Metolius

Metolius River - Trip Report 6/20/26 - 1260 cfs - Gorge CG to Monty CG:

Providing an update to the last report from 10/12/2025. The high water event in December of 2025 appears to have changed a lot of the log jams, mostly for the better.

We only encountered 2 mandatory portages. As always, you should stay on your toes for wood on this run and use these coordinates at your own risk.

There is still a log boof/ jam at 44.57307, -121.61930 but it is not a mandatory portage. At 1260, the log boof did not look safe. Maybe doable in a pinch, but certainly not worth risking in a loaded, over-night boat. The log jam can be snuck on the left with relative ease.

We encountered a similar double strainer portage that was described in the October report but I have different coordinates. We encountered this at 44.64865, -121.61393. The first log looks boof-able, but the one behind it is in not. This one looks nasty, and a little difficult to see depending on the lighting. We portaged on the right.

The last portage is still in the general area previously noted as 'libertarian log jam' but appears to be further downstream in a new configuration. We still saw the German Shepard, so we knew we were close, but it was a couple hundred yards downstream and easily visible. The coordinates are 44.64984, -121.51662. The river splits around a small island with wood strainers on both sides. We beached ourselves on the shallow shelf of the island and portaged over fairly easily. At higher water, this may not be advisable.

Otherwise, there were only a couple of other places with easily avoidable wood and nothing that required ducking or other heroics.

Photos from the 2 portages