The Killer Fang section of the Clackamas River has had a fearsome reputation in the past. Perhaps this is due to the 3rd edition of Soggy Sneakers which opened it’s description with: “This secluded and scenic run on the Clackamas River is also one of the most dangerous. A perfect roll, reliable equipment, and a competent leader are prerequisites.” This is a bit overblown but this section is very scenic and has some fun rapids and a couple nasty rapids. At any time other than high flows, there are plenty of eddies and pools to scout and portage what you need to. The Blue Sky crew usually does this run once a year to check for any changes that might make rafting a bit more friendly.
This year, just like last year, Oregon has had lots of low elevation snow which has made getting to the river interesting. There is rarely snow near the put-in for Killer Fang. Luckily it wasn’t too deep and the van was able to make it pretty close to the top of the run. Parking was a bit interesting though.
Gearing up on the road near the put-in.
After a short hike to the put-in, we hopped on the river and floated the first mile of essentially flat-water. This section has some great, big old trees along the banks and it isn’t uncommon to see a bald eagle. Pretty soon the action picks up with a couple fun, small rapids. This whole section is located within a huge, ancient landslide zone. The geology is very unstable. This results in lots of landslides along the river which contribute new wood and boulders to the rapids. Most of the rapids on this section consist of boulder gardens.
The first rapid of note is called Hole in the River and is about the 3rd rapid on the run. At the low flows we had on this trip it’s a pretty straight-forward boulder garden but at high water, it has a couple big, stompy holes which are super fun.
Neal, Dylan and Nick take the raft through the bottom of Hole in the River Rapid
After Hole in the River there are lots of smaller fun rapids before getting to the Alder Flat area. Alder Flat has a good trail that goes up to the road which is about a mile from the river. It’s one of the few reasonable spots to get out of the canyon before the bigger stuff downstream. Just around the corner from Alder Flat is Drop Stopper. We stopped on the left to take a look for any wood and to give the rafters a chance to see the rapid for the first time. Drop Stopper is just below a huge landslide on the right bank and consists of a fast entrance in between some rocks and then a move through one of the slots at the bottom of the rapid.
Paul came down first in his kayak and took the middle slot at the bottom which is a fun S-turn move. The raft was next and after a bit of a bobble at the top, came down and made the move to the right at the bottom. I ran last in my kayak and had a good run through the hole at the top and then through the hole at the bottom in the right slot.
The rafters entering Drop Stopper. You can see the huge landslide in the background
Paul heading for the middle slot at the bottom of Drop Stopper
Below Drop Stopper there is a fun wave train that ends in a beautiful pool. The canyon walls go vertical and the river begins to take on a more serious feel. One more wave train leads to the big eddy above Prelude Rapid. Most of the time I run the left slot in Prelude which is a fun ledge through a small pool, but the right slot works fine too. Even though there is a big pool below Prelude, you don’t really want to mess things up as Killer Fang Rapid is about 25 yards downstream. At high water, the eddy above Prelude is pretty intimidating but all the lines still work.
Looking back at Prelude from the beginning of the portage around Killer Fang
Killer Fang rapid starts straight-forward enough with a fast tongue of water dropping around some rocks to the right. Unfortunately, a huge rock peeled off the vertical left wall of the gorge and blocked the majority of the river; creating a huge siphon on the right that pushes the water down at least 10-15′ below the surface before bubbling back up to the surface downstream. There is a small exit slot on the left but the left wall is also undercut and getting to this slot at some flows requires a strong move to the left and UP over a big curler pushing into the siphon. Although Killer Fang has been run at some flows (higher water seems to be better), I think it is extremely dangerous for the fun factor and I’ve always done the portage through giant boulders on the right. This is pretty challenging with a raft but over the years we’ve worked out an o.k. system.
The team scouts the siphon with the entrance in the background
Looking down into the siphon on the right and the exit slot on the left
After Killer Fang, it’s a short distance to the next major rapid on the run; The Sieve. The Sieve isn’t all that hard, but, as the name implies, it has some consequences if you screw it up. Back when I first ran this rapid it was pretty easy and inconsequential. Since then, the rocks have shifted around and made it much tougher. The trick is to know that the easy slot on the left is blocked by rocks and wood directly downstream. It isn’t very hard to just stop above the sieve but it can be intimidating the first time; particularly if you are running it blind.
On this trip, the rafters were in a small boat and got tossed a bit in the tricky lead-in rapid, nearly flipped, and just had time to get things together before running the left slot. Neal was pretty surprised to find the raft plastered up against a rock and a log with the only exit too small for a raft or a person! Paul and I ran next with no problems although I almost got blown into the sieve trying to make the paddle out.
Paul running The Sieve
After the Sieve there is one more fun boulder garden with a couple tight exit slots and then the river slows down considerably as it makes it’s way to the take-out. There is some great scenery in the last stretch. While not the best section of whitewater around, the Killer Fang section of the Clackamas is worth doing for the sense of isolation, dramatic scenery and geology.
Written by peteg -
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