Middle Fork 09: (Pic heavy)

[4Rescue]

...

In addition to the Glyphs, we soon discovered that in teh far limit of the cave was a large flat spot rife with bear scatt. This is clearly someone's hibernation spot, and a nice one at that. The cave is about 40yds deep, easily tall enough for me (@ 5'11 195) to stand and move about in, tapering down to a smaller maybe 3ft. tall section with the flat sleeping spot. I can see a bear sleeping here in major comfort.

All in all though, this was one beautiful camp for the 45min of sunshine we got...

And the mighty Vanguard paddle boat. They may not be light or high-tech, but they're durable and stable not to mention hard to flip if weighted correctly and manned by a fast acting paddle team (wich it was about 50% of the time... It was manned b y the fat and lazy when it flipped... I just realized that SHE was the common denominator in ALL of our flipps in the last few years... Interesting)

The Lazy one is the big lump in green. If you see this woman, run the other way adn definatly DO NOT let her go on a rafting trip with you, whatever you do!!!!!!!! Also pictured, Andrew (another one of my Pseudo-brothers using Shifty, aka Chris as a foot rest. Classic stuff.

It was honestly nice to know that after this day I wasn't going to have to hope this stuff was dry in the morning. THat was the only part of the trip ending that I liked. Next year... It's all about the OS Systems Dry-suit with internal suspenders and booties instead of ankle gaskets. Yeah I'm getting soft, but IMO being able to roll up to camp, shuck the dry-suit and rock out in my Fleece sweats then go to bed and not have to change in and out of seperate, not entirely dry gear is worth it's weight in gold. In my Kokotat gear's defence, it's not designed to be a completely dry system, it's mainly just REALLY dry splah gear and honestly I wasn't really wet or cold, I just got a bit of water in my waist gasket and got my upper layers under my top wet. THat's why I wear 2 layers of Polyprop one of wich is specificaly FOR this type of use. PLus I have these Awesome Level 6 yaking shorts that have a neoprene liner in them so my junk stays warm and by osmosis so do I... And then, if I know for a fact that I'm going to be swimming alot (as in the Lochsa at flood stages) I will even go so far as to wear my shorty wet-suit underneath it all so when I DO get some water in... It's hardly any big deal. I swam @ Carter Bridge Rpd on the Clack last year 11K CFS (major flood stage) with water temps around 39f... Never got cold, just scarred

SO, the final day was spent much like those before it. We hardly knew where we were, we tried to scout everything that sounded dangerous at highwater, but again, at highwater, some things are washed out and others have never been seen because the water only get's up this high so often and the rapids chancge from year to year so...

So this is hopw brian Flipped... last day and all we thought we were out of the woods, but OH how the river gods have a twisted sence of humor. actually it couldn't have been any better.

So here's lower Clifside (not my pic, I poached it from the interweb so i could diagram this out)
*Red line - High water line we were running at,
*Blue holles - are the boat flipper holes, the left and most up-river (you're looking down river in the pic) of wich is what got Brian
*Green Line - That's the line we in the paddle boat took eventualy. We were far and away more manuverable so when we saw what a stupid thing Ryan had done pointing at the Hole we could still get back and run the green line to infamy!!!
*Pink Line - Well thanks to Ryans complete blunder and the fact that Brian saw us going for this line (and the IS a sneak between 6-7 feet5 to the far left, but you're got to get there and if you come up short like Brian you get served up a big ol batch of Idaho sticky water.
*Flesh tone/peach arrow/line - This is where we ended up landing and flipping Brians boat back over. Not too shabby if I do say. Brian deserves credit for really packing his boat well. We ran a big barney bag in the back and it really did an amazing job of holding everything in. More on that in a minute.

So after he flipped, Woody (his passenger) got a flip line clipped on as they were floating down, adn Ol Flip thompson had already scaled the boat and was hand paddling it towards shore very helplessly. So I ran out and got him on line with the Cat and then Chris came up with his pin-kit wich thankfully we didn't need. After removing the oar lock it only took 5 of us guys to pull'er back over. SO, best part of all??? Well, the Groover (for those of you who aren't familliar with river vernacualr, the groover is the loo, the head, the dunny...) was in teh Barney bag. Sealed we assumed, but it still hadn't been flipped upside down and shaken in testing. We were all real anxious to see and smell if they had leaked inside the barney bag during the flip. NO THEY HAD NOT!!!!!!!!!! YEAH!!!!!!! Some of the folks who's stuff was inn there were sreriously considering just chucking it all had they leaked. It's hard to get the image adn idea of a bucket of feces being spilled on your sleeping bag eh... The groover buckets are officialy very very solid and I will probably be replacing my own "Gamma-Can" bucket with one of these (new and un-used of course )

...

 

[4Rescue]

...

After that fun little juant, we stoped at spirit cave. Pictures CANNOT make this make sence. It's just a HUGE cave that you have to see to belive eh.

the cave even has a hair parting waterfall that falls from out of the sky

So as it was, we rolled on down to the confluence with the Main Salmon and scouted Cramer Cr.

Micah and Joel wussed out and pulled out well before Cramer thinking it was going to be big...

so we walked back

Much to my chagrin, it was washed out so our last big monster was a no-go and we just rolled on into the boat ramp to a waiting rain-storm and loaded up.

Thanks to all of you who've taken the time to read this horendous run-on sentence. And remember if you're in oregon adnwant to get out on the river any time, drop me a line. I wouldn't offer this to any other group from any other board, but I have a feeling that most of us here would respect the nature with wich I offer this service(no I'm NOT charging ANYTHING except mayb e a beer or two after the run's done), but we do put out a bit to get the boats out on the water) and respect others safety and in general just have a good time

Anyways. this was one of my favorite river trips to date. In 15 years and 40 some rivers, this will forever stand out.

Cheers

Dave

 

[jeepmedic46]

Looks like it was a awesome trip.:ylsmoke: Excellant write up.:coffeedrink:

 

[muskyman]

great looking trip and alot of smiles in the pics so all musta had fun!!

 

[kellymoe]

Great write-up. I was too busy drooling over the pictures to remember if you said what boats were on the trip. AIRE, Hyside, SOTAR? I hope to buy a new boat in the next few years now that my kids are getting older in hopes to pass on the same adventures my parents gave me.

Your trip reminds me of the 8 days I spent in Hells Canyon with my family when I was just a punk kid. My dad taught me to row when I was ten and started guiding by the time I was 17.

You all are truly fortunate to be able to do what you do.

 

[4Rescue]

Great write-up. I was too busy drooling over the pictures to remember if you said what boats were on the trip. AIRE, Hyside, SOTAR? I hope to buy a new boat in the next few years now that my kids are getting older in hopes to pass on the same adventures my parents gave me.

Your trip reminds me of the 8 days I spent in Hells Canyon with my family when I was just a punk kid. My dad taught me to row when I was ten and started guiding by the time I was 17.

You all are truly fortunate to be able to do what you do.

Goog on ya Kelly, I too had a Dad who was an EXTREMELY avid rafter who'd take off much like I do, for weeks at a time to run what ever river they were off to. I hope to pass the fun and adventure on to my kids when we start having some here pretty soon

As for the Boats:

Well we have a few between us all:

-16ft Aire Cataraft - This is my personal choipce for big water, high load capacity and ease of rowing. I like Rafts alot to row and paddle because they "slide" and Spin off rapids, but when the water get's big and you're really just hoping to punch through everything, a cat is far and away my personal choice. Of course when they're un-loaded they can get a bit tippier, but I really love how manuverable they are.

Aire's are my personal fav's just because their inner bladder chamber has litteraly saved our trip's more then a few times. Other boats will pop and make for some scarry moments. The Aire allows you to row safely to the side and get off the water Drama Free.

-16ft Maravia Raft- Can't remember the model name
This is Joels boat, it was stolen and painted some funky colors. We got it back and had it re-urethaned and it's been a trooper ever since. It's pretty light and fairly stiff so it's fast and handles loads well. Joel was a bit gun-shy all trip, but in all honesty the Maravia was running like a champ.

-16ft Sotar Raft- Seeing a trend here
This is Brians boat, but don't let all his flips fool you. This boat is EXTREMELY light (it's a Hypalon boat) but the material is real slick so it makes a terrible paddle boat. His Frame and Barney bag mean even if he flips everything is still there and since it's so liight it only takes 5 fit guy's to pull her back over fully loaded. Sotar makes a nice boat but it sure comes at a price.

-10ft. Aire Puma-This is our Creek/play raft. We've had our eyes on a "mini-me" and several other small paddle boats(we really wanted a 9ft'r), but this one came along for a steal so we took it. It has Aire's internal blader system, 2 thwarts, foot cups and is a monster with the right 3 guy's on it. it also has this awesome 'keel" feature where the outer skin on the botom of the boat has some small screened holes t allow water to flow through slowly thus making the floor into a "keel" and makin it REAL stable once you get used to it. This boat is paddled and ridden like you're riding a horse, it's all in the waist and letting your lower body move with the water while you keep your upper body upright and paddling. Look for some Vids of us on this little monster here in the near future.

-14ft Vanguard Raft- This is "Team Valtrex Extreme's" (it's a very funny story but completely inapropriate for this bpard ) main Paddle boat. She's not light, she's not high-tech... What she is is STABLE and durable. The material is VERY thick and the profile of the boat is very wide. This year was the first time she's flipped un-intentionaly in 5 years of service. Our previous Paddle boats cannot claim that.

-Aire Tomcat IK- We all went in on this years ago and it's still alove. Yet another high quality Aire product.

Cheers

Dave

 

[4Rescue]

Great write-up. I was too busy drooling over the pictures to remember if you said what boats were on the trip. AIRE, Hyside, SOTAR? I hope to buy a new boat in the next few years now that my kids are getting older in hopes to pass on the same adventures my parents gave me.

Your trip reminds me of the 8 days I spent in Hells Canyon with my family when I was just a punk kid. My dad taught me to row when I was ten and started guiding by the time I was 17.

You all are truly fortunate to be able to do what you do.

Goog on ya Kelly, I too had a Dad who was an EXTREMELY avid rafter who'd take off much like I do, for weeks at a time to run what ever river they were off to. I was oaring dories on the Alsea by the time I was 10 and I started doing over-nighters with Dad at are 12. At 15 I was off on my own with the same core group of 6 guys that I raft with now. Our first trip was on the Snake from Hell Canyon Dam to Asotin (hellers Bar was snowed in) on an early season run with no tent, no float guide, adn no real dry/wet gear to speak of. It realy is amazing that we made it home I hope to pass the fun and adventure on to my kids when we start having some here pretty soon

As for the Boats:

Well we have a few between us all:

-16ft Aire Cataraft - This is my personal choipce for big water, high load capacity adn ease of rowing. I like Rafts alot to Row and paddle because they "slide" and Spin off rapids, but thwen the water get's big and you're really just hoping to punch through everything, a cat is far and away my personal choice. Of course when they're un-loaded they can get a bit tippier, but I really love how manuverable they are.

Aire's are my personal fav's just because their inner bvladder chamber has litteraly saved our trip's more then a few times. Other boats will pop and make for some scarry moments. The Aire allows you to row safely to the side and get off the water Drama Free.

-16ft Maravia Raft- Can't remember the model name
zthis is Joels boat, it was stolen and painted some funky colors. We got it back and had it re-urethaned and it's been a trooper ever since. It's pretty light and fairly stiff so it's fast and handles loads well. Joel was a bit gun-shy all trip, but in all honesty the Maravia was unning like a champ.

-16ft Sotar Raft- Seeing a trend here
This is Brians boat, but don't let all his flips fool you. This boat is EXTREMELY light (it's a Hypalon boat) but the material is real slick so it makes a terrible paddle boat. His Frame and Barney bag mean even if he flips everything is still there and since it's so liight it only takes 5 fit guy's to pull her back over fully loaded. Sotar makes a nice boat but it sure somes at a price.

-10ft. Aire Puma-This is our Creek/play raft. We've had our eyes on a "mini-me" and several other small paddle boats(we really wanted a 9ft'r), but this one came along for a steal so we took it. It has Aire's internal blader system, 2 thwarts, foot cups and is a monster with the right 3 guy's on it. it also has this awesome 'keel" feature where the outer skin on the botom of the boat has some small screened holes t allow water to flow through slowly thus making the floor into a "keel" and makin it REAL stable once you get used to it. This boat is paddled and ridden like you're riding a horse, it's all in the waist and letting your lower body move with the water while you keep your upper body upright and paddling. Look for some Vids of us on this little monster here in the near future.

-14ft Vanguard Raft- This is "Team Valtrex Extreme's" (it's a very funny story but completely innapropriate for this bpard ) main Paddle boat. She's not light, she's not high-tech... What she is is STABLE and durable. The material is VERY thick and the profile of the boat is very wide. This year was the first time she's flipped un-intentionaly in 5 years of service. Our previous Paddle boats cannot claim that.

-Aire Tomcat IK- We all went in on this years ago adn it's still alove. Yet another high quality Aire product.

Cheers

Dave

 

[4Rescue]

Nice! My friends are on the Middle Fork right now. They were aprehensive about running at this level for sure. They should be off the river by this afternoon.

HA, no way man we met a bunch of people from Colorado on the river I wonder if any of them were your friends. how big a group? Guy's and Girls??? Small word eh.

Cheers

Dave

 

[kellymoe]

That is quite a variety of boats you all have. When I started my family had a military surplus 18' bucket boat and then moved up to a Campways Shoshone, that was the be all end all at the time, 1980.

I now have a 10' SOTAR and a 14' Campways Miwok in addition to a bunch of kayaks. Now if I can just find the time to get out and use them.

 

[4Rescue]

That is quite a variety of boats you all have. When I started my family had a military surplus 18' bucket boat and then moved up to a Campways Shoshone, that was the be all end all at the time, 1980.

I now have a 10' SOTAR and a 14' Campways Miwok in addition to a bunch of kayaks. Now if I can just find the time to get out and use them.

Yeah, we're very fortunate to have such nice gear at this point... Belive me it wasn't always this way We stared out with my buddies 11.5ft Campways Bucket boat affectionatly named "Patches" for the boat long patch applied to her. As old and worn out as that boat was, being a bucket boat it litteraly COULDN'T be flipped. it would fill with water adn just look like 2 oar towers on the surface of the water as it catterpillared along.

then we got a pair or Riken bucket boats that lasted all of 2 season untill all the baffles blew then finaly the main seam at the right front corner blew making for an interesting ride down the remaining 5 miles to the take out. I patched hr with Duct-tape and hoped for the best. They were known as the SS F. Conneley (our shuttle driver for our firast big overnighter on the snake and the brother of the mabn who wore the definitave history book on the middle fork Joseph Connely) and the SS Cousin Eddy (Of N. Lampoons Vacation fame HAHAHAHAHa and because this boat just hunted for eddy's adn didn't want to leave)

We bought the Cat first and the Vanguard adn teh Maravia followed a few years back. My next purchase WILL be a 16ft Aire Cataraft wich I will set-up the way I want it. Currently we have a front row basket adn I HATE it. It's literaly the worst idea anyone's ever had and the guy who made our original frame has since gotten out of the biz following some less then happy custy's complaining...

Happy boat hunting Kelly and let me know what you get. Were likely going to be heading down to the Merced and Toulmne next year, maybe we can get together and have some fun on teh water if you're interested.

CHeers

DAve

 

[salsataco]

Good Stuff!:snorkel:

 

[kerry]

Here's a run of Dagger Falls that begins at the end of a tree. Very quick thinking once the rower realizes his predicament.

http://www.mountainbuzz.com/forums/f11/log-in-dagger-falls-video-25849.html#post148353

 

[4Rescue]

Here's a run of Dagger Falls that begins at the end of a tree. Very quick thinking once the rower realizes his predicament.

http://www.mountainbuzz.com/forums/f11/log-in-dagger-falls-video-25849.html#post148353

WOW!!!!!!!

That is freaking amazig, thanks for posting mate!!!! I've gotta check out that forum.

Cheers

Dave