the log blocking the first drop)

The first drop we actually ran had a sieve in the middle of it, but since the water wasn’t very high it really wasn’t in play. We all made the easy line off a shelf and through a slot to the right of it, before continuing downstream.

Roman lines up the first drop

Above the next drop, and at the start of the boulder garden, Roman got out on river-left to scout and give us beta. He quickly navigated us using hand signals to an eddy about halfway down the drop. From here Shawn got out with Joe to look at the next pitch. After some time they signaled it was a no-go and required a partial portage. With my boat on my shoulder I walk past what had given them concern, a trashy little slot that fed into an undercut rock. Luckily we were able to put-in just below it to finish up the drop, which ended up being a fun airplane turn into a pool below.

Roman sits below the partial portage

Shawn prepares to run the airplane turn below

Droppin' in

This pool emptied into another blind boulder drop, requiring another scout and partial portage. Like the others this one was also quite trashy due to the level, and required some moves back and forth to navigate through it cleanly. The last part of the drop had two options, going left through a boily diagonal slot, or right over a small ledge with a couple F-U rocks to thread through. We all chose the right line and came through without issue.

Another trashy lead-in

The cleaner middle section of the drop

The end of the drop

Next up was probably my favorite drop of the run, a 10 to 12 foot double tiered plunge between large boulders. Going off verbal and hand signals from Roman, we came through the drop cleanly with smiles on our faces; we hoped there were more like this one downstream.

Joe drops into the best drop of the run

Roman enters the drop while Shawn waits below

Roman drops in

Immediately below here the river poured over another ledge, with most of the flow directed into a large undercut boulder on the bottom left. There was a line on the left but it was uncomfortably close to the undercut, so most of us chose the chunkier line down the right.

Most of the water drops into the giant
boulder in the center left of the photo

We were now faced with a fairly long /complex boulder garden, that was surprisingly clean. Once again you couldn't see around the large boulders, Roman and Joe scouted from different locations and gave beta as I worked my way through the drop. I stopped near the bottom and got out to take some photos as they came through and joined Shawn below the drop.

Shawn enters on of the better boulder gardens of the run

Joe follows soon after

Roman in the middle of the cleanish boulder garden

Roman finishes up the boulder garden

We were now about halfway through the run. The rest consisted of more trashy boulder drops and ledges with sieves here and there for good measure and to keep you on your toes. We also came to a couple islands which split the current and made it that much more trashy. There weren't really any standout drops on the second half and we got through them both boat and bank scouting, with portages made around the ones with no clean lines.

Joe relaxes between drops

Scouting more drop down below

Yep, more trashy drops

Finally the takeout bridge came into view, and although we had only gone ~3/4 of a mile, it had taken us the better part of 3 hours and I was pretty glad to see it (I'm sure the others were as well). Back at the car we changed into our street cloths, while Shawn, with help from the others chained up his Buick so we could retrieve my car which was still sitting in the snow near the put-in. I was actually surprised with how well it did in the snow on the way back up, and we made much better time than anticipated. On the way back we stopped to load our boat before heading back toward home, it had been a long day for such a short stretch of river...

Joe working hard while the others goof off...

I'm somewhat conflicted on summarizing this run. Since we had such low flow, I'm not sure I'd be giving it a fair shake. That said, I would guess that 50% more water would equate to the minimal "good" flow, and probably double what we had for a more optimal level. I'm guessing that it was much lower than the 1200cfs (at Powers) would indicate, because it was looked up in the form of snow; similar to how the flow correlation for Opal Creek and Upper Quartzville changes based on the season. The others felt that due to the character and gradient of the run, double the flow would start to get a little scary; however, I still hold hope that it would "pad out", become much cleaner, and more runnable. One nice thing about the run was that it was almost completely clear of wood, with only a couple pieces in play. If I was to go back down, I'd like to camp for the weekend (in warmer weather) and do some of the other runs in the area; then it might actually be worth it.

Some road pics of the run below ("section 3").
Maybe we should have run this one...

Another look at section 3

In the end, it was also kinda fun to practice our river signals and scouting for the group, which I must say everyone did extremely well. The jury is certainly still out on whether this is truly a "instant class V classic", but for now I would have to say no...

Here is some head-cam footage of some of the upper (and best) half of The Gem: