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Appeal Tribune | WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 5, 2020 | 1B OUTDOORS North Santiam River float a family-friendly adventure A group of children enjoy the sights on a float down the North Santiam River between Fishermen’s Bend and Mehama boat ramp. ROBYN ORR/SPECIAL TO THE STATESMAN JOURNAL geared toward anglers while the Wil- lamette Kayak and Canoe Club also helps folks get started. Understanding the nature of the river and rapids is critical to a good trip and a key to future solo adventures. If you do have whitewater skill and have seen the river, eNRG also offers rentals. Zach Urness Salem Statesman Journal USA TODAY NETWORK There is nothing quite as joyful as the sound children make when you splash into the wave of a big rapid. There’s the sound before impact — “whoooaaa …” — followed by the boat exploring in water and sunshine and the resulting scream-giggle that sounds a bit like: “AIEEEHAHA!” And finally: “let’s do it again!” Whitewater rafting and kayaking have long been my favorite summertime activity. And in the Salem area, we’re lucky to have one of Oregon’s best sum- mertime spots right in our backyard. The North Santiam River is one of a handful of streams that, because its controlled by Detroit Dam, provides whitewater all summer long while many other rivers get too low. The North Santiam provides two dif- ferent experiences. There’s a more chal- lenging run from Packsaddle Park to Mill City or Fishermen’s Bend Recrea- tion Site. Just downstream, there’s a slightly easier but still fun and scenic run from Fishermen’s Bend to the Me- hama bridge boat ramp. Both require the correct boat, use of a life jacket and knowledge of the river. But done right, it can become a fantastic way to stay cool and socially distance in the summer, as opposed to driving to overcrowded swimming holes and lakes. Since my kids are pretty young, our family float has been the Fishermen’s Bend to Mehama stretch. We are lucky Scenery, thrills and a lunch stop Zach Urness rows a raft on the fun and action-packed float between Fishermen’s Bend Recreation Site and Mehama Bridge. ZACH URNESS/STATESMAN JOURNAL enough to have a raft that I row, but I’ve also done this trip in inflatable kayaks. The trick is knowing how to get started. Running the river in a safe environment There are two pretty bad ideas when it comes to running rivers with signifi- cant rapids like the North Santiam. The first is using an inner tube that you can’t navigate with — it’s just a reci- pe for getting stuck on trees, rocks or other problems. You don’t have to buy the most expensive raft, and inflatable kayak designed for whitewater work nicely, but make sure you can navigate well. Another bad idea is floating the North Santiam without knowing what you’re in for. There are numerous islands, rap- ids and hazards where the wrong choice could get you in trouble. That’s why I’d recommend going with an outfitter, such as Mill City’s eNRG Kayaking, which offers raft and kayak trips on both sections of the river. Another option is going with a local group. The North Santiam Guides Asso- ciation offers a “Learn the River” series There are a number of things to love about the stretch of river from Fisher- men’s Bend to Mehama. There’s beautiful scenery, a perfect place to stop for lunch and just enough Class II and II+ rapids to keep everybody having fun with one or two challenging spots. The downside is that as the water lev- el drops later in the summer, it becomes pretty rocky, and makes dodging boul- ders a real challenge in a big raft like mine, though it’s not bad in an inflatable kayak. Once you set up a shuttle — see below for details — the run starts from the Fishermen’s Bend boat ramp and heads downstream through a few riffles before the first set of rapids. These Class II rap- ids don’t have an official name, so let’s call them Fishermen’s Bend Rapids. Just below, the river splits at an is- land. Make sure to go left at first, and then go right down the middle slot of an- other set of rapids. Let’s call it “Middle Islands Rapid.” See ADVENTURE, Page 2B We went clamming and crabbing broke out Fishing Henry Miller Guest columnist “Luck is what happens when prepa- ration meets opportunity” – attributed to Seneca, a Roman philosopher. “Lack of preparation leads to loss of a lucky opportunity” – Henry WALDPORT — Pardon the lame-o fortune cookie-level aphorism above, but the best way to explain about our second or third outing outside of Marion County since March is in terms of an old sports joke. “I went to a fight, and a hockey match broke out.” To rephrase that in outdoor terms, we went clamming, and crabbing broke out. After the extended viral lockdown and resulting multiple missed opportu- nities, cabin fever overcame travel anxi- eties, sort of. Two sublegal Dungeness crabs prior to release. Female is on the left, male is on the right. As you can see, female has a wider flap on the underside. HENRY MILLER/SPECIAL TO THE STATESMAN JOURNAL And the minus-1.74 foot tide at 8:43 a.m. on July 22 at Alsea Bay seemed minimally risky, exposure-wise. The clamming turnout is nothing like, say, beach-goers in Miami on Me- morial Day. On Alsea Bay just south of Newport, it’s more like a smattering of cockle-rak- ers, gaper-diggers and tourist “watcha doin’s?” And the lowest minus tide of the se- ries fell on a Wednesday, although the words “summer at the Oregon coast” can best be described as the Highway 101 creep on the 15 miles between New- port and Waldport, similar to the pace and congestion of the Rose Parade, any day of the week. One of the watcha doin’s was a cou- ple who pulled in to a parking spot near us. They were semi-locals, but hadn’t tried their luck clamming at Alsea Bay. When we told them we were raking cockles, the guy said they saw some- thing interesting on the beach right next to the Alsea Bay Bridge Interpretive Center. He said they met a guy in waders had a lumpy-looking burlap bag with him. “Clams?” he said he asked Mr. Lumpy Sack. “Nope,” or words to that effect, he said, “crabs.” He had, in fact, used a spot-and- stalk, snatch-and-grab technique to bag 10 legal Dungeness crabs, two under the daily limit, in the sack. Hmm, I thought. I was about 50 yards down from Kay’s car and about 5 yards out in the bay in the eel grass when I spotted my first crab, definitely keeper-size. Picking it up with the rake, I took it to shore and flipped it on its back. A female. You can only keep males. You can tell by the wide flap on the underside of the females. Back it went. Ha, you think. Mr. Lumpy Bag across the bay was probably a fluke. OK, so about five minutes later, there’s another one. Jeepers KEEPERS! Now what? See MILLER, Page 2B