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Bob
Class VI
896 Posts |
 Posted - Mar 22 2004 : 10:57:40 PM
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On 3/21/04, I paddled from Le Page Park at the Columbia/John Day confluence to Tumwater Falls because I was told that the fishing can be very good.
This was a llllloooonnnngggggg flat-water paddle. I did a little research, and the sources I saw were in agreement that Tumwater Falls is at river mile 10. I quit boating about 1/2 mile below the falls and walked the rest of the way because the current was too fast to continue by water.
At this level (7000 cfs on the McDonald Ferry Gauge), the left side of Tumwater Falls is a big burly 0.4 mile long rapid, and the right side is very hard looking. The river is split by a long rocky island in this area. The right side has some features that could be called low water falls at this level, but the left side has nothing that could be called a falls.
The rest of this discussion is just on the left side, because I wouldn't consider doing the right side. Some people might claim that it is 3 or 4 separate rapids in a 0.4 mile long section, but I feel that it reasonable to call it one long rapid due to the speed and turbulence of the water, and the fact that if you ever swam to get out of a bad hole, you would likely have to swim the whole thing. I have run the Lochsa many times at high levels, and there is something about this rapid that has me spooked. There isn't tons of aerated water. Some of the things that looked hard were diagonal waves that looked like they could kick you into bad holes, maneuvers that required crossing some heavy current to get on your line, and a few pourovers. I came up with the 0.4 mile figure on my GPS. I feel this is a hard rapid to judge. I think the left side is at least a solid 4 and probably a hard 4.
I'm not saying I would run this rapid, but if I did, here is how I would probably go about it:
Run the left side near the island (not very hard looking).
Then eddy out and get on the island and do a 10 foot portage around a ledge drop (The alternative is to get clear across a fast flow of possibly pushy water to get around the left side of some real bad looking holes - I have a hard time judging how hard that move would be, and if you misjudged, you would be in trouble).
After making that portage, I would then just hug the left bank the rest of the way down the rapid.
Maybe, it really isn't this bad. Maybe, any rapid that you have not seen somebody run looks bad.
The bottom line is that Tumwater Falls is a very cool rapid at this flow, but it is also definitely a serious rapid.
Now for the flat water description:
I felt like this was a very beautiful place. It was very very green, probably the greenest it will be all year. If you want to see the green, you better go quick because its arid country. The interesting thing is that there weren't many shades of color. You could have drawn the whole place with a box of 8 crayons (one shade of green for all the hill sides, one shade of deep blue for the sky, one shade of brown for the water, jet black for the cattle, a little gray for the sagebrush - maybe you need a box of 16 to get gray).
I first ran into noticeable current 1 1/2 hours upstream of Le Page Park at a point where a road on the west side comes down to an outhouse. That point is in sight of, and downstream of the point where the big power lines cross the river. Needless to say, I hugged the bank (mostly the west bank) after I got into some current. There were a few pretty still sections upstream of where I first noticed the current. It took another hour to get from the outhouse to the point where I left the boat (1/2 mile below the falls).
I left my truck at about 11:00 and got back at 6:00, and I spent probably at least an hour looking at the falls, and some more time eating lunch. I brought a loaf of bread, a jar of peanut butter, and a jar of jam, all packed in a dry bag. Miraculously, the bread showed no signs of being squished.
I was lucky that I didn't have any wind to deal with. Most of the time I was paddling on glass.
I was glad that I did the whole thing on this trip so that I could see the whole John Day Arm, but next time I think I will put in at that outhouse on the west bank and bypass 1 1/2 miles of flat water paddling each way. There were some people fishing there on my way upstream, and they told me that it was a decent road and it is public. On my return trip, I walked up that road a ways and verified that it is graveled and graded. It looked similar to McBee Grade but narrower and steeper. That part I saw was in excellent condition, but I'm guessing it can get awfully wash boardy between gradings, and a big rain probably wouldn't help it much. The people told me they got on that road somewhere up out of Rufus, and it is called Helms Lane (The road that goes all the way to the river shore may have another name, but you get on that road via Helm Lane). There was a car there (leaving when I came by on my return trip) - evidence that you don't need a 4WD.
I think the best trip would be to put in that the outhouse, paddle the 1 hour and walk the remaining half-mile to the falls and have a picnic.
I really smeared on the sun tan lotion to avoid a burn.
I only saw a few motorboats all day, and there was nobody at the Tumwater Falls area.
I didn't see much wildlife, just lots of ducks, some Canada geese, some mergansers, and some carp splashing here and there. I saw quite a few different duck species, but I could only identify the mallards, the other ones were flying away before I got close enough to see what they were. I did see some bighorn sheep near mile post 121 on I-84.
I did about 18 miles in the Stikine, and my previous "personal mileage record" for one day on flat water was about 10 miles. I'm sure a true sea kayak would totally out perform the Stikine on flat water, but the Stikine cruises along very well for a white water type kayak. I never did really stop to rest. I was just paddling along, hoping I would get back to my truck before my stamina gave out. The people at the out house asked me how far up I was going, and I told them that I wanted to see the falls, but wasn't sure if I had enough endurance to go that far.
A few years ago, it was common for people to ask what is a good kayak for both flat water and white water. Well, I definitely found it in the Stikine. It seems a little odd that I got asked that quite a bit a few years ago, but nobody has asked me that in a long time.
One interesting thing about Tumwater Falls is that it is only 2 miles from the Philippi Canyon exit off of I-84. I took that exit, and drove up that road, and I would have liked to hike down to the falls, but couldn't because of no trespassing signs. In its last 10 miles, the John Day River is parallel to and just over the ridge from the Columbia River. Imagine that in all those trips to the Deschutes, we were driving within 2 miles of a long classic big water hard class 4 rapid and not even knowing it.
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Chris Bolkan
Class VI
USA
1821 Posts |
Posted - Mar 23 2004 : 11:32:11 AM
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Well, it does have the name Tumwater......Gotta be hard! Plus the name Falls! Are you sure you weren't looking at a class V? You're one of the most solid boaters I know and you were creeped out. I want to see it!
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Bob
Class VI
896 Posts |
Posted - Mar 23 2004 : 8:00:20 PM
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I'm prtetty sure the left side is not a class V, and I'm pretty sure the right side is a class V. I'm planning to go back this weekend for some fishing. It would be fun to have some company. If I was with white water boaters, I wouldn't fish while people waited for me. We could put in at the road on the west side, paddle the hour up to the heavy current, and then carry our boats a mile to the top of the rapid. The alternative would be to take two vehicles and run the river.
I may have miss judged it, and it may not be that big of a deal. Obviously 7000 cfs is not going to burn off 40 or 50 feet in less than a half mile without a notable feature or two.
I was looking at the various John Day gauges, and the average peaks are in late April, but the peak times tend to really vary from year to year, sort of like the Umatilla.
I guess what I'm saying is let me know when you want to go.
If somebody doesn't want to run this rapid, they certainly shouldn't let that keep them from coming along for the scenery. I had a good time Sunday and I didn't run it. It would be very easy to portage the entire rapid. There is a very good trail on the west bank so the portage would involve a half mile walk, but no scrambling of any kind.
I did have one mistake in my main post. The out house is 1 1/2 hours upstream of Le Page Park (not 1 1/2 miles). |
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Evan
Class IV
329 Posts |
Posted - Mar 31 2004 : 8:34:07 PM
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quote:
I did have one mistake in my main post. The out house is 1 1/2 hours upstream of Le Page Park (not 1 1/2 miles).
Is the outhouse at a camping area? I heard there was a place to camp along there somewhere. Sounds like more of a day trip, though.
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Bob
Class VI
896 Posts |
Posted - Apr 01 2004 : 11:33:58 PM
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Evan,
The outhouse area is not a developed campground, just at outhouse (a big fancy one) where the road dead ends at the river. I suspect people camp there, but maybe there is a sign somewhere up the road that says it's a "day-use area only".
There is a big developed boat-in only campground a few miles upstream of the mouth on the east side of the river. This campground has big motor boat docks, big lawns, shade trees, big rest rooms, etc.
I don't know if camping is allowed outside of the designated camp grounds. I think that area has had a lot of big range fires in the past, and open camp fires are not allowed for much of the year.
I reccomend a day trip for your first trip to the area. I went from the mouth to Tumwater Rapid and back in a day in a 10-foot kayak and I wasn't on the water paddling untill 10 or 11 in the morning.
I think one thing that could really suck would be a strong west wind. Remember, the last 10 miles of the John Day River Canyon parallels the gorge, so that ought to say something about the wind potential. |
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John Day R. Tumwater Falls 3/21/04 7000 cfs
