Log Rolling

Turns out there is a United States Log Rolling Association (USLRA) which is somewhat semantically synonymous with the United States Rafting Association (USRA) yet the physical application of these terms is acrimonious at best.  In short, our day running Eagle Creek of the Clackamas drainage at high water not only thoroughly tested our equipment but also tapped into lumberjack skills acquired through a lifetime of living and running rivers in the great northwest.  Specifically, walking on logs.  With the Clackamas gauge at 3 Lynx hovering around 10,000cfs, we headed up to the Fish Hatchery “put in” on Eagle Creek where at least one local warned us of high water, logs, and a big waterfall.  Sweet.

Aire. The toughest boats in the world. We'll leave brand X on the trailer for this trip.

Prior to sharing our experience I must add that the conditions were very dangerous and not recommended.  We accomplished this task with a team of veterans who have run many difficult rivers together for several years.  There is no margin for error and zero tolerance for miscommunication.  Even with that, we were challenged.

Fire Man and Grizz.

Our boat did not make the eddy above and instead chose to duck under this log.  Another log just beneath the surface prohibited us from getting low enough for the limbo.  Pictured log delivered a wood to Shred Ready helmet blow which dislodged my Go Pro and reminded me of sparring the night before.  From this point forward footage was limited.  No time to snap pictures, no functional helmet cam.  Getting stuffed into this log awakened the survival instincts.  It’s on now.

I decided on a mid stream log portage some time later.  The boat was nearly over the last log in the jam when a momentary lapse in communication with a teammate precluded the raft slipping back in the stream and becoming pinned against a creek wide log with several vicious sharp broken branches attacking the Aire (it was NOT punctured!).  We drug the other boat through the brush on shore and placed it in a stand by position below the log jam and the pinned raft.  I then shimmied back out on the log jam, got on the boat, and checked for all air valve locations reachable from the surface.  The plan was to either come back the next day when the water dropped to recover the boat, or deflate and hope it comes loose.  One minute after releasing the air out of the only valve I could reach the boat started sinking and slipped under the tree.  It quickly picked up speed, I dove in after it, climbed on top, tied off a flip line, flipped it over, got in, and began de-rigging the spare paddle when the next log jam came into view.

The D Series Aire passed close enough to a mid stream island that I was able to jump out and after a few minutes wrestle the boat out of the above pictured log jam.  The chase boat then arrived.  One paddler was walking down the bank.  I decided to roll one boat and make the two R2s one R4 for the following reasons. 1. Given that I had the most experience I wanted to guide everyone down in one boat. 2. Eddies were minimal and not conducive to getting to 14′ rafts into simultaneously. 3. An experienced and seasoned R4 crew was more solid in big water than lighter R2s who had not had the opportunity to develop team chemistry. 4. We had two boats mid stream and 3 paddlers.

Rigging one boat inside the other to finish the run.