Pag« 22
The INDEPENDENT, June 5, 2003
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From page 2
We had all been quite tired
after day two, but were well re
vived when we awoke on day
three. We devoured breakfast,
broke camp and were relieved
to see our kayaks, which had
spent the night by themselves,
intact. Soon we were back on
the river, plowing through more
slow water. Our first rapid on
the trip was Grand Rapids; in
my book it is not so grand, but
it did liven up the day some. We
made our way past all the
homes overlooking the river in
the Vinemaple area and soon
came to the Highway 26 bridge.
We knew that the river was go
ing to get more interesting once
we passed under the bridge.
The Nehalem River at this point
gets steeper and sits in a deep
river canyon «60 we were soon
boating class II rapids on a reg
ular basis, water flying off the
bows of our boats and into our
faces. With the rapids came
speed and we were burning up
the miles. We pulled out of the
river at the bridge just down
stream from Humbug Creek
and ate our lunch. Dad had
pulled over at this spot so we
were able to raid the coolers for
additional refreshments. The
river started slowing down, with
more pools, but usually finished
with good rapids. We made a
stop at Spruce Run Park as the
clouds provided a brief shower.
The sky was breaking and we
were getting glimpses of sun
with showers mixed in.
So far, we had all stayed up
right on this trip, but our first
real challenge would be Little
Falls, a short distance down
stream from Spruce Run Park.
While we would not do the falls
section, the rapids on river left
border on being Class III, due
to the maneuvering required to
miss rocks. We all did fine and
I was impressed with our
group’s ability to deal with this
more challenging water. Would
we paddle the whole trip with
out taking a swim? That ques
tion was soon answered when
we ripped down the Greek
Rapids and converging waters
tripped up Dennis. I saw him go
over and soon he was along
side his kayak, bobbing down
the river. Next, he bounced up
over a submerged rock, then
disappeared in the hole below.
As Dennis held onto his boat I
was able to give him my stern
grab loop and pull him to shore.
We could have used one of
those sun breaks then, but
were greeted with wind and
clouds. Dennis said the water
wasn't that cold and soon we
and we all made the gorge in
good shape. Day three’s pad
dle was around 27 miles, but
we all felt in very good shape.
We made our way through the
last rapid of the day and
brought our kayaks up on the
sandy beach. Camp was wait
ing for us just a short hike
away. The skies provided a
brief shower while we set up
the tent, then stopped and let
us eat our dinner in peace.
Tonight’s menu consisted of
garlic bread, salad, beefsteaks
and plenty of libations. We
were all in high spirits after
conquering the day’s rapids,
but in the back of our minds
did warm-up laps in the put-in
pool before we started the
rapids waiting below. We had
talked about the Salmonberry
drop the night before and it was
the consensus of the group that
we would portage. I had run the
Salmonberry drop a few
months earlier but was con
cerned that, at this water level,
we would experience carnage
in the main chute over the drop.
It is said that a wise man knows
when to walk. Dennis and Stan
decided to walk the following
rapid, also, but Troy and I were
game. The river takes on a new
look in this section; it is a river
slot in what is a much wider riv
stream.
The rapids start ‘ letting up
from this point on and, eventu
ally, the river turns into tidewa
ter. We had timed our trip so we
could ride the tide all the way to
Wheeler. We made the swing
down the waterfront of the town
of Nehalem and were greeted
by two bald eagles that were
screeching and giving aerial
demonstrations in the blue sky.
We soon passed under the 101
bridge and could see our final
destination ahead. We pulled
up next to the dock at Wheeler,
to the cheers of our female
partners. It had been a long trip
and we were all ready for a
shower and a soft bed. To pre
pare for that, we had rented the
whole Old Wheeler Hotel. We
were all very impressed by the
hotel, an old building that has
been fixed up very nicely. I
would highly recommend the
Old Wheeler Hotel; they made
the end of our trip very enjoy
able.
Izaak Walton League
Nehalem Valley Chapter
meets monthly on the third
Thursday at 7:00 p.m. Call
(503) 429-7193 for location.
WEATHER REPORT
MAY 2003
Weary, but elated, foursome made shore in Wheeler after 100 mile journey down the Nehalem
River. From left are Stan Horton, Dale Webb, Troy Horton and Dennis Nelson. Photo by Win
ston Lazio, proprietor of the Old Wheeler Hotel.
were headed downstream to
ward camp, which lay just up
stream of the Salmonberry River.
My big concern was the
gorge just before our campsite.
This section of the river is con
stricted by high rock bluffs and
is very swirly, which can trip up
paddlers. We were able to cut
the corner on the lead-in rapid
loomed the most challenging
section of water on the trip,
which lay just downstream of
camp!
Day four dawned with a low
cloud cover, but hinted of a
bright, beautiful day ahead. Af
ter our usual breakfast and
gear-packing chores, it was
time to hit the river. Everybody
er bottom, with higher flows. It
has steep chutes and lots of
rock, both on the sides and in
the stream. Our group experi
enced several more swims, but
was game for more. When we
came to Nehalem Falls, it
looked very nasty and we all
portaged. We ate lunch at the
concrete bridge just dow n
Too much STUFF!? Not enough ROOM?
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INDEPENDENT
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First 10 w ords $ 4 .5 0 A d d 'l w o rd s ju s t 10< each.
all 503 / 429-9410 to place your ad.
DATE
TEMPERATURE
LQ
Ml
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
66
65
53
54
57
58
53
55
59
56
60
65
76
59
51
51
51
60
71
59
73
72
85
68
61
68
84
71
79
62
69
38
38
42
37
31
29
36
31
36
37
40
35
34
35
34
33
31
31
33
42
46
45
47
45
41
41
41
40
47
49
46
„PRECIP.
AML
..
—
.12
.18
—
—
.05
—
—
—
—
—
—
T
.37
.11
.12
—
—
.01
—
—
—
.07
T
.06
—
—
.07
T
..
Temperature
and
precipitation
amounts are from the official U.S.
weather station at the Vernonia wa
ter plant. Measurable precipitation in
May totalled 1.16 inches.