Trip Leader:  Jon Almquist; attendees: Claire Hews, Nick and Katie Newhall, Dale Bonson, Rick Schoen, Toria Matteson, Laura Orr, Shanna Gachen

"The adventure started when we broke the ax . . ."

By Jon Almquist

The adventure started when we broke the ax chopping the tree out of the road so we could get to Matheny in the first place…. You could tell it was a good crew when everyone jumped into action without second thoughts, getting scratched and scuffed as we dealt with the minor road blockage. Right then and there I knew the trip was bound to be memorable!

By Dale Bonson

Oh Boy!!

Upper Matheny class IV (feelin’ a little IV+ ish at times), which I ran with John Almquist, his partner in crime Claire, and Nick. We had to trudge through a mile or so of marshy dense forest to get to the creek.  Entertaining and a little fast paced, but could be done slower if we hadn’t had to be in a rush to get down, due to daylight time restraints.

Once on the creek, what a blast, it ran through a shallow, watershed style gorge with mossy views and many small streams coming in from all directions.  The creek started out with a couple of class III type ledges, which we easily scraped down and then it quickly became pool-drop, three to five foot ledges, class IV.

With our time crunch we didn’t get out of our boats, but were given precise instructions on where to go and how to run the ledges by Jon or Nick, right down to where to place each paddle stroke. If there was any scouting to be done it was Jon who jumped out, surveyed the drop, and sent Nick down to see if the plan was OK.  Then he herded us through.

I’ve never run anything in that fashion before, but it was pretty cool.  I didn’t have to get all worked up about the drops; just go! Nothing like paddling up to a horizon line having no clue what the drop looks like, reading, running and hoping I saw the right line while saying a few Hail Mary’s or praying to whatever god seemed fitting at that particular moment.

I had a pretty clean run, well OK, except the last class IV drop.  I missed a stroke and flipped at the bottom, threw a back deck roll to get up quick (not a good habit on a creek run). 

I didn’t hit anything and I ran the next ledge clean.

We met up with the Middle crew, or at least Shanna, at the put-in for the Middle section.  Rick was the only other kayaker “sort” of present.

He was hanging from the cliff half-way down, like Tarzan.

MIDDLE SECTION

By Rick Schoen

After we dropped the crew off for the upper, we class III boaters thought we had tons of time to get to our put-in for the Middle section and our rendezvous spot with the Upper crew.  (Shanna was thinking we would get to have a leisurely lunch by the creek and enjoy the beautiful scenery until the Upper crew met us).  But we did NOT count on the sucker trail that leered us in. 

It was an OK trail for maybe 50 feet.  Then we encountered a marshy and dense forest, up and over logs, and pushing our way through the trees towards the creek we could hear in the distance.  Shanna plowed head on, disappearing, and eventually came back saying she made it to the edge, but found a cliff down to the creek. 

We followed up, bringing only a few boats and leaving two behind in case we had to back track out.  Lots of huffing and puffing going on – I’m sure that’s how folks knew where I was since you could be 10 feet away and not see the others.  Shanna found a scramble route down the cliff, but it wasn’t easy.  We weren’t sure if all would feel comfortable making the descent to the creek.  I went half way down to assist with lowering the boats and we eventually got Shanna’s and my boat down to the creek. 

The other part of the Middle crew was hesitant of the scramble and had decided to walk out.  About that time the Upper crew showed up and Jon and Nick easily saw a “better way down” upriver from where we were.  Jon easily bounded his way to the top and talked the others into coming. 

Since we had boats strewn all over, it took a little bit of time to find all the remaining boats, especially in the dense growth.  Toria commented how she went back for her boat and had passed it because she couldn’t see it.  She even stood it on end to be easily seen.  Jon finally found it. 

We got all the boats and people down and launched for the six-mile class III section around 2:15pm.  We had to hustle to beat the looming darkness.

The creek was a fabulous pool-drop run with many horizon lines.  The drops on the first half of the stretch were a little bony in places.  We did have some pins and one “Nose smashing” which led to an early takeout for some, at a half-way point.

The lower half of the class III section picked up a little speed because of the extra water coming in from the many side creeks and with more water it also made the drops quite fun.  We paddled hard and fast, passing many play spots, at which we might have liked to linger.  I had my sunglasses on and I always bring regular glasses too, but I didn’t want to stop to change them because the clock was tickin’.  It made the last half hour very interesting for me. :) 

Finally the bridge was spotted with one more blind horizon line, our takeout marked with surveyor tape, and a final hurrah from the river, with a difficult hike to the cars – more huffing!   Jon showed up having walked/skipped/hopped from the middle takeout. 

Shuttle was run, propane heaters were shared and many ate their lunches.  All did well. Lots of exercise. :) The day-trippers made it to Tacoma around 8:30 PM, after fine dining in Aberdeen (Mexican restaurant). 

We will definitely have to go back and linger at the play spots and gaze at the beautiful scenery!

Comments from Jon . . .

I remember:

• Dale up to his knees in elk-trodden mud – smiling,
• Claire holding ground in a tiny mid-stream eddy above a log jam while awaiting for someone to grab her boat when she drove it into the eddyless shore – smiling,
• Rick hunkered partway down a cliff with no easy way down or back up – smiling, and
• Toria gripping the rope with both hands, not knowing if or when her feet would ever find solid ground – smiling.

As I say about paddling in the Olympics, it’s all smiles until you wash your boat for the next pool session…

By Katie Newhall:

I just want to let you all know what you missed on Saturday night and Sunday . . ..

Saturday night, Nick, Jon, Claire, and I “roughed it” and had dinner at the Lake Quinault Lodge.  I enjoyed Pan Seared Scallops accompanied in a Honey Roasted Acorn Squash with Olympia Grown Mushrooms, Grilled Asparagus, and Sun Dried Tomatoes, Lemon Beurre Blanc. Oh yeah, and a nice Pinot Gris to top it off!

After that great dinner that included a tablecloth and real bathrooms, we headed back to the takeout for some camping.  After a big meal and a long day of lugging our boats around and paddling hard, we crashed.  It was a gorgeous night sleeping under the stars (in our cars), and elk visited in the night. 

Sunrise at 7:30 brought clear skies again but chilly weather.  We enjoyed a leisurely breakfast and tea before heading out for another day of paddling.

Sunday was a little less of an adventure, but another great run and a gorgeous day.  We braved our wet drysuits and put in at the halfway point to the middle section for a 3-mile warm up.  The trail in (where others had hiked out Saturday) was MUCH easier than the bushwhacking on Saturday. 

Jon got to run the Class III section, and we had more time to float down and enjoy the many waterfalls coming in from the sides.  The water was a few inches lower than it was on Saturday.  A little more water on the run would have been nice. 

Right after the takeout bridge for the middle section, we entered the lower section.  This section is Class III/IV and the others on the trip said the drops weren’t as big as the upper section, but they were more technical.  Definitely kept me on my toes. 

And it’s the OP (Olympic Peninsula), so you always need to be on the lookout for wood. 

The first rapid, Claire and I took the bony line and it got my attention.  The water was shallow and not fun to be upside down in, but I kicked up my game after that and did fine the rest of the run.  This lower section was pool/drop, lots of horizon lines and ledges, and no wood! 

How nice to be on an OP trip and not be portaging . . ..  I did choose to take an easy portage on one of the more difficult rapids where there was a diagonal ledge and a headwall.  I did run the “bowling ball” rapid (which indeed has a big round rock in the center with 3 holes in it like a bowling ball).  This rapid required driving left of the bowling ball to avoid the undercut.

After this rapid, they tapered off to Class III read and run drops until we got out of the gorge and back into the sunshine to the next takeout bridge.

 Comments . . .

• “My thanks and appreciation to Jon and crew for putting together and taking us on a fine adventure!” (Dale Bonson)
• “A good and interesting Almquist Olympic adventure.  Thanks to all!” (Rick Schoen)
• “All in all, a great weekend!  Thanks to everyone who came out and thanks to Jon and Claire for organizing this!” (Katie Newhall)
• “The paddling/approach, hiking in and hiking out was pretty adventurous. How fun was that, eh?!? Pretty fun. OK, well a little scary, a little bit scraped up and bruised – but my spirit is stronger for the wear. It was so fun paddling with everyone – ya kinda get bonded after a trip like that.” (Claire Hews)
• “What a great, first experience to the Olympic Peninsula, I can’t wait to go back!  Thanks Jon and crew for a fantastic, adventurous day!” (Shanna Gachen)

Jon Almquist, Dale Bonson, Rick Shoen, Katie Newhall