Alsea, N. Fork

We put on with a group of four about 2 miles above the traditional put in on accident. We found a quarter mile V section at the immediate put in below a bridge. It consisted of several slides and a ~15ft falls with an awkward reconnect at the base. Following this was a serious of class II with somewhere around 8 portages. Continuing down into the regular section the log mentioned in vanorten in 2017 is now worse, and we all portaged. There were around a dozen more more portages, with several serious log jams further down, but no individual portage was overtly difficult. The III+ rapids above the ledge drop were all comfortably navigable but had wood hazards strewn about. We portaged the ledge mostly out of exhaustion from the portaging, and out of concern that we would have more portages later on, but it was clean. Around 800 cfs.

There has been a log in Vanhorten Falls during the 2016-2017 season. As flows increase it is reasonable to boof right and miss the log, at lower flows that move looks tougher and hasn't been attempted.

The middle portion of the NF Alsea has many fun class III(IV) rapids in quick succession. Here is a typical rapid in the midst of that section of whitewater at about 2.2' on the Hatchery Gauge.

Lexi Esperanza gets right of the log at a medium flow on Vanhorten Falls. This falls is a short way into the trip. On this run we had an 18 person group and about half ran the falls, one person made brief contact upon resurfacing but it was not a hazardous situation and they flushed by it upright.

Hatchery Gauge: 2.5'
NF Alsea Gauge: 1,100 cfs
Alsea @ Tidewater: 8.6'

Feb 18, 2017

Zach Levine getting right on Vanhorten Falls.

Hatchery Gauge: 2.5'
NF Alsea Gauge: 1,100 cfs
Alsea @ Tidewater: 8.6'

Feb 18, 2017

The largest ledge on the run.