PNW day 5: McKenzie

We woke up nice and early at Baker Bay and discovered it was a very nice campground. It has good potential for a base camp of another trip. We only rose early because I set an alarm, but it was good I did. Todd had to get to the airport this day as his flight was in the evening. We quickly broke down camp and got on the road, probably before anyone in the campground had even noticed that we were there. We continued north on I-5 and searched for food. David selected Joe’s Diner in Creswell. Everything was tasty and it was a great place to start our day. After much deliberation (this had been going on since yesterday) we decided to paddle the McKenzie. Our original plan had been to be in White Salmon already and paddle the White Salmon again.

The McKenzie offered us a trip that could get Todd to the airport as well as be something new for all of us. Once we got to Eugene we got off the highway and started following the McKenzie upstream. This is another river like the North Umpqua that has many sections for a paddler to choose from. Its a class II-III run, which is what caused some of the reservation for paddling it. While looking at the run we found it would pass another hot spring. However, we weren’t going to have the time to stop and enjoy it. Also it was a commercial hot spring, so there would be some cost associated with it. As we headed to the take out I lost service, which increased my nervousness, since I had to check into my flight on Southwest.

We ended up splitting the run into two about 4 mile sections. For the first, Todd would be with us, then Matt would take him back to his car at the put in so he could go to the airport. David and I would continue downstream. The run ended up being more relaxed than the others and definitely was one you do for the scenery. There was not much flat and there were continuous riffles with some rapids mixed in. We came saw some people from the government out there with special boats counting the different fish.

Once we had finished the run we headed back to White Salmon to collect the rest of our gear and get ready for our flights home the next day. On our way home we went via Government Camp (yes, really creative name) so we would pass by Mount Hood. Unfortunately it was cloudy for us and we were not afforded a good view. It was still interesting to see the base of it and the mostly dry riverbed that came off it.

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