Appeal Tribune
| WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 12, 2020 | 1B
SPORTS
PACKSADDLE RUN:
whitewater on the North Santiam
Casey Beall kayaks through Mill City Falls on the North Santiam River. MOLLY J. SMITH / STATESMAN JOURNAL
North Santiam features Salem area’s most thrilling whitewater rapids
Zach Urness Salem Statesman Journal | USA TODAY NETWORK
T
here are few activities more
fun on a hot summer day than
standing above Spencer’s
Hole rapids and watching
boats explode. h Not literally,
of course, but the notorious
rapid on the North Santiam River has a way of
sending kayakers and rafters skyward, or at
least knocking them sideways, often leading to
an unexpected swim and scramble to retrieve
boats and gear floating downstream. h Spen-
cer’s Hole is one of three Class III rapids on
what’s known as the “Packsaddle run” on the
river east of Salem. So-named because it be-
gins at Packsaddle County Park off Highway
22, this stretch features the river’s best scenery
and thrills for boaters looking for a summer
challenge. h “I love Packsaddle for the multi-
tude of different types of rapids it has — big
waves and swirly rapids, boulder gardens,
small drops plus an end with an awesome hori-
zon line at Mill City Falls,” said Will Howerton,
a kayaking instructor from Bend who paddles
Packsaddle on a regular basis. “You can liter-
ally work on almost every skill in kayaking on
one run.”
(There are harder rapids and bigger scenery up-
stream, but it’s generally only open to expert kayakers
and those willing to paddle during the rainy season
with a drysuit).
The Packsaddle run is most commonly done in in-
flatable or hardshell kayaks, smaller paddle rafts or,
though it’s not advised, inner tubes. Drift-boats and
larger rafts with oars do it as well, but the larger the
Kayaking on the North Santiam River. PHOTO COURTESY OF TRAVEL SALEM; USA TODAY NETWORK ILLUSTRATION
boat, the more challenging it is to navigate the boul-
ders and narrow rapids such as Carnivore, Spencer’s
and Mill City Falls.
Either way, wearing a lifejacket is crucial. eNRG
Kayaking in Mill City offers commercial trips down the
Packsaddle section and through the more family-
friendly rapids below that we featured last week.
A good warmup
One of my favorite things about the Packsaddle run
is that it gives you a minute to warm up before you hit
the biggest rapids, which arrive in the middle and end
of the run.
The run starts off with a handful of boulder gar-
dens, where it’s fun to navigate around big rocks and
find the right slot. The beginning is a good time to work
on kayak skills like catching eddies and navigating to
the points on the river you want your boat to go. If
you’re in a paddle raft, it’s a great place to get your
teamwork dialed in.
The first rapids of note, The Swirlies, come just a
See RAPIDS, Page 3B
How bait, sunscreen and sweat are like garlic
Fishing
Henry Miller
Guest columnist
The thought occurs to me that fishing
and camping are kind of like eating gar-
The smell doesn’t offend if everybody
is doing it.
I was mulling that home-brewed
analogy after stumbling upon wine and
craft beer reviews in the Leisure Food &
Drink pages in several back issues of
The Week magazine.
It’s pretty interesting reading, with
reviewers such as Zachary Sussman,
who writes for the periodical Punch, de-
Cinque Campi Lambrusco Rosso as “a
mouthful of blackberry, violet and damp
earth.”
As in “mud” one wonders?
At least one ponders the question if
they have camped in Oregon and conse-
quently basked in multiple pungent
clouds of damp earth.
“A little piney, with a hint of mulch,
compost and, sniff, sniff; is that raccoon
At $24 a bottle, we (as in the royal we)
will never know about the joys of Cinque
Campi Lambrusco Rosso.
Similarly, in a set of reviews about
“low-cal keepers” Josh Noel of the Chi-
cago Tribune describes Good Behavior,
a Colorado-brewed craft beer as having
a “lush, fruity, hops character.”
Who knew that you could buy a bit-