So, as all my loyal fans read the title of this article, they probably went and did a little research. And after not too long, you'll find that Stebbin's Creek is in fact V-. That's right. Minus. And I'm sure you're all confused. Why, you're saying, why run mere V-? Surely, Leif, for you this must have been about as difficult as paddling your creekboat across a heated indoor pool, with an ACA trained lifeguard on duty. And you're absolutely right. In fact, it might have even been easier than that. After I got to the takeout, I thought to myself that gee, I really could have saved a few ounces on that hike in by not bothering to bring a paddle or a sprayskirt, since I didn't really need either one. That's how easy it was. (For me. It would be harder for a mere mortal man or woman.)
(Dan and Jacob hiking into Sebbin's creek. I don't know how they managed this shot, bucause I was about a mile behind them.)
So why do it? Well, let me remind you folks at home of something. I'm a badass. I'm such a badass that really just about any creek out there is as easy for me as paddling across that indoor pool that we were discussing earlier. So the real question isn't why V-? It's why run anything? And the answer is something that surprised me. Nature. Yeah, that's right. My friend Dave (a.k.a. Sensitive Naked Man) has been trying to tell me all about it. See, if you're like me, you think of Nature as the factory that makes wallabies and west nile virus; sometimes cute and cuddly, sometimes deadly, but always sort of far away. Apparently (according to Dave) this is not the case. Seems as though Nature is, in fact, all over the damn place. All those dead leaves in your lawn? That's Nature. Sneaking up on you. And every time you're out boating, you're just totally immersed in Nature. Never woulda guessed it. Well, after finding this out, I thought to myself, hey, I really like boating. Maybe it's because I like Nature without knowing.
(Uh, well, this dosen't really have anything to do with kayaking, but hey, look at that sign.)
(Jacob on the day we didn't run Stebbin's. Doc's Drop, Washougal River.)
(Leif running Doc's Drop, Washougal River.)
So Dan Rubado, Jacob Selander and I (about 3/4 of the SBP crew) ran Stebbin's creek, in Washington. The first day, it looked a little too high, considering we'd never been there, so we ran the waterfall section of the Washougal, which on the Washougal right in that area. We came back a day or two later and it looked good. There was about a 4 mile hike in, then some sweet mellow class II to V- back down into the Washougal. And yeah. Nature all over. As for the creek itself, there were about 4 rapids, more or less. Tsunami falls was totally sweet. It's a four tiered waterfall/slide with about 60 feet total vertical. There were more, and there were some portages, and all kinds of scenery and trees and such (Nature) but come on, I'm done talking about myself, so you're probably done reading.
(Leif running the first drop on Sebbin's. Compare this to the photo of Selander running it. Since he's about 4'6" tall, he makes it look huge, but for me it looks tiny.)
(Selander running the first drop on Sebbin's.)
(Dan getting mauled by the Mad Dog.)
(Leif Running Mad Dog.)
If you're thinking of running Stebbin's, check out www.oregonkayaking.net and look in the creek guide section. The direct link is: http://www.oregonkayaking.net/creeks/stebbins1/stebbins1.html or http://www.oregonkayaking.net/creeks/stebbins/stebbins.html They'll tell you everything you need to know. We ran it at a flow near that of the first exploratory mission. (The elbow magnet at Mad Dog was just barely poking out.) It was low. The boulder gardens often took some pushing and scraping to get over, but the main drops were still rockin'. The advantage of running it low was that the mandatory portage around Lethal Injection was not that sketchy. It still snuck up on us, but I could imagine that coming up very very fast if the water was too high for one of the lower eddies that we used. However, apart from that one little thing, the run would be great, maybe even more fun, at higher water.
(Leif and Dan portaging around Leathal Injection. I had thought maybe we could run this, I was wrong.)
(Tsunami Falls, the 4 tiered 60 footer. Dan with umbrella filming, top middle of photo.)
(Dan running Tsunami Falls.)
Oh yeah, and Nature? Turns out it's not too bad.
(Check it out: all kinds of Nature and rocks and stuff. Wicked.)
Rock on
-The Famous Leif Anderson
All photos by Jacob Selander (SBP) except for photos OF Jacob Selander, which are by Dan Rubado (SBP) Sweet Bunion Productions sweetbunion@gmail.com
