Last week, our guides had a break in their scheduled Rogue River trips, and we decided to grab some friends and explore the Smith River in Northern California. The Smith is the only undammed river system in California and is famous for its rocky geology and unbelievably clear water. We ran the famous Oregon Hole Gorge first. This narrow canyon can be seen easily from Highway 199, so many a boater has stopped to take a look at its awesome rapids. We put-in just above the… Read More
The Lake Branch is a major tributary of Oregon’s West Fork of the Hood River and one that I’ve wanted to paddle for a long while. It’s known for its steep, challenging rapids that tumble through a beautiful canyon. Difficulty: Class IV-V Length: 2.2 miles Gradient: 113 fpm Put-In: Diver’s Creek Take-Out: West Fork Confluence Flow: Around 6 feet on the Hood River at Tucker Bridge The Lake Branch starts with a couple miles of Class III rapids that are a perfect warm-up. As the canyon… Read More
On October 26, 2011 the Condit Dam on the White Salmon River was removed after years of negotiations between environmental groups, FERC, and state and local governments. It was built in 1913 to supply power to paper companies in Washington and was decommissioned to comply with modern environmental laws and increased maintenance costs. This is great news for rafters and kayakers and even better news for the Columbia’s salmon and steelhead. Removal of the Condit Dam restored approximately 33 miles for steelhead and 14 miles for… Read More
“The love of wilderness is more than a hunger for what is always beyond reach; it is also an expression of loyalty to the earth … the only home we shall ever know, the only paradise we ever need — if only we had the eyes to see.” – Edward Abbey Last week we explored the National Wild and Scenic Chetco River, a little known entirely free-flowing river with its headwaters and almost half its watershed in the Kalmiopsis Wilderness. Our team was Zach Collier, Andy… Read More
Last week I went out with a few of my trusted boating buddies to run the beautiful Rough and Ready Creek, which is a tributary of the Illinois River in Southern Oregon. Rough and Ready Creek flows from the Kalmiopsis Wilderness, through the South Kalmiopsis Roadless Area and the Rough and Ready Botanical Area and Area of Critical Environmental Concern. With the West Fork Illinois River, it hosts to the highest concentration of rare and endemic plants in Oregon and one of the highest in North… Read More
This last weekI joined a trip down Idaho’s South Fork of the Salmon River. This is a little known tributary to the Salmon River near the more famous Middle Fork of the Salmon River in the Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness. The South Fork is rarely run since it has difficult Class IV and V rapids that can only be run in a narrow range of flows for a few weeks each year. Secesh River We started our trip on the Secesh River, which… Read More
Trade in the gray skies and falling snow for the turquoise water and snow-kissed peaks of Chilean Patagonia. The Futaleufu River is a great destination for winter rafting because it’s summer down there! This wasn’t my first trip to the Futaleufu and it won’t be the last either. Getting There After a long flight to Santiago, Chile’s capital, we flew to the small town of Balmaceda, the gateway to Patagonia. Our next objective was a 6 hour bus ride to the river. Luckily, the scenery of… Read More