The Willamette River is 187 miles long, stretching from Eugene, Oregon through Portland and into the Columbia River. The Willamette carries the 13th most water of any river in the US, and over 70% of Oregon's population lives in the Willamette Valley. I decided I wanted to get to know this local treasure up close, and in its entirety.
4 days. 204 miles. Solo.
How Did This Happen?
While in COVID quarantine, I decided I wanted to get back into my kayak. Unfortunately, I moved to Portland just before the pandemic, so I don't have a community to paddle with. Despite kayaking and camping for many years, I had never solo camped. I had also never completed an entire river under my own power without stopping. So I figured why not?!
Know Where You're Going Before You Leave
My first obstacle was obtaining the Willamette River Water Trail Guides. These two books list each mile of the river, obstacles to avoid, and generally where rapids can be expected. I had found them online, but getting them would prove difficult during a pandemic. It turned out that the 2020 supply of these had not yet left the distributors, so I wasn't able to buy them. Anywhere. To make a long story short, after a recommendation from the Willamette Riverkeepers, I'd like to give a HUGE shout-out to Dave and Andrew at Alder Creek. These folks ROCK! They didn't have any for sale, but ended up loaning me Andrew's copies for free even though they'd never met me! Without these guides, the story would've end here....
Weak and Scrawny Much?
Being cooped up for months on end isn't the best way to get in shape. Nor is moving from country living to the city. I knew if I wanted to paddle hard for four days and be able to breathe without pain, I needed to get in shape, FAST. I used a few free-weights, a stick, and some bungee chords to make a weighted "paddle." In the two weeks before I left I "paddled" tens of thousands of "strokes" with this weighted mock paddle. I focused my workouts to my shoulders and my core, alternating daily workouts. With only one partial day of actual paddling before I left, I hoped I had done enough to prepare.
Safety
I always take an extra day's food, bring a first aid kit, carry bear spray on me, and wear a wet suit when it's cold (see starting picture below). The old adage is,"If the air and water temperature don't add up to 120 degrees, a wet or dry suit is needed for safety." I always wear a personal flotation device (PFD) or life jacket when on the water. The U.S. Coast Guard reported that in 2019, 86% of the people who drowned on U.S. waterways did not have a PFD on.[1]
RIP Saul Gallegos Ruiz
4-21-2020
Willamette RM 19
Stay Safe!
Day 1
After convincing my wife this was normal behavior, and that she should drive me two hours to Dexter Dam leaving at 5:00 am, I arrived with everything I would need.
After unloading, and packing my boat, I made it onto the river at 8:30 am and soon realized the water was moving fast! I would later read this was due to the government's control of the flow from Dexter Dam, which is higher than natural in the summer. This is just one example of how dams shape the river. The fast water yielded Class II+ rapids. I was very glad to have my DIY spray skirt.
As I paddled through Eugene, I passed through several smaller rapids and began to realize the magnitude of what I had undertaken. Then came River Mile (RM) 183, where I reached a rapid with one fast channel on river left, and many smaller channels through the rocks. Since I was solo and trying to be cautious on day 1, I turned from the main channel and tried to find a "safer" path. I managed to stick the landing, but as you can see in the video, not quite in the way I had intended.
After getting through Eugene I was making good time, and the partially sunny day helped. I quickly learned to follow the current back and forth across the river to keep up any hope of making my day 1 goal. At around 8 pm I arrived at Buckskin Mary's Landing, RM 145.8. Since 30 miles is the most I had previously paddled in a single day, I was thrilled to have completed 58 river miles on the first leg of my journey. Maybe this trip was doable in four days? The campsite is part of the Willamette Water Trail, and would be the only night I'd have a fire ring and fancy picnic table. It was nice to warm up and dry off a bit before the rain started overnight.
Day 2
After drying everything out, or at least wiping off the water as best I could, I repacked the boat. I accidentally dumped most of my coffee on the ground, and was back on the river by 8:30 am.
Day 2 was a mix of light rain and sun with very few people on the water. I enjoyed the scenery, and was thrilled to push past the halfway point at RM 102.
After making it to my goal of RM 92, I decided to enjoy the nice weather and venture to one of the other public islands listed on the map. I settled on a public island at RM 89.5 around 8:30 pm. I was glad I didn't stop once in 11 hours, or I wouldn't have made the 57 miles before dark.
Day 3
As I awoke on day 3, I was thankful for being cautious:
Between the rain drops I broke camp and made it onto the river around 7:45 am. With my wife sending me updates on the predicted thunderstorms, I forged ahead. My plan was to get as far as I could and take shelter at the first sight or sound of a thunderstorm. For most of the day the weather was a lovely mix of sun and rain. Just enough rain to keep the people away, but not so much sun I needed sunscreen
In the late afternoon I started to see the clouds rolling in and quickly found myself in a two hour pour. Never thunder or lightning, but again my spray skirt came in handy!
As I reached RM 55 I entered the "lake" caused by the Willamette Falls Dam. The current slowed to almost nothing, the weather turned, and the river became like glass. I began to realize how much of my early speed was the current. The previous rain meant I only had one wake-boarding boat on the entire lake, yet it turns out one is still one too many for my liking. Luckily the sun made for a lovely evening paddle.
Since day 3 was supposed to be my short day, and I had a portage planned on day 4, I decided to push ahead to RM 35.5 at the mouth of the Molalla River. I made camp on a sandy delta where the two rivers meet, and made it into my tent before the rain started. Warm and ahead of schedule, I was feeling confident as I faded to sleep.
Day 4
As morning broke on day 3 I was up and elated. I decided to spend an hour or so fishing for all the creatures that kept jumping in front of me. I made some coffee, and chilled:
I finally set off at around 9:30 am, feeling a gratitude for the river and the support I'd received to afford me this opportunity.
Just after launching I came upon the Canby Ferry, and the ferry driver flagged me down to ask for help. It seemed the safety chain on their repair raft had snapped, and a random person kayaking the river was just the hand they needed! I pushed the raft back to the ferry with my boat and had a nice chat with the drive.
It's nice to know the ferry uses this raft to keep the river clean when they do maintenance. I'm always happy to support keeping our waterways clean!
I soon arrived at Bernet Landing, RM 28.5, for a portage around the Willamette Falls. Portage is the art of hauling all your junk and your boat under your own power around an obstacle. The Willamette Falls has the second most water of any falls in the U.S. by volume [2], so I decided not to tempt fate (also it's illegal).
This was clearly the least planned part of my trip. Wanting to travel the entire river under my own power led me to using portage wheels. Because it was only three miles when I mapped it, I was confident I would be fine. I said before I left that "logic dictates the falls go down 40 feet, so the road has to be downhill."
This my friends, is not always true!
The road also wasn't easy going nor was traffic slow. I got to climb some STEEP hills!
The initial public dock I tried was not even remotely accessible for boats. Not to be deterred, I kept on:
After following the river downstream a while, I came to a set of stairs at the corner of McLoughlin Blvd and 8th street leading down to the water. This wasn't ideal, and the person who had been drinking down by the water was surprised to see me (see the cans in the middle photo). Thankfully I always have a boat rope connected to the bow of my boat, which made the slide down much safer.
After 5.5 miles of portaging, climbing almost 400 feet in elevation, and dropping down a sketchy set of stairs, I was back on the water.
As I entered the city of Portland a very strong headwind began to pick up. If I stopped paddling I would begin to float backwards in seconds. I later learned this is typical on this section of the river, and can often make afternoon paddling difficult. I pushed on, but at a pace half as fast as I had paddled the first two days.
As I got closer to the Columbia River, the small boat traffic began to give way shipping vessels which soon filled the river. I quickly realized my wife was right, and I was not going to make it across the Columbia River before dark. Crossing a busy shipping channel at night in a 14.5 foot boat with a headlamp wasn't on the list of things to try, so we decided she would meet me at Kelley Point Park, just before the Columbia.
After a beautiful sunset (the first picture in this post) I was determined to make it, and pushed harder than I had the entire trip. As darkness fell I became acutely aware of the massive ships that enjoy moving along the river at night.
After pushing for hours, and ending in total darkness, I arrived at 10 pm to meet my lovely wife who was holding a flashlight at the Kelley Point Park boat ramp. This was a great place to land, and a successful ending to my journey.
I learned a lot, but mostly I was humbled by the strength and unending power of the river. I managed to make all 204 miles in 3 days 13 hours and 30 minutes. To be honest I wasn't sure if this trip was possible in four days, and I recognize it would not have been without my thorough planning and training and some massive help. I'd like to thank those who worried about me while I was gone. Hopefully this account helps when I'm on the next adventure.
Total Miles Paddled ~100,000 paddle strokes!
Additional Resources
Electronic:
The Willamette River Water Trail, managed by the Willamette Riverkeepers
The Willamette River Water Trail is a National Water Trail
Paper:
The Willamette River Field Guide by Travis Williams - A nice overview of the history of the river, ecological changes the river has experienced, and trip preparation rolled into one book.
The Willamette River Water Trail Guides- Published by the Willamette Riverkeepers, these two guides provide mile by mile maps for the entire river, plus a few tributaries. These guides are definitely waterproof, since I SOAKED mine day after day with no problems. I can't recommend these enough for anyone paddling the Willamette!