Wooley Creek

Winter is hanging on into spring 2023 on the Salmon River and after a cold morning start, we rolled from home in Forks of Salmon downriver to the Wooley Creek Trailhead to embark on what is almost certainly the first Wooley Creek run of 2023. The sun was out, the mountains frosted and snow-capped, and temperatures were perfect for a day of hiking and boating: about 50ºF for a high.

Our group of three included two kayakers and myself, a kayaker normally but today a packrafter. After having hiked into Wooley probably 12 times over the years, I decided a lighter boat was appealing.

So, with good flows on this beautful March day in 2023, I strapped a large Alpacka Gnarwhal (10 pounds) onto my pack and started the hike with my friends and their much heavier kayak loads. The seven-mile hike is always worth the effort but it took extra effort this time due to about 35 downed trees on the hike in. Unlike the kayakers, I was able to walk over, around, or crawl under all of them. Still, it added effort and about an hour to the hike. With breaks and time hanging out with the slower kayak-laden hikers, the hike took me 4 hours and 15 minutes.

I'm quite confident on Wooley Creek in a kayak but, to be honest, I was a bit apprehensive to take it on in a packraft, especially one that is a size too large for me and not known for its technical performance on tight creeks. I've only paddled a packraft maybe 12 times, and I've had more swims in out of one than in my last 25 years in a kayak. Heading into a committing wilderness IV/V creek run had me nervous but also feeling ready. It would be an adventure, which is what this is all about.

As usual, we got on the creek later than we'd hoped to but still had some glorious sun at the start. At 2,550 cfs at Somes Bar gage, this was the low end of a medium flow but it was perfect for the day. We put on around 4:25 pm.

After one barely do-able log duck not far below the put-in, we came upon the sharp left bend that signals the first significant rapid and the start of the first gorge. I scouted because the glimpse I got of it on the hike in made me think it would be a challenge in the packraft. The current piled onto the river left rock wall and folded back on itself at the first of three consecutive drops. What would've been a simple move in a kayak would almost surely have been a flip in the packraft, so I walked it. And I walked the next big one too for much the same reason. I know the Alpacka Valkyrie is the kayaker's packraft and its ability to edge makes it better adapted to these types of lateral curlers that challenge the Gnarwhal. If you have one, bring it for this run. That said, the Gnarwhal was capable and I soon eased into it and ran all the other rapids except one that had a nasty piece of wood in the main line.

The creek was a gorgeous, translucent emerald and sun on the ridges above helped illuminate the inner canyon. Waterfalls poured in from all the tributary creeks, adding beauty and making it unecessary to drink from a bottle.

We had a touch of drama with a kayak swim that required the paddler to hike part of the next rapid then swim its runout through a vertical-walled canyon to get back to his kayak below. Already short on daylight, we didn't have time for any further drama but we all held it together and before we knew it we were entering the third and final gorge and headed for the some of the run's biggest rapids. We all portaged a nasty creek-spanning wood jam in swift current between drops here.

By this point I was feeling pretty confident in the packraft but the kinda stout ledge drop above The Fat Lady Sings had me worried all day. It can easily throttle a kayak. Turned out fine. Same for The Fat Lady Sings. We floated out of Wooley and onto the Salmon River just as a car was driving upriver, headlights on. Another great Wooley day done! A thin crescent moon lit the sky as we loaded up at Brannons Bar and cruised back to Forks for a hot dinner. Wooley is always such a special experience.

Update: the downed trees on the trail were cleared by the Siskiyou Mountain Club in late April 2023. According to boaters who ran Wooley on May 6, 2023, only the creek-spanning wood hazard in the lower gorge remained after the high flows of late April.