Raft
(As we transition into summer from the lackluster winter we observed, we thought we would share a post from last summer. This post is a recollection of a whitewater rafting trip Jesse took last summer on the Klamath River in Northern California / Southern Oregon)
The Klamath River runs from Klamath Falls Oregon down through Northern California with its outlet into the Pacific by Klamath, California. It offers some of the best whitewater on the west coast, along with some pretty good fishing. A few weeks ago I took a lil trip up there with my friends Blake and Ryan, where we met Blake’s dad Jack and friend Dick just north of Copco Lake on the California Oregon border. From there it was a long weekend of class IV/V rafting, a class V shuttle, fly fishing, camping, and barely seeing a single person for almost 4 days.
We camped right at state line by the river and right at take-out, the road up to put in consisted of 8 miles of gnarly up and down on a less than ideal road. The shuttle up took roughly one hour to get to put in, a class V shuttle for sure with giant boulders, steep inclines and declines, and FWD needed. We put in a ways down from John Boyle Powerhouse Dam with our first rapid at Caldera. The section of river we ran is about 9 miles long, and consistent back to back class III, IV, & IV+/V rapids, some of the best whitewater on the west coast. With names like Satan’s Gate, and Hell’s Corner, you know you’re in for a good ride.
The number one rule of the trip was don’t fall out of the boat, and fortunately that rule was only broken once by myself as I swam Snag Island Falls (Class V) on the second trip of day one. Everything worked out as I grabbed tag line and bumped along behind the boat before foolishly letting go and getting slammed against a large rock. From there I went over the last drop and into a large pool, bruised and battered I swam back to the raft waiting for me in the pool.
While the whitewater was all-time, the fishing was good as well. The Salmon Flies were just starting to hatch and the trout were biting on anything resembling such. The second day as we waited for the water to rise at put in, Blake and Ryan started throwing flies, and started cleaning up with fish after fish hitting. The last day we drifted down the last stretch of river toward Copco lake, the dry flies weren’t doing as well, but the nymphs were cleaning up for Ryan. Rainbows and Brown were being caught, nothing huge but a few good 8-10 inchers.
The weekend was a great success, camping, fishing, rafting, horseshoes, BBQ’ing, and not seeing a single person for the most part. Some great horseshoes went down, and probably one of the most amazing shots imaginable happened. For the game winner a shoe was tossed that made a ringer, and knocked another shoe up for a leaner, crazy talk for sure.
Blake is an amazing guide, and with years of experience on the rivers of California, this summer he brought his talent and skill back to his home state of Washington where he partnered up with Triad River Tours. Triad runs tours on the Sauk (class III) and the Skagit (class II), while Blake will be operating on the Skykomish (class IV+). Aside from Washington, they also run multi-day tours in Idaho. While the water situation in California remains bleak with the worst drought in recorded history, Washington offers a bit better option. So go ahead and check out triadrivertours.com and start planning your summer whitewater adventures in the PNW.
