Jefferson Creek

I was finally able to put on my big boy pants and get back on Jefferson Creek.



The run out below Island Drop. Jefferson Creek, WA.


     Darren Albright took me down Jefferson my first season of creeking (before I knew better) and I had some really good times in there, then I decided to put on during a high water event and had an interesting day. I hadn't been back into Jefferson Creek in almost two years (since February of 2010).



The biggest drop on Jefferson, Below Island Drop.
Jefferson Creek, WA.


     Jefferson Creek is a rarely run Olympic Peninsula gem of a river, it's not even in the Korb guide (our only guide for the OP's watersheds). To say that Jefferson is Ldub's slightly younger and sluttier cousin wouldn't be far from the truth... Its steep and technical but overall not a very difficult run. That being said, I had my closest call on this Creek in the winter of 2010. Lost a boat and paddle and probably came closer to losing something else much more intangible.

Bottom Two ledges in Island Drop. Jefferson Creek.

Here's a little video from the next day when the water had dropped a little bit and I hiked in to where I swam:





And here is a clip from when I went back in a couple weeks later to try and regain some pride:


     Jefferson Creek is about an hour from my house and happens to be one of the closest quality runs available to us Kitsap County residents. Sadly, it probably only sees a handful of runs a year. Due to it's lack of a river gauge, it's remote location and the general tendency of the Olympic Peninsula to throw a wrench in even the most well though out plans, not many people make the pilgrimage. A typical winter or early spring phone call trying to convince a Seattlite to come out West goes something like this:

Ring, ring...
Seattle Boater: "Hello?"
Me: "Dude! Whats up? You boating today?"
Seattle Boater: "hmmm, whats in? Whats Robe at?"
Me: "Dunno, Robe's low, so is Ernie's."
Seattle Boater: "Well. What you thinkin?"
Me: "Elkhorn is in... Jefferson might be..."
Seattle Boater: "You think it'll be in?
Me: "Sure, maybe. I think so. Darren says it's good to go I think."
Seattle Boater: " I think I'm gonna hit the Sky."
Me: "ehh."
Click-

     Sadly this is how the majority of Saturday, potential OP madness days, end before they even start. It's understandable though so I don't hold a grudge or withhold a throwbag. We are so spoiled here in the PNW that its hard to convince someone take a chance on a creek that may or may not have water in it (or too much...) when you can run out and get on the Skykomish or the Green. But... Jefferson has treats, I digress:

One of many rapids on Jefferson Creek, WA.

     A tributary to the Hamma Hamma, access is no issue. A well manicured forest service road in the Hamma Hamma recreation area takes you right to the take out and then its a 5 mile drive up to the put in. The run is only 2.1(ish) miles long, but its continuous class IV+-V for all but a couple hundred feet of those 2.1 miles. The run is roadside-ish... easy to get into, not so easy to get out of. Once you leave the put in, the creek drops off the face of the earth and a hike out of the canyon to the road could take hours, see above video.

     American Whitewater has the creek's gradient listed as 260 feet per mile. Steep, considering that there are no waterfalls or even ledges higher than 10 feet on the run. Sounds fishy right? It's riverbed is made up of big sheets of bedrock and dotted with huge smooth boulders that sometimes sport a mantle of timber from high water events. While the big boulders in the gardens are round and unassuming, the average rock in the creek bed is sharp and jagged. The pin potential on this run increases exponentially with a decrease in water level. If you can, bring a beater boat for your first couple of trips and do not forget your elbow pads!



     The scenery in this drainage is out of this world! At the put in, the river is pretty level and there isn't much gradient so it just appears to be another densely forested OP run. Then you drop in and you find yourself almost locked into this gorgeous canyon. Handhold-less vertical walls limit your view of the sky and your route of escape at times. Then, around other corners, nothing but beautiful deep emerald green trees coming all the way down the banks into the water. As on most Olympic Peninsula runs, you need to be on your toes for wood. There is always wood in this run, its just a question of how involved you have to get when you find it. There are several spots on the river where you paddle under the natural lattice work created by high water events and the trees of past.

At least you don't have to duck at these levels...

     One of the coolest things about this river is the water. First off, its cold. Bone cold, so bring your pogies and a drysuit is a must. The water is this bluish green color that looks almost carbonated. I don't know if this is due to porous rock or just the turbulence of the water, but its pretty cool to see and feel non-the-less.

Ridiculous Scenery

Goods for days and days.

     There are several diligent Olympic Peninsula residents that spend a lot of time in the summer and fall keeping runs like Jefferson free of wood that would require portaging and we all owe them. As of right now, there is only one portage and even that is debatable. I had heard about Rob running the portage on accident during a really high water run and now Darren and Rob regularly run the drop in question.

Darren mid portage.

     Describing the rapids is all but useless, its like describing Ernie's Canyon: there are just too many rapids in there to accurately describe them in any other situation or setting than the eddy above the drop in question. Or, maybe its just because it's one long rapid... I'm sure the majority of them have names and correct lines but to be totally honest, I've only scouted two drops on the run and those are pretty straight forward. This also accounts for the distinct lack of quality photos, there's no time to jump out and take shots when you're flying down the run at 90mph.

     Either way, if you like incredibly dense forest scenery, bedrock slides, technical creeking and water that looks like it came out of a Disney movie make your way out to Jefferson Creek. Snap in, get a death grip on your paddle and start smiling!




y







If the takeout looks like this, ask yourself one question: "Am I Rob McKibbon?".
If the answer is "no": Go home.



Its hard to judge level at the takeout as the river bed changes so much here, use the island in the stream bed looking upstream from the bridge as point of reference.

Another shot of Island Drop. Jefferson Creek, WA.



Chillin on the bank below Island Drop.



Tumwater Canyon

I miss Tumwater.

She's not in right now. Well, maybe really low, and my boat already has two welds in it. So I have to look at pictures and the little bit of video that I have, of beautiful Tumwater, to get my fix.

Tumwater is a class IV run with one or two class V or V+ rapids depending on river levels. This is a great place to step up your game or refine your creeking skills. Its all roadside and easily scoutable/walkable. There are also a ton of local veterans who can usually be talking into guiding you down or helping with shuttle. There will be people on it all weekend in the Spring months and plenty of oportunity to watch others take their licks while you take notes. Durring the late spring and early Summer months, Tumwater is one of the few runs in Washington where you can show up at the takeout and will more than likely run into a crew. 

Tumwater was a huge mental roadblock in my first season of creeking and I was always sick to my stomach when I got to the top of POW or Last Exit. Actually, Exit still wiggs me out, but I love it at the same time just like strippers. But now Tumwater is an amazing playground that is only 3 hours away. It also happens to be right outside Leavenworth, a great way to entice non-boaters to come along for the journey.

Adrian boofs the last ledge in The Wall

I missed the normal Tumwater season that is around from late winter into mid summer (depending on your taste for level) due to my trip to the East Coast for the summer. I was able to get a couple laps in while waiting for the Chelan release in early September. Levels were low, I think 1200 cfs or so, but the sun was out and the water was beautiful. Adrian and I spent Friday running lap after lap waiting for the Seattle crew to show up for the weekends festivities in Chelan.

Tumwater starts off with, in my opinion, the rapid with the most bang for your gas money. Peep's that put in at the dam miss this gem of a rapid. The Wall is prolly between a third and a quarter of a mile long. With tons of different lines and quality features, you can spend the whole day here working on your skills or just playing around.

Totten flying through The Wall

Scott teaching me how to Boof

After some boogie and a dam comes Chaos. Generally, the rest of my day is going to be on par with my first boof into Chaos.

Adrian boofing Chaos

Adrian, Scott and a mystery boater in Chaos

Totten takes flight in Chaos

A little more Boogie and you get to the crux of the run for most people: POW. Now, depending on how your day has been going up to this point in the trip, it's either Perfection of Whitewater or Prisoner of War. Both happen to me regularly.

Adrian watches as Rob gets Awesome

Then theres guys like Rob. Rob makes up lines in POW that nobody else even sees. Then he talks Sam into running them as well. Good on ya. According to Rob, it's a playboat run anyway.

A couple turns in the river and you get to the end of the run. The beautiful green pool above Last Exit is where most people get out and carry their boats to the car. Others have one more rapid left for the day.

Sara and Stokes waiting at Last Exit

Last Exit is the biggest rapid on the river and while I personally do not think its the most challenging, the pucker factor is by far the largest. The potential to get your head kicked in is very large. You do not want to roll in this rapid! Its shallow, sharp and fast. There are also a couple of sieves that are not really in play, if you're in the middle of the river. The rapid ends with a massive hole that takes up the majority of the right side of the river that can be boofed, or in my opinion, avoided. This hole is not much at lower levels, say sub 2000cfs, but it turns into a man eater as the levels start to come up. There have been some scary swims in there in the recent past.

The Dropzone handles like a dream in Last Exit

Photo by Adrian

Another lap on Last Exit, too fun to stop!

Photo by Adrian

Totten doesn't like to touch the water. Last Exit rapid

A low-res version of my Tumwater video. I'll update to the HD when I have room on my Vimeo account...

Finally back into Ernie's

 It had been almost 9 months since I was last in Ernie's Canyon. I had almost forgot what I was missing. Ben made the call and I rallied out. I was a little hesitant as I would be boating my old, partially destroyed Burn.

                                           Popping up for some air in some quality boogie.


I spent all day Thursday, Thanksgiving,  practicing my plastic welding on an old boat and got to a point where I was confident welding up my newest broken Burn. 

                                           Trial and error at its best.

 Will she hold?

                                                               She will.

                                           Final "bat" test on my best weld: Success!

                                                            Now all I need is some water.

Luckily Ernie's had it and felt like sharing.  I met up with Ben, Andrew, Lane and of course: Rob Himself. I got to the takeout and had a full half hour to psych myself out of getting on the river. Level on the stick was around 6.60 and I couldn't remember what kind of a pucker factor that translated to.

Boofing the Hell out of Raft Catch.

                                                         
But within minutes of being on the river, I was glad I put on.

Boof Or Consequence, for real son!

                                                           After I came out of the bottom hole in double hole, whatever you want to call it, I just started paddling through to the next eddy. Maybe because the closest was full, maybe because I'm an idiot. I don't know if my mind was just in a daze or I just wasn't paying attention, but by the time I realized I was paddling into a strainer I was past the point of no return. All I could do was yell "Wood!" and boof. Luckily it worked out.

                                                                           Boof Left

                                                     Outflow of the current hydro plant on Ernie's.

Good times where had and I was able to snag a little video... Good day on the river. Good people to share it with. And $1.50 tacos at the takeout. Can't complain one bit.

Big water on the OP: Flood stage Duckabush

Top of the Gorge

Ledge directly above Ranger Hole

Ranger Hole

Ranger Hole

Robe Canyon : Reunion with The Gnomes

It finally happened. My beloved Big Dog broke.

                                           Pictured: Wanda the banana boat.

This shouldn't surprise me but it did rain on my fun parade. I had finally made it back into my boat after a 23 day forced sabbatical from kayaking. I was able to borrow a drysuit and picked up my new 5.10's and headed out to Robe Canyon.

Robe is awesome. That's about the only way to describe that river. Its dark and scary (to me) and is just too good to pass up when it's in. I checked the gauge in the morning and was pleasantly surprised that it wasn't huge. Got to the put in and thought it might be a solo mission for the day, but about 10 minutes later Brad X pulled in. Then Leif drove up and within about a half hour there were 10 or 12 of us loading boats and gearing up. The day was gorgeous! Clear blue sky with white puffy clouds, snow on the ground and a sense of tranquility that follows the shift from fall to winter.

We put on and to be honest I was a little nervous. I hadn't been in Robe since the fall of 2010. It was awesome though. I elected to walk T1, as did most of the crew, there is a very large root ball in the main line now. T2 is still one of the coolest boofs to launch off of. Nailed the line, the Drop Zone practically exploded out of the water when I contacted the rock hump on the second pour-over.

Got to listen to Ol' JP explain the new Sunshine line to some new Robe Canyoners and then took the plunge. Although it isn't the same Sunshine that I fell in love with, she's still a pretty sweet drop. Got good angle and a soft landing.

I was in the bottom eddy in time to watch Jed completely air out the drop. Looked awesome. Then on to the new line at Hole in the Wall. Pretty fun on that left side now but I kinda miss the zig-zag move on RR.

The rest of the run was going really well. Two laps on Faceplant and I got to watch Rob and Sam both run landslide. Then, right after I put back in to paddle down to Garbage I decided to do a little boof move on a small pour-over above Garbage. Bad move. Instead of the normal dull thund/thunk of plastic hitting rock there was an odd twang noise. I knew deep down what had happened but I was in denial so I asked Sam how my boat looked. I rooled up on one hip and then back down to see a look of horror on his face. I paddled over to the bank and got out to take a look. The crack was directly below my left hip, under the seat. It was a little bigger than my fist and jagged. Not in a straight lateral line like I've seen on other boats.

This is where it got interesting. I had nothing in my boat, just a tripod and a throwbag. No tape, no bitchathane, no gorilla glue, no nothin. I was hosed. When everyone finished the portage and made their way down to where I was, we were able to round up some meager supplies from other, more well prepared boaters. We had one 6"x6" square of old bitchathane, 1 small roll of Gorilla Tape and a small lighter. It was so cold that the bitchathane had lost all adhesiveness and even the Gorilla tape wouldn't stick unless I held the lighter to it for a couple seconds prior to application. After we assessed the situation we arrived at a couple conclusions: Mainly, I am an idiot. Secondly, our group was massive and needed to split up. Third, We were only about halfway down the run with another couple of serious rapids and then a 1.5-2 mile paddle out ahead of us. We split the group up: Sam, Rob and Myself stayed put while I tried to create a waterproof layer in my boat. Everyone else started scouting Grabage and paddling out.

I walked Garbage, much to my Pride's chagrin. I walked Cat's Paw and Off Broadway as well. I hurt inside as I shouldered these amazing rapids as they are some of my favorite. Due to my lack of physical preparedness, combined with the cold wheather and ice on everything, by the time I put back in below Off Broadway, I had decided to just run everything else. I was exhausted already and had only covered a quarter to half mile of terrain.

Sam was getting dangerously cold and had to start paddling out. Now it was just Rob and I. I wasn't too worried until we got to the pool above last conversation. The crack in the boat had expanded and the makeshift patch had fallen off. My boat had so much water in it that my spray skirt was only an inch or so above the water level. Balance became an issue and confidence started to disintegrate. I was able to empty my boat out at the top of the rapid but by the time I hit the final wave hole in the first series of the drop I was stern-squirting uncontrollably and I was barely able to catch the middle eddy above the final pitch. I had a momentary vision of being able to sponge out the 20 or 30 gallons of water that was in my lap, when a surge pulled me back out into the RR current. I made it down and was able to pull over and bail my boat before having to boof Mrs. Robinson, the final river wide ledge in Robe Canyon. As I would step back into my boat, I could see a black line in the bottom of my boat with so much water coming through it it looked like someone was holding a garden hose to it. Depressing to say the least.

We made it through and all we had between ourselves and feeling in our hands and feet was a mile or so of braided flat water. We reached the takeout with about 15 minutes of light left in the day and surprisingly only a half hour or so behind the main group. Stokes was stoked and I was happy to get into some goose down. All in all, despite the cracked boat, another amazing day on the water. Robe canyon is an amazing place to be able to kayak. This incident definitely put the hazards of boating Robe Canyon during the winter months into perspective. If I hadn't been wearing a full drysuit or if I had elected to wear less layers underneith, it would have been a very long, dark and cold hik eout of that canyon. And what would I have traded the locals to cross though their lands? I think they deal in human skin and teeth in those parts...After a couple of high fives and handshakes, it was time to head for home.

All in all I stand by my statement that I love the Drop Zone. Even though Wanda broke and left me in a pretty bad spot, I have a feeling it was nothing personal. Who knows, maybe somebody at the airline dropped it or something. She put up with some wear and tear over the past 10 months. My last Burn only lasted 2...
By the numbers, Wanda got around: 
River  /   Laps on said river
Robe Canyon, WA  /  1
Skykomish, WA  /  2
Tumwater Canyon, WA  /  4
Chelan Gorge, WA  /  3
North Fork Payette, ID  /  3(ish?) thats 45 miles of sharp class V...
Upper Upper Cispus, WA  /  1
Green Narrows, NC  /  15
Big Creek, NC  /  1
Potomic, MD  /  1
Watauga, NC  2
Pilchuck Creek, WA  /  1
Ernies Gorge, WA  /  6


Huge thanks to Leif Ellsworth and John (?) from the East Coast for having all the repair gear that I was completely lacking. An even bigger thanks is due to Rob and Sam. These guys are why I come back to kayaking again and again. Staying out and putting your own health on the line to help a friend are just one more aspect of why our sport is so fulfilling on an emotional level.

Cheers