Devin on Double Falls.
Devin in the boils heading towards the narrow slot.
Last Sunday morning I got a phone call from a friend that they were headed up to run Hagan Gorge. This is a run paddlers recently found in the Washougal tributary in Washington a few years back. This was a run that Nate Herbeck had been wanting to get us or more so Devin on this season but things just never worked out. We even headed out to run it once and when we got there the group decided to run the Upper NW fork in the NW Washougal. One note: it's referred to as NW apparently some maps call it the North fork and others the West fork. To make it right, it's now referred to the NW fork.
The put in requires a short hike through a clearcut section of forest that not too bad with the help of previous boaters making a trail a little more visible than the deers had previously done. It was quite a warm day to minimal gear was put on and the rest was thrown into our boats and off we went. Unfortunately my left knee has acted back up since Italy with all the boat carrying we did running laps on certain drops. Oh well, the price I had to pay was worth it!!!
Once geared up the group of 7-8 decided to split up into two group. Due to the nature of how small Hagan is and small eddies above many drops it proved to be a wise decision. Most of the rapids are shallow and low volume even with it being the highest most had ran it prior. Not so good on my brand new Dagger 8.5. Oh well? After a few fun class III drops we approached Hagen Daaz Falls. A fun easy 16-18 foot waterfall that we ran off the far right side without scouting thanks to Michael running Hagen the previous day. All went good and I think only Alex flipped in it and we then one at a time made it down to a eddie on river right that is directly above Euphoria Falls. This was a nerving eddie to catch cause we knew something exciting was just around the corner. There is also a little guard rock at the top of the eddie just waiting to deny you of scouting the drop. We all caught it and took a look via walking down the right bank that also serves as the portage trail if you don't feel Euphoria. Euphoria is fun shallow entry into a slide you run center left. Just left of the fan rock to avoid a dangerous piece of wood on the left that would not good to piton or pin. After the slide the riverbed makes a right turn into a short slide into a sticky hole. Running down the right side of the slide, boofing onto the bare rocks provided a fun route around the hole. A technique several of us had picked up from the instructors in Italy with Gene17.
After that the run mellows till the confluence with the NW Fork of the Washougal. At this point me and Devin had ran the rest down to the Main Washougal. Though, this time I felt a little more prepared for the big drops on the run that I'd previously portaged. Teakettle and Double Falls. Crack in the Earth has wood in it so it isn't a option. Teakettle is directly below the confluence of Hagen and the NW Fork. A two part drop. The top is a manky slide that we ran on far right into a boily pool around 35 yards long leading into a pourover with a pillow on river left and a pourover onto a boily mess that you skirt both by running right down the seam between the two. It's a run ride and I'm so stoked that the instructors at Gene17 gave me the knowledge on how to breakdown a drop like this and place my strokes appropriately.
We make our way down to Double Falls. A 18' vertical falls with a cauldron of boils that lead into a narrow slot guarded by a diagonal. It loves to flip you and at least knock you off line to piton the rock on the left. Devin had looked at this drop it the past and got to see Nate Garr run the slot upsidedown and a few others upright. In the end, on that trip he had decided to walk it after looking for 10-15 minutes. This time there was no question. He was giving it a go. After Michael Williams fired it off. Devin wsa next in his boat. We nailed the boof on the falls, made it thought the boils and got flipped on the bottom hole but came out fine. After a few others, I decided it was time for my nuts to drop. This waterfall! I too nailed the boof in the Nomad 8.5 and the diagonal sent me into the rock on the left. Pitoned, splatted the left wall and flushed out. Yippee!!!!
The rest of the run became lower as we went since all the water was coming off the top . In a boulder garden I got stuck in a hole briefly and pulled the best bow stall I will ever hit in a 8.5' creekboat. It stalled perfectly on it's nose and as I pushed down on the footboards, I was able to took downstream at the others that didn't understand what was going on till I finally came down without flipping and paddled to them laughing my ass off. They had thought that somehow I'd vertically pinned.
