Silver Creek, OR.

Dustin Stoner and Crisler Torrence below Silver Creek Falls.

Our crew (Dustin Stoner, Chris Shehab, Martin Belden, Crisler Torrence, and myself) arrived at silver Creek campground after a long day of driving, highway accidents, unexpected surprises on Sweet Creek, and just as it was about to rain.

After a night of off-and-on downpours the team was ready for another day of waterfalls! Because of the fact that I forgot our guide books we had to drive to an area of cell service to get directions to put-in and take-out. As we were getting directions via Ryan Scott, a Christmas tree farmer was nice enough to show us to the put-in and explain that just upstream was a massive waterfall.

The drop up stream ended up being a clean 65 footer that both Martin and Chris fired up! Due to low flows however, Martin and Chris Both were slowed down and at the lip and as they went vert. there sterns drug over the grabby volcanic basalt sending them over the bars and head first from top of the impressive drop. This ended up with Martins paddle breaking, Chris being ejected from his boat “Like a bar of butter” and making for the most impressive and comical photos of our trip!

Martin Beldin about to Land on his dome from 65 ft! What a savage!

From this drop the river meanders for about ¾ of a mile before plunging over the 126 ft. Silver Falls. The portage around Silver Falls is really easy but takes a little time since you have to walk on a well defined hiking trail that traverses back and forth and eventually goes back behind the waterfall.

Once we were put-on after the portage our team rolled up to a blind class 2 corner, about 2 miles from silver falls, which turned out to be an awesome 15 foot slide to vert drop. When running this there are two options, at least at low flow, run right or portage the top and run the left slide.

Crisler Torrence running first.

Martin Beldin draw stroking to perfection.

This turned out to be the best drop on our trip since we had low flows and there was wood and axis problems for all the nicer drops. None the less this trip still revealed it’s epicness in the form of us missing the take-out and eventually getting lost. Since we missed take-out, which is supposedly the south fork confluence, our group floated farther and farther downstream until we finally came to an old logging road. Beings that this was the first sign of anything remotely resembling a trail or axis point we decided to hike out instead of paddle further.

The hike consisted of about 1 mile uphill and during which Dusty and I found a sweet cart to push our boat in. Once at the top of the climb a friendly Mexican tree farmer gave us a three mile ride back to Silver Creek campground were Chris, who had decided to hike out early, was driving around looking for us. Once back at the campground everyone enjoyed the complementary warm showers and heated bathroom that Silver Creek Campground offers!

Orion Meredith in the "Were the hell is take-out section"

It should be known that paddling Silver Creek is Illegal. We got lucky and when a ranger asked us soaked to the bone, covered in paddling gear kayakers weather we had been paddling Silver Creek, we simply replied “no” and drove away with a kayak on the roof and everyone inside without problems : )

Note: Silver Creek has several benign looking class 2 rapids that lead into either huge-ass drops or rapids that are well worth a scout. Many of these drops have wood in very un-ideal places, which results in a bit of a portage fest on the manicured trail system that stays just far enough away from the creek to make axis a real bitch at times. Still this run is worth doing once to see the massive waterfalls. Out of state Boaters should know that Liquor Stores in Oregon Close at 7 pm!

-Photos and write-up by Orion Meredith

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Sweet Creek, OR.

Martin Beldin Looking longingly at the upper falls

After Loading all our gear and 5 Kayaks onto Dustin Stoners Subaru, Crisler Torrence, Martin Beldin, Chris Shehab , and myself were on our way to huck ourselves off some of Oregon’s finest waterfalls for our 2009 spring break!

Sweet Creek was the first stop of our paddling extravaganza. Our day started out with a 65 mph I-5 accident that left our car unharmed and the other on its side adjacent to the freeway. As we left the accident unscathed all we could think about was getting off the road and into our boats.

During our drive up Sweet Creek road we noticed fields of standing water, which we all took to be a good sign since we knew that sweet creek only flowed after a significant rain event. With that being said we were in for a surprise!

As we rolled up to the put-in the team began to realize that this manageable class 4/5 creek would likely be a torrent on eddy-less class 5 whitewater.

After giving a quick look at the brown flowing mass in front of the take-out everyone suited up and walked the wonderfully built trail system that consists of metal bridges anchored to the gorge wall.

Now, usually sweet Creek is known as a short but “Sweet” chunk of steep creek with dozens of clean ledges and ample sized eddies. Not for this trip however! Due to heavy rains there wasn’t an eddy in sight and the upper gorge was completely out of the question since it would lead directly into an unfriendly ledge hole in the beginning of the bottom gorge.

This made for an easy team decision to run only the lower gorge which still had many fun fast drops. Martin in true character wanted to get every last vertical foot possible and decided on the tricky seal-launch half way down the bottom gorge. Once safety was set I let go of Martins stern and anxiously watched him pencil-in. After fighting with the wall and a funny boil for a minute, Martin made his way down through a series of holes and stout slides to arrive happily at the bottom.

Crisler went next from a lower spot and managed to get strong surf in a nasty retentive hole giving way to his first swim in close to a year!

Matin Beldin about to get the seal-launch of his life!

Martin Beldin in the Top drop of the bottom gorge

Chris Shehab in the middle drop of the bottom gorge

Once all the gear was picked up, Dusty, Chris and I decided on only running the last three drops which had plenty to offer with easier access and slightly less consequence. Because the access is so easy and the run short but action packed, we all ran the creek three times before downing a booty beer and hitting the road in search of our next waterfall destination, Silver Creek


Crisler Torrence and his first delicious booty-beer in over a year!

-Photos and write-up by Orion Meredith

White Salmon River, Green Truss IV-V

This Section of the White Salmon is a great run, and especially good for groups of various paddling levels. Most of the rapids are read and run class 4, with a few spicier drops thrown in to keep it exciting. Some of the best drops include Big Brother, a fun 25 foot falls, BZ falls, also known as the best swim in the Northwest, and the zig-zag rapids in the lower part of the gorge. We had flows of around 2.7 on the gauge below Husum falls when we ran this in mid March.

Crissler making the steep hike to put-in while Chris laughs at him from below.

Orion Meredith stompin the Big Bro.

Martin Belden gettin his boof face on.

Chris Shehab providing more paddle porn.

Crissler stomps.

Dustin Stoenner

BZ falls. This drop lived up to its reputation for beat downs...

The product of a BZ beating.

Orion styling his way down the BZ.

Crissler firing away.

Thanks to Chris Baer for the trip photos.

Money Drop, Rock Creek WA

This drop is tucked away in a neighborhood in the town of Stevenson, just down the road from the Little White take-out. After a fun lap down the el dub, Evan Garcia mentioned that we should go check out this drop. We showed up to find a sick 45 footer with a nascar fast lead-in. Evan and Martin were both feeling fired up about the drop and decided to give 'er. 

Evan Garcia, about stomp a sick line. photo: Chris Baer

Martin Belden enjoying a delicious rock creek melt. photo: Chris Baer

Eagle Creek V-V+

Eagle Creek is located in the Columbia river gorge, about 40 minutes east of Portland. The trail is a popular destination for hikers and waterfall gazers, as well as kayakers looking to huck. The hike-in is 4 miles on a well maintained and fairly mellow trail that in some places runs beneath miniature waterfalls coming off the canyon walls. After a mile or so, you will catch a glimpse of 90 foot Metlako Falls. Just past this is Punchbowl Falls, a 30 foot drop that proved to pack a good punch. After several more miles we crossed a bridge in the narrowest part of the gorge and then saw Skoonichuck Falls around the bend. This drop is the put-in for the run and consists of a 35-40 foot drop followed immediately by a nice 15 foot ledge. 

Punchbowl Falls as seen from the trail.

Megan Harpham on the hike-in. Photo courtesy of Chris Baer

Orion Meredith and Crisler Torrence demonstrate the mystery carry.

Crisler Torrence probing Skoonichuck Falls on his birthday bash. photo: Chris Baer

Dustin Stoenner rolling into the same drop.  photo: Chris Baer

Dustin hitting a sweet boof on the second tier of the double drop. photo: Chris Baer

Martin Belden melting into Skoonichuck Falls. photo: Chris Baer

Chris Baer on the same drop. 

Martin on a nice boof somewhere in the gorge.

The crew in the Eagle Creek gorge. photo: Chris Baer

Chris Baer goin for the log grind. 

Martin boofin away at Punchbowl Falls, and getting ready for a hard hit. photo: Chris Baer

Orion Meredith going for the sweet melt. photo: Chris Baer

Megan Harpham. Swimming? Nope, just a white boat. photo: Chris Baer

Dustin Stoenner comin in hot. photo: Chris Baer

Eagle Creek trailhead is located at exit 41 on I-84 heading east. There is no west-bound exit, as we found out only too late, and drove 20 miles past the off ramp. This run is a fun hike and huck mission, but a bit of a novelty run as well. Between the put-in drop and Punchbowl there are a handful of fun slides and boofs as well as one cool mini gorge, but mostly the rapids are shallow class 2 boogie water. Even so, this run is awesome and definitely worth the hike all the way in to the upper double drop. I highly recommend this run to anyone lookin to huck some of Oregon's finest. 

Steinacher Falls

Peter

Martin

Chris

Crisler

Steinacher Creek is a small tributary of Wooley Creek, which is itself a tributary of the main stem Cal-Salmon. 

New River Gorge

The New River in northern California is one of the best class 4-5 runs in the state. It starts out with several miles of mellow, scenic paddling before dropping into a committing gorge, chock full of fun and stout rapids. Once you have entered the main gorge the only exit is out the bottom, at the confluence with the Trinity River  in Burnt Ranch Gorge. This run sees very little attention, which is surprising given the quality whitewater that lies within its walls.  

The view from Highway 299 of the last part of the gorge, just downstream out of the picture is the confluence with the Trinity.

Orion and Crisler scouting the first rapid of the gorge.

Matt Porter running the first drop.

Damon Goodman runs the second gorge rapid. This is the entrance move in a larger rapid.

Chris Shehab running the second part of the previous drop. 

Looking back upstream from the top of the third rapid.

Orion Meredith runs a nice boof to start out the third drop.

Paul Fritze coming in hot at the bottom of the same drop.

O-face on a nice in-between boogie rapid.

Martin Belden running the bottom drop of the portage. This angle does not do the drop justice. It starts off up around the corner with a 7-8 foot sloper into a tight boxed-in hole. This bottom drop has to be run just left of center to avoid a nasty kicker flake on the right, but not too far left because of the bottom hole which feeds into an undercut.

Crisler buried in the same drop. 

Blind Faith. This drop lies just below the portage and gets its name from the fact that it would be very difficult, bordering on impossible to scout or portage. Run left and enjoy.

The crew below Blind Faith, deep in the goods.

Tombstone rapid. Crisler is just visible in the center of the photo probing the undercut. Yeehaw.

Matt Porter going for a mystery move in Tombstone.

Paul Fritze also enjoying the upstream view of the rapid. There was a nasty little f-u rock somewhere on the right side of the drop that was giving people a free back-paddling clinic.

Martin Belden dropping in to the top part of Tombstone.

The Russian (Peter) with a sick flake boof. Unfortunately it landed on rock, but looked steezy anyways.

O-dizzle, Tombstone.

Final Falls money boof. Orion Meredith.

Crisler cashing in some sky miles on the New.

Chris Shehab. Boofin away.

Damon Goodman styling Final Falls.

The final drop to the confluence with the Trinity consists of a semi-continuous section of class 4+ drops that is too much fun to even describe.

To reach the New River, follow Hwy. 299 to Hawkins Bar, just east of Willow Creek. Turn North on the Denny road and follow it for around 16 miles until there is a small dirt road that branches off on the right, and drops down a steep hill. At the bottom of the road there is an old campsite. Follow the trail from the parking area downhill to the river, and enjoy the ride.

We had flows of around 800-1000 cfs, which was perfect. This drainage is prone to rising very rapidly during and after heavy rainfall, and would become scary as hell with too much water. Avoid putting on during heavy rains or when the river looks like chocolate milk, and have fun.