Last Weekend - Jefferson Creek and Hamma Hamma Falls

It's not actually the weekend, but I just found out that I am getting furloughed. So, what better time than to do some boating. Unfortunatly, the furlough came in the middle of a small drought in the PNW. There is no water! But somehow the Hamma Hamma area received 10 inches of rain overnight.

So what better time than to head to the OP? Jefferson looked likely to be in so Darren and I agreed to meet at the takeout and see what we were getting ourselves into.

We were rewarded with only one wood portage but several sketchy spots. The portage wasn't even really required; you could get past it with a strong set of nerves. You just have to nail your boof and then paste the river left wall.



After a quick lap, Darren took off to get home to the family and I decided to drive up and check out Hamma Hamma Falls.

Well worth the extra 20 minute drive

Jefferson is even harder to time this season. We now only have access to the North Fork Skokomish River gauge. This needs to be in the 1000 cfs range. But be careful that it's not on it's way up! Theres a fine line between control and chaos in Jefferson Creek.

Stay Safe!

Robe Race 2013

2013 Robe Race of Champions

The Range Life crew started a race on our local canyon run a few seasons back and every year the competition has gotten tougher and tougher.

The Robe Race is a two person team race from the rapid T2 to the pool below the rapid Mrs. Robinson. This roughly 3.6 mile race covers around 43 rapids (depending on water levels) and one arduous portage over a landslide. The race course forces you to paddle all out, as hard as you can, through 14 class V rapids, 21 Class IV rapids and 9 laid back class III's. The largest hole is also one of the last ledges you run after about a half hour of charging. Always fun to look forward to...

As Spring flows here in Washington can be hard to predict, you have to keep events like this mobile. You can't lock into a specific weekend without running the risk of dooming the event to either high or low water.

The week prior to the race saw river levels all over the place; from the low side of the spectrum in the 5.3 foot range, all the way up to the 6.5 foot range.

There's more than enough beta on Robe Canyon on this blog so I will dispense with any descriptions of the run other than this: Robe Canyon is rewarding but can punish with impunity.




With sun beating down on us, we rolled into the takeout about 45 minutes late. But, as we had the defending Champion Scott Waidelich with us, we did not fall into the normal social constraints pertaining to timely arrivals.

Moods and ambiant temperatures were soaring by the time we consolidated gear, boats and bodies for the short drive up to the putin. The hike down the trail was definitly unique for me. This is a run that I know so well, but I had never raced up to this point.  A lot can happen when you are exerting yourself. A lot can go wrong when you're pushing. A lot can happen when there is an audience eager for carnage and the river has provided a level that is conducive to to hair boating.










Robe was sitting just over 5.9 feet on the online gage. This is a pretty healthy level and not a volume of water to take lightly. At 5.9' the lines get a little bit cleaner, the holes get bigger and the boofs pad out like a sophmore in a sorrorety.

By bigger holes I mean massive holes (for this guy at least).

Irene Nash grabbed a couple of actions shots at the second rapid of the race "Last Sunshine". This is the start of a quarter mile of intense read and run whitewater. A swim here has a high potential for a totaled creekboat.

I think I learned a lot from this race. I learned that my lines are not as clean as I thought they were. I learned that I let go of my paddle a lot. I also learned that I have a lot to work on. But I'm stoked to have been part of the race.



Robe Race 2013 results:

1st Place at 25:41  - Darren Albright & Andrew McEwan 
2nd Place at 27:01 - Scott Waidelich & Ben Hawthorne
3rd Place at 28:37  - Fred Norquist & Eric Parker

The mortals:
4th Christian Knight & Brock Gavery 31:17 (not really mortals, but they pretended)
5th Dan Patrinellis & Jeremy Bisson 34:10
6th Alex Podolak & William Griffith 34:28
7th Leif Embertson & Chris Totten finished
8th Sean/Mike DNF




While it's still being verified; Darren and Andrew set a new course record for time. In 25 minutes and 41 seconds, these two guys charged through 3.6 miles of class V whitewater and completed a grueling quarter mile portage that takes a normal crew and hour and a half to finish on a "fast" lap. Well done.

Jah Bisson came up to race with me and while I feel bad that I killed his time; I had a great time racing with him. We both took helmet cam footage so keep on the lookout for a quick edit in the upcoming weeks.

One of the fun traditions of the Robe Race is the Robe Gnome.



The last place finisher wins the ultimate prize and gets to take this guy around with them throughout the year on their boating adventures. This year Sean Lee and Mike Nash took home a third teammate.






Huge thanks to Leif Embertson out of Bellingham, WA. Leif organized the Robe Race and even brought us cold beer for the takeout. Stand up guy in my books. Massive props to Shauna Hawthorne and Joni Randall for keeping time for all of the racers; this wouldn't have happened without volunteer help.

Until next year!



Many thanks (again) to the volunteers who came out and made this race possible.

Thanky you Irene Nash for grabbing some photos of the race for me.

Its not often that we get photos as good as some of these of our boating escapades. All of the amazing photos on this trip report are curtesy of  yo_tuco from Flickr. You can check out more of his amazing photography on his Flickr account HERE

Eagle Falls Gnar Session

After a disappointing drive to the Top Tye put-in and then a long overdue beating on the Foss River, I was looking forward to a relaxing lap on the Skykomish.  The drive down to run the main section of the Skykomish, from Index to Split Rock, got a little more interesting after Sam Grafton asked if we would stop at one of the uppermost rapids and set safety for him.

Eagle Falls is the uppermost waterfall on the South Fork of the Skykomish River in Washington State. Located just downstream from the town of Baring; the “Falls” is less of a waterfall and more of a North Fork Payette style high volume cascade that empties into a massive pool surrounded by tall trees and a 60 foot smooth cliff on river left.

With the skykomish running high, Eagle Falls becomes a maelstrom of a rapid. It has three distinct drops:

The first ledge is manageable on the RR side, with what looks like a terminal hole at about river center. The next ledge, at this level, is more of a massive funnel that creates a disgusting wave/hole. The final ledge, maybe another 50-60 yards downstream is a river wide hole that looks like you could misplace a Buick in. And I’m talking old school Buick’s; pre-seatbelt era size…



We had a massive support group but with the Skykomish running at around 17,000 CFS and dropping, there was little in the way of support we could actually provide. The boater’s best friend in this scenario is the emerald green pool at the very bottom of the cascade.

As we arranged ourselves along the bank for a good view of the event about to unfold, it dawned on me that this is a rapid that I will never run. You can feel the rocks you are standing on vibrate with the force of the Skykomish being squeezed through a crack in a mountain ridge that is about a third of the size of the river bed immediately upstream and downstream of the Fall’s. The constriction in combination with the drop in elevation created a freight train effect in the Cascade we were standing above.

Sam Grafton has been running the little run drop, named Eagle Falls, for a couple years now. He opted to just get it over with and geared up without scouting the rapid for more than a couple seconds. 

Sam in Eagle Falls:

Meanwhile, while we were all still cleaning out our undergarments from Sam’s run, Darren Albright decided to have a turn at the action.

Darren Albright runs Eagle Falls:

Darren boats with what can only be described as class.

Barley getting his face wet in the main ledge and then heading far right at the bottom ledge; Darren caused Sam to conclude that while his line went well, it didn’t go well enough. Sam wasn’t happy that he had rolled at the bottom so he decided to hike back up and give her another go.

Sam Grafton in round two:




Photo courtesy of Scott Waidelich





Photo courtesy of Scott Waidelich



Photo courtesy of Scott Waidelich



Darren Albright in Round 2:



Photo courtesy of Scott Waidelich





Photo courtesy of Scott Waidelich




Photo courtesy of Scott Waidelich



Photo courtesy of Scott Waidelich



It's all smiles at the takeout while we get to shake hands with the chargers.



Here's a quick video I put together of Darren running Eagle Falls:




Stay Stoked. Stay Safe.