the Waterlog - Washington Recreational River Runners

the Waterlog
THE
1 MONTHLY NEWSLETTER OF WASHINGTON RECREATIONAL RIVER RUNNERS
the Waterlog
Vol 11 No 5 May 2011
In This Issue:
Running Straight Down
the Crooked
Green River Cleanup
Bob Johnson Memorial
Wenatchee Rendezvous
Shelly drops in to the Crooked Cafe for breakfast.
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2
WRRR 2011 Board
President
Mark Burns
206.459.0870
[email protected]
Lyles Larkin
[email protected]
VP Finance
Nancy Douty
425.413.0948
[email protected]
Jim Johnson
[email protected]
of
Directors
VP Business
Jessica Dyson
[email protected]
Directors at Large
Shaun Heublein
[email protected]
Mathew Holmes
206-948-5730
VP River Ops
Brenan Filippini
[email protected]
Mike Howell
[email protected] .
Committee Chairs
Chair/Mark Burns Membership/Shaun Heublein Programs/Matt Holmes T-Shirts/Nancy Douty
River Watch/Lyles Larkin Safety & Education/Lyles Larkin Communications/Jim Johnson The Waterlog/Brian Vogt
Board meetings are held the 2nd Wednesday of the month at 7:00 PM (except December) at:
Round Table Pizza, 302 SW 43rd St., Renton, WA 98055. 425-251-0606. ALL members welcome!
T h e W at e r l o g
EARN BIG-TIME RIVER KARMA! Flip less often! Get shuttles from bikini models! Stop losing your hair. Your boat will look better, your beer will be
colder, the sun will shine every day you’re on the river and it will rain every day you’re off the river! All you have to do is....SUBMIT ARTICLES TO
THE WATERLOG! (Photos & cartoons too! It’s just that easy) The Waterlog is published 11 times a year. (Monthly except December) Material for
publication should reach the editor by the 25th of the month. An attempt will be made to place submissions received after the 25th. However, no
guarantees are given. The editor reserves the right to edit all submissions for clarity and length. Articles and editorial comment do not necessarily
reflect the view or opinions of WRRR, its Board of Directors, or its membership...They seem to think it’s important that I print that last bit for some
reason, go figure. Authors are solely responsible for the content of their articles.
Submit material for
publication in The Waterlog
to the editor:
Brian Vogt
[email protected]
the Waterlog
3
THE BOB JOHNSON MEMORIAL
WENATCHEE RENDEZVOUS JUNE 3-5
Come join your fellow WRRR members for our annual Bob Johnson
Memorial Wenatchee Rendezvous. Be a part of the greatest flotilla of
inflatable boats on the Wenatchee followed by camping, raffle prizes,
and a potluck dinner. Don’t Miss It! The Rendezvous is fun for the
whole family, and with the snow pack still increasing, river levels should
be great!
Boating: The main float is Saturday morning. We will make final plans
at camp between 8-9 AM. If you want to meet at the river without going to camp first, we usually put in at East Leavenworth in mid-morning.
Shuttles starting at 10am. Put in at 11:00am. Call any board member
and we will relay the information to others and try to hook you up.You
may also coordinate with other boaters on the Yahoo Group. There will
be launches from 10am all through the day with some double’s as well!
Friday and Sunday trips will be going on too. Keep an eye out on the
yahoo wrrr forum all week, or contact a board member. Sunday should
have an alternate trip on Peshastin Creek or the Chiwawa. Peshastin
Creek is a great small boat / IK run. The Chiwawa is a nice class 3 run.
Check the Yahoo Group for Friday trip planning. Sunday plans will be
made in the campground Saturday night or Sunday morning. If you have
any plans post them as well so other members may join you. That’s how
great trips turn into great events!!!
Camping: Free camping for members at the Tumwater Campground
Group Camp, located on the north side of U.S. 2 about 11 miles west
of Leavenworth. We have the group camp reserved from 3 PM on
THURSDAY to 12 PM on Sunday. If you are looking for more privacy
than the group camp there are usually some open spaces at Tumwater
Campground for a fee. There is usually some unimproved camping on
the south side of U.S. 2 across from Tumwater campground on both
sides of Chiwaukum Creek. Please do your part and help clean the
campground and your area when you leave the campground.
Non-member camping fee is $10 per person per day in the group camp
area. Non members are encouraged to join the club or they can also
get a camp spot near the group camp. The board will be able to help
with renewals Friday and Saturday evenings. Families camp for free only
if you have joined at the Family level of higher.
Saturday Night Potluck Dinner and general membership meeting: We will have a great meal. Impress your friends!
Potluck style but bring your own beverages. WRRR will bring paper
plates, plastic utensils, cups and napkins. Dinner will be around 6:30 PM
Saturday to allow time for the raffle. The following is a suggestion for
the type of dish to make or bring, if you have a specialty or preference
please bring what you like. Last name begins with:
A-H Main dish
I-P Side dish or salad
Q-Z Dessert, be creative!
Raffle: Following dinner on Saturday at the Tumwater group camp
the club will raffle off some great river gear. This year will be a year you
don’t want to miss! You can buy your tickets at the campground before
the raffle starts.
Trip Leaders: WRRR Board / Brenan Filippini 360-319-6524 or
[email protected]
PLEASE NOTE: When WRRR pays for club event camping, we charge
$10 per person for non-members. It’s often a hard thing to collect from
people because members don’t always prepare their guests and the
board member doing the collecting ends up being the baddie. Please
make sure that your guests know there is a fee. If you have not renewed
your membership you will have an opportunity on Saturday night.
Niose: Please be courteous to your fellow campground guests and
wrrr members. The area by the group shelter and fire pit will be noisier
than the other spots. Rambunctious members are encouraged to get
private camp spots that border the group camp in this area. Members
seeking quiet areas can camp in the areas closer to the river still in the
group camp area. Thanks for your attention to this.
White Salmon River July 8-10
Join us for the sixth annual White Salmon River, July 18-20! The White
Salmon is a beautiful, scenic river 1.5 hours east of Portland. It is a class
3-3+ with a possible portage at V Husum Falls.
Boating: Meet at BZ corners at 11:30 on Saturday the 18th. The take
out is at Northwestern Lake. Shuttle from the takeout at 12:00pm.
Please pre-arrange this with people prior to leaving the put in/ campground. There is a sign on State Route 141 about 5 miles from the
town of White Salmon.
Camping: Camping is free for WRRR members at Hollenbeck Park, .
15 minutes up the road from the put-in. Non-members will be charged
$10 for camping. Hollenbeck Park: 734 Sunnyside Rd., Trout Lake, WA
98650.
Food: You will need to make your own arrangements for food and
cooking gear. WRRR will have paper plates, plastic utensils, and paper
cups.
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4
Running Straight Down the Crooked
Val Shaull runs left at #1
Crooked River
“It’s 24 degrees out here.” This isn’t
exactly news. Boat tubes froze to trailers, valves were sticky, and my toes
were approaching numbness. Yet here
we were at 7:30 am, getting ready to
jump into the silt brown Crooked River
in Central Oregon.
“We’re going to wait for it to warm up
at least 10 degrees.” That was Mike’s
plan, which had an element of wisdom
to it. Mike had commuted with Leif,
Aaron, camping out the night before.
They would also camp on the river for
an overnight boating trip. This meant
we would not see them on the 18-mile
stretch as they were on a later schedule, a warmer schedule. They would
also take out further downstream, past
a three-mile stretch of lake water.
Runnable water in the Crooked is a
rare event. It only runs when the dam
spills over, and luckily for us, 2011 has
had a very wet spring. The gauges
were showing levels of 2700 cfs, which
was plenty of water to make the run
exciting. Our ringleader was Oregon
boating legend Val Shaull, and he had
us up for a 6am breakfast at the nearest greasy spoon. He’s run the Crooked more than anyone, 20 times, so we
figured he must have a good reason for
starting so early. I’ve never woken at
5:30 am to get on a river. An airplane,
sure; but not a river, and not when it’s
below freezing outside. Dave’s knock
on my door came at 5:40, killing my
hopes for a later start and more sleep.
blue heron glided by. I opted to hitch
a ride on Shelly’s cataraft tube until we
got to some rapids. The sun was barely
penetrating a light grey sky, but I could
almost feel my semi-numb toes.
Our group of four, Dave, Shelly, myself
and Brian, joined a much larger group
of Oregon folks; we nearly filled the
restaurant. For breakfast I had coffee,
two eggs and a pancake, much more
than my typical breakfast, thinking I’d
need the extra fuel for the coming exertion. It was a rookie mistake I’d come
to regret.
The first set of rapids were a bit more
powerful than I had anticipated - continuous class IV but nothing that required
scouting. After getting through them,
I was very relieved to see the majestic towering walls and pillars at Smith
Rock State Park and more importantly,
its composting outhouse. After a brief
stop, I got back onto the cataraft for a
bit more flat water before rapid No. 1. I
thought my stomach would feel 100%
better after this break, but I was wrong.
The first few miles of water were moving, but flat – no whitewater. Canada
geese laughed at us as they followed
the river up the canyon. An osprey
shrieked and landed in a treetop above
the basalt walls, and an occasional
I’m on a riverboard, and was in no
hurry to get wet in these early morning
hours. Knowing I’d be participating in
this manner, no one else felt they had a
right to complain of being chilly.
Our group consisted of several catarafts, a 5-person paddle raft crew, an
IK, and myself. Just before rapid No.
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1 we got out of the river to get a good
look before plunging into the frothy
violence. A huge rock in the middle
was creating a spill-over with a hole
on the other side. The left side of the
river looked good to me as it avoided
the hole, and that’s what everyone ran,
well, almost everyone. Shelly and her
husband Dave thought that it would
work better to ferry across the river upstream of the spill-over rock and finish
on the right. That worked fine for Dave,
but Shelly ended up missing the move,
paddling straight over the rock but not
with enough force to escape the hole.
Watching from upstream, I saw her distinctive black and yellow float tubes,
pointy ends up, piercing the watery horizon. Her boat went vertical, dumping
her, sucking off a shoe, and giving her
a shiner. (Greg, another cataraft boater, recovered the shoe, so no sacrifices
were made to the river gods this trip.)
She was able to hang onto her boat,
and eventually flushed through. “God
looks after idiots” she later mused.
Gettin’ reeled back in ...
Crooked River
When whitewater is brown, it’s harder
to read; you don’t see the rocks as
quickly and the silt also makes the
force of the current feel stronger. For
No. 2 rapid (yes, that is its real name) I
was behind Val on his smaller cataraft.
He took a meaty line down the middle
of the river, and following him I found
myself getting bounced around in the
strong waves and sticky holes they created. I really felt like I’d had enough and
just wanted it to end. But, I was also
the first known riverboarder to run the
Crooked, and needed to hang in there
and give it effort. At the end of the rapid
I lie exhausted on my board and drifted
over to the raft, and they pulled me in
to give me a break. My stomach was
bothering me; those eggs must have
been cooked in butter, and that butter
was not agreeing with me.
It was fun to ride in the raft and I enjoyed
chatting with the others, pondering how
chunks of plastic had gone missing
from most of the paddles. Around a
few more corners the whitewater was
picking up and I dropped back in the
water. The next big rapid was “whoopde-doodle” and it was very lively, tossing me off the board and spinning me
in a hole. I clamored back in position
and held on as the rapid finished, and
it reminded myself how out of shape I
felt. As I lay on my stomach the nausea
came back. I’m sure it was a combination of the food and the adrenaline
making me long for some kind of exit
to this experience. “Just hang in there,”
I kept telling myself. Nausea will pass
eventually.
Another cat boater, Brent, offered me
a ride when he saw my distress. I said
I’d keep his offer in mind. When we
got to a series of rapids, I was skirting
the edge of them, instead of hitting the
most vertical part of the wave - which
is really a blast on a riverboard. But it
can also catch you off guard if there’s
an unseen hole on the other side! Brent
kept looking back to check on me, and
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after a few miles I gave the signal to eddy out. I crawled
aboard. We went through some fun class III rapids; straddling the boat tube like a mechanical bull, hanging onto my
riverboard with one hand and his boat frame with the other.
We came up to No Name rapid, which is the most significant
rapid on the river. The one with no name. Which is a testament to how infrequently this river gets run.
but if you missed it, and lost your boat, you would have to
paddle to the next exit; 10 miles downstream and across6a
lake. Therefore, we decided to exit above China Dam. This
meant bringing the boats to an eddy mere feet from the rapid
entrance, shoving them on shore, hooking up a rope and a
pulley to bring them to the trail 100 feet or so above the water. After that the real work began.
I should add that I had not been on any river since November, and not in rapids anywhere near this level of difficulty.
No Name had a runnable line down the left, but it didn’t look
terribly easy to get to and stay over there. A hole of the
likes I’d never seen was right in the middle of the strongest
current, and waves were crashing into it from three sides.
It looked like some freaky, hungry monster with a magnetic
vortex, drawing in anything within its proximity and swallowing it whole. Although Val danced across it a bit up on one
boat tube, everyone else cleanly ran the left line. I decided
to walk the top part of the rapid and jump in where there was
no possible ice cube’s chance in hell I’d end up anywhere
near that hole, and ran the rapid on the right. There were
still plenty of rapids and holes from that point and I came out
smiling, but my legs started cramping.
Part of the reason the other group from Seattle decided to
make a two-day trip was because of this take-out. The narrow, rocky trail climbs 750 feet over roughly ¾ of a mile.
Shelly’s boat and frame weighs 170 lbs. My riverboard
weighs 6 lbs. It took the group 3 hours to slog boats and
gear up the hill. I had booked a hotel room a few steps from
the top. It was tempting to sneak off to my room and nap
through the afternoon’s ordeal, but since so many of these
good folks helped me get through some cold and flat water, I
went back and helped carry that 170 lb. cat boat up the trail.
Next time this group goes, a power boat will be hired to get
us across the lake, so we can do the full run in one day and
not have to work so hard against the very gravity that made
the river so fun.
Underneath my farmer-john wetsuit that I wear over the dry
suit are knee pads, the kind they make for moto-cross and
mountain biking, and I could feel them pressing in on my
legs. Normally I don’t feel them at all, but I thought perhaps
I was cramping and my muscle was contracting. This is why
I prefer a wetsuit; fewer layers to constrict movement! This
time I jumped on Brian’s cat boat tube for awhile.
The next rapid was called China Dam and I have no idea
why. It was a pile of black rocks on the left with a tree wedged
into what might otherwise be a runnable entrance. The horizon line had a spray fan of water shooting up from below
in the middle. The right side was a series of rocks and holes
but runnable. There was a takeout right below this rapid,
Yeah, the canyon was that good!
Crooked River Takeout
I did finally go for that nap after the rigs arrived and most of
the gear was staged to load. Not too long afterwards I got
a dinner-knock, which abruptly ended my slumber. “That’s
twice you woke me up today, Dave!” We went to eat at the
local brew-pub. Greg and Mark ordered a beer called Panty
Dropper. After downing a couple each, the bar was disappointingly free of dropped panties.
I heard several people say they would come back to run
the river, or just to hang out and hike around Smith Rocks.
Although it’s a good haul from Seattle (6 hours) I would do it
again - plus it’s out of the rainy west side, a nice break from
the weather. Thanks so much to Val for guiding us all straight
down the Crooked!
-- Rochelle Parry
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Web Hits
Web Hits features local access and conservation updates, expedition and exploratory
trip reports from around the world, and highlights excellent forum exchanges from across
the online boating communities in the western states. So, what exciting news and events
have happened lately? Check these links out:
First Descent of the Barranca
de Piaxtla
http://bit.ly/kgd4mw
First Descent of Koketee Falls
http://bit.ly/g91QPp
AW: Illabot Creek Wild &
Scenic?
http://bit.ly/g91QPp
AW: Federal Support for
Condit Dam Removal
http://bit.ly/hBItQY
Remembering 1983’s High
Water on the Poudre
http://bit.ly/kiBJGX
Robe Canyon Race Results
and Media
http://bit.ly/lTHpYd
Video: Rafting Carberry Creek
http://bit.ly/il251Z
Seven Days of the Demshitz
Crew
http://bit.ly/glZrb4
Video from Colorado’s
Pandora’s Box
http://vimeo.com/22821254
High Water Bruneau TR
http://bit.ly/mbSUHF
Whitewater Grand Prix Day 1
http://bit.ly/j0PZkj
All Things Christopher
McCandless
http://bit.ly/glZrb4
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Thanks for a Great Clean-up!
8
Many, many thanks go out to everyone that helped with the massive cleanup effort this year. We overwhelmed the State Parks Dump Truck and ended up with a trailer of scrap metal for salvage.
It took a collective effort of a lot of people to make this event happen and a lot of planning. The cleanup
event was started over 25 years ago and has become the biggest and oldest river cleanup in the state.
PDX raft crew drops into the hole in #1
Jim
finesses River,
the truckOR
bed through the Nozzle
Crooked
Photo: Karie Burns
This year, the idea of pulling the pickup bed out
9 gorge was brought up at a Board meeting
of the
when I asked what big project the 2011 WRRR
Board wanted to accomplish. It was suggested
that we pull the pickup bed at Secret Class IV out
of the gorge. Things started in motion that week.
In April, we had scouting crews and demolition
crews do their thing and it was quite dramatic with
no shortage of airborne pieces of metal.
When I was at the debris field on Saturday morning of the cleanup, I asked myself how in the world
would we get all of this stuff down the river. We
loaded boat after boat with metal, wood, and fiberglass pieces from the speedboat and the pickup
truck.
the Waterlog
The WRRR members and other members of the
boating community that helped out really made
this year’s cleanup the best yet.
While this note is too short to give credit to all involved, I must say that I was happy to see Jim
Johnson, the son of the late WRRR cofounder
Bob Johnson, with the pickup bed being loaded on
Bob’s old Aire Ocelot catboat. I helped escort Jim
through the toughest part of the gorge and was a
little nervous as I sat at the bottom of the Nozzle
when Jim got a little further right than he hoped
and highsided the Nozzle in the catboat with a
pickup truck bed on the back of the cat. When I
talked to Jim about it later, he was very proud that
he is helping to contribute to his father’s legacy
with WRRR. Great work everyone!
-- Mark Burns
WRRR President
Megaload on the Green
Photo: Shaun Heublein
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Board Meeting Minutes March 2011
I.
Call to order
Mark Burns called to order the regular meeting of the Washington Recreation River Runners Board Meeting at Tapatios Mexican
Restaurant.
II.
Approval of minutes from last meeting
Jessica passed out a copy of the minutes from the last meeting. The
minutes were approved as amended.
III.
Green Clean Committee Report – Brenan
a) Matt to pick up trash bags
b) B sent request for volunteer to yahoo chat board
but nobody has responded. B to find support to sign people in
c) B to prepare info and map print outs to hand out at
event
IV.
Business – Jessica Dyson
a) Board wants to look into getting Board Insurance. Mark has some contacts
V.
Finance Report- Nancy Douty
a) Audit still needed
VI.
River Ops - Brenan
a) Oregon club still hasn’t paid their agreed portion of
port-a-potty for Tieton. Brenan to follow up with Oregon club.
VII.
Safety and Education – Lyles
a) Discussed potential Safety course instructors for
WRRR class
VIII.
River Access –Lyles
a) Lyles to reach out to Kate and Chris on MM access
IX.
Programs – Matt Holmes
a) Introducing Halloween Tieton Run
X.
Special Topics – Mark Burns
a) Proposed member code of conduct for the Board to consider implementation
Minutes submitted by: Jessica Dyson
Next month: Wood, storms, and a whitewater
marathon in the wilds of Oregon
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11
Day/Date
Mar-July
River/Description
Class
MM SNOQUALMIE Every Thursday Night!!!!
Check the Yahoo! group for meet times.
ANNUAL LOCHSA PILGRIMAGE
WRRR WENATCHEE RENDEVOUS Potluck / Prizes Saturday
night. Camping is reserved Thursday night, checking out Sunday.
Swiftwater Classes (date TBD)
III
WENATCHEE RIVER FESTIVAL
Dutch oven cookoff!
CHILLIWACK CANYON, BC
III
III (V)
Sep 9th-11th
WHITE SALMON
Camping at Hollenbeck Park
LOWER SAUK OVERNIGHTER
(On your way to the Skagit Poker run)
SKAGIT POKER RUN.
Safety Olympics / Potluck / Prizes Saturday
Group Camp reserved Thurs night thru Sun Noon
THOMPSON RIVER, BC
Come see the big water and bigger canyons of British Columbia
WRRR TIETON WEEKEND
Sep 16th-18th
WRRR / OWA WEEKEND Potluck Saturday night
III
Sep 23rd-27th
ROGUE RIVER
Pending Permits, Semi Wilderness
III-IV (V)
May 12-15
Jun 2nd-5th
Jun
Jun 10th
Jul 2nd-4th
Jul 8th-10th
Aug 11th
Aug 11th-14th
Aug 20th-21st
NOTE: The Board will meet in June at the Spiro’s in Shoreline again.
Like Goldilocks it’s still not quite perfect...but the banquet room was
private and it was a productive meeting space for us. We are still on
the hunt for the perfect space so...If anyone knows of a good banquet room or meeting space they would recommend in the Puget
Sound area please let any of your Board members know and help
us find our permanent Board meeting home.
IV
III
III
IV
II-III
II-III
III-IV
III
Contact
David Elliott
[email protected]
Mark Burns 206.459.0870
WRRR Board
[email protected]
WRRR Board
[email protected]
Mike Curtis
Terry Donoho 509-476-3219
[email protected]
WRRR Board
[email protected]
Brenan Filippini
[email protected]
WRRR Board
[email protected]
Shaun Heublein
[email protected]
WRRR Board
Matt Holmes 206-948-5730
WRRR/OWA Board
[email protected]
Brenan Filippini
[email protected]
the Waterlog
Gettin’ the load out! Green River Cleanup
Photo: Shaun Heublein
12