Visit to Sunriver

Breaking away from the daily grind of retirement at home, Linda and I hopped in the camper and drove west and south heading for Sunriver, Oregon to visit with our friends Don and Caroline. The Samuelsons had rented a condo for a week-long fall getaway and invited us along.

Crooked River at The Cove Palisades State Park.

We left Post Falls late morning and drove Hwy. 90 west. As we passed Ritzville the truck blinked a brake/ABS warning followed by an audio ding. This caught our attention and we started monitoring the gauges as we scurried towards the Tri-Cities.

The warning sounded again and again but there was no change in the trucks demeanor so we continued on. As we neared the city, Linda called Perfection Tire and they said for us to come on in, they were not busy.

Waterfalls at the state park.

At Perfection, they checked out the brake warning and found that it was either a bad sensor or a short in one of the wires for the sensor. It was not a serious need-to-repair item and could wait until we returned home from our trip. We agreed that if they dug into the repair and were not able to get the parts right away then we would be stuck. It was best that we moved on and repaired the annoyance later.

We drove on and decided to not stay on the Columbia River as we had planned. We would turn off at Biggs Junction and drive on to a campground outside of Madras, OR. 

Riding bikes along the Deschutes River at Sunriver.

We pulled into The Cove Palisades State Park and found a spot at the Crooked River campground. It was a bit expensive to stay there, $30, but I was tired of driving and the sun was setting.

The next morning we explored the park, took some photos and drove on to Sunriver.

We drove into the resort and met up with Don and Caroline. Settling in was easy and we were able to take a bike ride and a hike before we ate dinner. It was a fun afternoon and the evening ended with a rousing game of Skip-Bo.

The next morning Linda and I borrowed the Samuelson's truck and went exploring. First stop was the Lava River Cave, a mile-long lava tube that was discovered in 1889. This is a self-guided tour so we rented a very nice flashlight and dropped into the total darkness. Linda carried the big flashlight and I carried two little lights as my luminaries.

Sunset over the Deschutes River.

The tube was incredible! We walked down and into total darkness. This tube had a ceiling that was probably 60 feet above our heads most of the way. In two short stretches, we had to duck down a bit, but that was not a problem.  The darkness engulfs you and you can only see where the flashlights let you.

Linda with the flashlight
at the entrance to Lava River Cave.

At one spot, probably 100 yds from the turn around point, I stepped on a rock that was smooth and slanting away from me. It was covered with a thin layer of sand and my foot slipped and I went down. In the dark, I put my arms out to make sure I didn’t hit anything. My flashlight went flying as I sprawled in the sand. When I stood up and shook off, I found that I was OK, but my camera had swung and hit the rock cracking the lens. It was too dark to assess the damage, but I figured it was bad from what I observed when I quickly inspected it with my flashlight. I was so upset and felt that I had ruined my camera. We continued on, but the fun level had gone way down.

Entering the Cave.

We came to the end of the cave, turned around and quickly headed out for the mile trip back. After we emerged and turned in the big flashlight, I went to the car and examined my camera. The lens that had broken was a protective lens that I had bought and placed over the camera's working lens. I removed the cracked lens, dusted the camera’s main lens and examined everything else; the camera was OK! I had gotten very lucky and the protective lens had done its job. As you can imagine, I was a much happier person to be around.

We then drove to Newberry National Volcanic Monument where we were able to drive to the top of the cinder cone, Lava Butte. Hiking the cone rim gave us a beautiful 360˚ panorama of the lava flow and the surrounding mountains.

Exiting the cave.

Next, we went in search of another hike we had read about. Benham Falls is an easy mile hike along the Deschutes River. The falls are very rugged, but it reminded us of a very large rapid, rather than a falls. I stopped a Forest Service guy and asked him if they run this falls via kayaks and he said that they do. It would be quite the hairball run if you ask me.

Back on the road, we drove to the Lava Lands Visitor Center where we bought a sticker for our camper and drank about a gallon of water. Once we were hydrated again we walked the Trail of the Molten Land and returned to our car. (Note to Linda and Dean: Take water and food when you go on a day-long adventure.)

Once we returned to the condo, we rushed in and ate everything in sight. Don and Caroline were interested in our exploration, but that had to wait until we were fed. Once we had filled up, we were much friendlier people.

The rest of the visit was spent relaxing and exploring the areas around the condo.  Linda rested in the sun beside the pool and I sat in the shade and read. We ate and enjoyed chatting with Don and Caroline.

The morning we left Sunriver, I rode my bike over to visit a former student and good friend at his retreat home in the Sunriver complex. Chris Cushman was a NIC student way back when I first started working at NIC. We have kept in touch for over 30 years. I had a cup of coffee with Chris and his wife Carmen as we caught up on all our recent adventures. Chris just recently retired and Carmen is set to retire in the next three months or so.  It was fun to chat and reconnect. It added another special layer to our visit to Sunriver.

Broken lens from the camera caused by fall in the cave.

I peddled back to the condo and we said goodbye to Don and Caroline. In the truck, we pointed northwest and headed to our next destination; Hillsboro, Oregon and Champoeg State Park.

Vista from Lava Butte at
Newberry National Volcanic Monument.

Deschutes River on our hike to Benham Falls. 

Benham Falls.

Newberry National Volcanic Monument

Hiking the Trail of the Molten Land. (dun, tah, tah, daaa) 

Me on the Trail of the Molten Land.  

Here are a few more swan photos I liked.

Guns A Blazing on the Lower Salmon

Linda and I were sitting in the Jeep at Fred Meyer when my phone rang. I looked at the caller ID and did a double take. What a blast from the past, a call from Steve Fitzgerald! I answered and Steve (Fitz) explained that some of our friends were getting together for a cast and blast raft trip down the Lower Salmon River. He invited me and I said that it sounded good but I needed to talk to Linda before I could answer.

We ready our gear at the Hammer Creek boat launch.

Over the next two days, I gathered all the facts. Linda said it was up to me and that I could go if I wanted. Well, of course, I wanted to go! Linda was also invited but she had plans in Cd’A and she needed to stay home.

I walked next door and asked my neighbor, Steve Nelson, if he would be interested and he said yes immediately.

Mike Beckwith stows his gear.

So we drug the cat out, packed the needed supplies, strapped on fishing poles and a shotgun and headed down to the put-in at Hammer Creek.

Steve and I were the first to arrive. There were a few rafters putting on the river and we chatted with them as we unloaded our cat and organized our gear. An hour and a half later the group began to arrive. Mike and Caroline Beckwith were the first to hit the boat launch. They launched their raft and started the process of loading and strapping down the gear.

Steve Fitzgerald and Jim Soon.

About a half hour later the rest of the gang arrived. Mike Fuhrman and Charlotte backed their trailer loaded with Mike’s cat and Jim Fuhrman’s raft, down to the river’s edge. While the Fuhrman’s rigged their boats, Steve Fitzgerald and Jim Soon, and Terry Beckwith and Rick Aman worked on their boats up in the parking lot. Once everything was in order the boats were launched and our group was set. All together we were a group of three cats and three rafts filled with eleven excited boaters.

I am ready and waiting!

We launched at about 1:30 PM and floated down to our first camp at about mile 3.1 from Hammer Creek, setting up our gear on Lyons Bar.

Mike and Charlotte made a great dinner of grilled chicken breasts with all the trimmings. Everyone was talking and getting to know each other. It was a fun-filled evening.

Next day we floated down to the Indian pictographs by Shorts Bar. The boys, Peyton and his brother, and everyone who had never been there hiked up and found the native paintings. It was a good stop. As a group, we moved on down through the Green Canyon. Everyone handled Wright–way Drop, Demons Drop and Pine Bar Rapids as we floated on down and on to the part of the river with no roads to bother us.

Our second night was spent on the beach on river right just 200 yards above Killer Goat Beach, about mile 34. It had been a long day of fishing and chukar hunting. Terry Beckwith provided stew and garlic bread. We all hit the sack early. Our arms were a bit tired and we needed to be ready for our next day’s float.

Once packed and ready we moved on into Cougar Canyon and started the rapid section of the trip. We ran rapids with names like Cliff Side, Pipeline, Lorna’s Lulu, and Upper and Lower Bunghole Rapids. We gathered up for a quick lunch at White House Bar and then continued deeper into Snow Hole Canyon.

As we moved on down the river the chukar count increased. There were more chukars down near the water than I have ever seen. It took us longer to move due to the bird hunting, but what were we here for if not that?

Harm’s Hole Rapids lead us to Bodacious Bounce and then into Half and Half Rapids. Of all the runs during the trip, the one down Half and Half was my worst. Not a huge problem, but I just didn’t like my angle through the lower part of the run. I sort of went sideways instead of straight. Oh, well…

Mike Beckwith, "At least I held onto my oar!"

I was in the lead when we rounded the corner to face the big rapid, Snow Hole. It always gets your attention when you approach this obstacle. Today was a bit more unnerving. As we lined up to look at the run you could see the remains of a blue raft wrapped on the big rock left center of the rapid. It looked nasty and put a huge knot in my gut. I looked back at Mike Fuhrman and saw that he saw the disaster too.

With all the initial adrenaline of running a big rapid and the surge provided by knowing someone made a big mistake, I set up for our run. We approached and looked at the tooth rock on the right and I let us drift down just left of the little pour-over rock on the upper right center of the run. Then when I was satisfied I would not get stuck in the top rock, I pulled like hell and brought the boat into a cross-river ferrying angle. One, two, three, huge pulls and the boat slid left and centered up. I dipped my oars and swung us down pointing straight into the chaotic mess ahead and pushed with everything I had. We dropped through the whitewater and bounced passed the mess! I let out a holler and pulled the boat into the big eddy on the right at the bottom of the run.

Next to the run came Mike Fuhrman followed by Fitz and then Jim Fuhrman.  All followed our line and had great runs.

Mike and Terry Beckwith were next. They were a bit behind us because Mike waited for Terry who had lagged behind due to chukar fever.

Mike approached the rapid but entered it much farther to the left than the rest of the boats. This entry placed him into the heart of the rapid and closer to the hidden boulders near the bottom of the run. He made it past the entry rocks and was heading down the middle of the run when his boat caught on a boulder and spun halfway around. When it dropped over the rock Mike bounced up and out of the rear left corner of the boat. He held hard to his oar and came up immediately. Caroline had noticed his departure and scrambled quickly to grab his hand and then pulled him into the boat.

Steve Nelson and I were in the eddy holding as safety boat and were ready to follow Mike if his boat had flipped. When we saw him appear in the rapid and then was grabbed by Caroline we stayed put knowing Mike was safe and the rest of our group would lend a hand collecting anything he had lost during his swim.

Terry entered the rapid in the same spot as Mike. Well, not exactly the same spot. Terry’s run was about four feet right of Mike’s and he missed the hidden boulder and had a clean run.  Steve and I followed as Terry pushed to catch up with the group. We stroked downriver and spotted a shoe floating in an eddy. We cleaned up the yard sale and caught up with Mike, delivering his right shoe completing the pair. Later Mike confessed all he lost was his hat and a bit of his swagger.

The group continued on down stopping whenever the sounds of chukar were heard. We stopped for the night at Lower Maloney. Mike and Caroline prepared a wonderful dinner of fresh Alaskan salmon. I have to admit that Mike was the target of many comments after his run; it was compounded when Steve Nelson brought out his phone with evidence of the mishap. Mike took it all in stride knowing that if it had happened to anyone else on the trip they would be hearing the same; all in good fun.

As the trip progressed so did the fish and bird count. We moved on down the river stopping to hunt birds and taking in the spectacular panoramas of this lower river section.  Chukars were so abundant that we moved slower than expected. Our next beach ended up being above Wapshilla Creek.

Makes your gut clench when you see this!

As we pulled around the corner to the beach we had set out to get, we noticed two boats on the upper end of the beach. This beach is huge and the two boats made it look bigger. The three guys were sitting in chairs next to their rafts. Fitz landed and asked them if they were staying. They said yes, and Fitz asked if they minded if we shared the lower half of the beach. It was late and the next beach was a couple miles downriver.  First, they said yes they cared, and Fitz said OK and started to walk away. Then they called him back and said it was OK. I think they noticed the six boats and felt guilty for having the huge beach with just the three of them.

We were prepared to move on and felt guilty ourselves for asking, but it all worked out. They actually walked upriver around the corner to a nice small beach and set up their camp. It probably was their correct choice due to their group size. Linda and I are very careful that we don’t take any big beaches whenever we do solo trips. It is just a good karma builder to leave the large beaches to bigger groups.

A camp was set and the guys cleaned all the birds and fish. For appetizers, we ate fresh chukar breasts and bass rolled in cracker crumbs and fried on the grill. Man, that was delicious. Fitz and Jim F. provided a great taco dinner and we stuffed ourselves. Every evening on this trip was spent laughing and reminiscing about past adventures. On most nights we all were in bed by 9:00 PM.

We were up early and on the river by 9:00 AM. We pushed down to the confluence to the Snake River and the Lower Salmon. Mike and Jim Fuhrman rafted up with Fitz and used Mike’s boat motor to rumble out. I connected to Mike Beckwith’s boat and we rafted on to Terry’s boat and we were off downriver. The wind was strong and so we were very glad to have motors to push us down to Heller Bar and the takeout.

Hang on to that stick, Beckwith!

At the ramp, we loaded up and said our goodbyes. It was a super Fall Classic Cast and Blast. The best hunting we have ever had! The weather was superb. You can’t beat the Lower when the weather is good and the river is running clear.

Caroline grabbing Mike as they bounce down Snow Hole.

Peyton and one of the chukars hey shot.

Rick Aman and Terry Beckwith. 

Jim Fuhrman and Rick Aman.

Breaking waves in China Rapids.

Setting up in the run at China Rapids.

A fine example of columnar basalt!