Is this practical?

Portage
Have you checked into the feasibility of the portage at Oregon City? It may take way more time than you think. Why not start at Salem and make it a shorter trip? You can do the more challenging trip once you have more experience. Will it be new or full moon? Having done a little night paddling many many years ago, I would not do it again on a river I was not very familiar with - even one as apparently lazy as the Willamette.

wrong question

– Last Updated: Oct-05-12 10:03 AM EST –

People don't usually ask if a something is "practical" or not. That's because what's practical for one person is not practical for another.

I know quite a few paddlers who can put in 40 mile during the daylight hours. After all, if you can paddle consistently at 4 mph for 10 hours, that covers it! 4 mph on flat water isn't all that hard to do for strong paddlers with good technique on a fast boat. (I was on a trip where the complain being the group going too slowly at "only" 3 knots!)

So, why complicate matters by paddling at night? If you can maintain 4mph, you get to see the scenery along the bank, and sleep relaxingly when it gets dark. But if you can't maintain that speed, you're better off just take a few lesson & practice some more. And maybe get a faster boat.

I'm a better cyclist than I'm a kayaker. I do 100 miles in about 6-7 hrs and do the same the next day. But every so often, I would see "athletic" newbie on a hybrid spending 12 hrs struggling to finish 100 mile. They insist it's an "achievement" just to prove they "can do it". Well, all it proves is their ignorance. Because with a little training and more appropriate equipment, it's just a casual day!

So, go out and paddle 10 hrs and see how many miles you cover and whether you can get up the next morning and do it again. You don't need to ask, you'll see for yourself whether it's practical or not, for you!

very practical suggestion. abc
I hope they try it (the ten mile trial paddle).

better yet, ten hour
have some bail out points if it becomes to much and see how ten hours feels during daylight. Then learn what hazards there are along the rest of the route that could be a problem at night. Then do some shorter section with good bail outs at night to be sure. I personally have a policy to not do any land or water wilderness journey without having done the same route by day to understand the hazards.



But otherwise after doing some homework and testing things out a bit it seems like a doable trip at the right time of the year with good conditions.

i dont know the river
If the trip is 100 miles, and there is a current of 2 miles per hour you would be able to do it in 20 hours or so. If you don’t stop a lot, are in really good paddling shape, and have put the seat time in. Having paddled this distance a few times all at once, its not comfortable. I won’t say its not fun, because I keep doing it, but its not comfortable. I have no idea bout this portage or night travel conditions. If there is any concern about river hazards I would probably just travel by day light.



Ryan L.


Well, the weather is right
If you do go ahead with the plan, let us know how it went–or let us know why you changed your minds.



I have a friend who tried to paddle from Eugene to Portland with his brother in a canoe. They weren’t in a big hurry, but they were both experienced paddlers and expected to move right along. They didn’t make it. They bailed out at some point and got picked up.



Anyway, there have been a lot of good replies that you should consider very carefully. What you are contemplating is not going to be fun after a few hours. At least the Willamette is a relatively benign river. There is an article in the October 2012 issue of Sea Kayaker magazine that is about paddling the Willamette to Portland. I haven’t read it myself yet, but it might be instructive for you.



One thing you should take into serious consideration is food. Paddling can be a real fuel consumer, but it is also somewhat subtle. It can sneak up on you and leave you totally zapped if you don’t keep replenishing your tank with the right kind of nourishment. The same goes for water.



Good luck and good paddling.

local pdx paddler
I’m a fairly experienced kayaker from the portland area and I have to say your schedule sounds like a bad idea. The waters here are cold enough and low - lots of rocks just under the surface in certain narrow stretches. Paddling at night in unfamiliar waters is a good way of making it on the local evening news.

get yourself some help
First, learn ho to read (posts besides your own)



Second, learn to answer an innocent question without being a paranoid flippant jerk.

where i live
Ice freezes at 32.



Ryan L.

No one likes to see noobs die

– Last Updated: Oct-05-12 7:36 PM EST –

Innocence and ignorance aren't excuses
that Mother Nature accepts or tolerates

And…
Third, learn to write complete sentence that are longer than 6 word sound bite!

Is it
Yes, go for it!

Does anyone but me think this person
is really serious? There’s almost a lack of seriousness, besides their seeming to be a lack of common sense.

I’m just asking.

I think it’s a troll.
The original poster has not added any more since the first post; and it definitely seems like the type of question that if asked, the answer should be no.



I’ve never seen any beginner get in a boat and do 20 mile days. I think the takes about a dozen 25 mile days with some night paddling before someone is ready for 50 to 60 mile days.



Personally my magic number is 15 to 30 miles a day. Less and I wish we could have paddled more. More and it is just drudgery.

troll or ignorant
Could be a troll. If so, it failed. There’s not disagreement that it’s impractical. End of story.



Or it could be just total ignorant. Now that the OP had realized that, had just abandon the endeaver. But is either too embarassed to come here to admit it, or just disappeared since it’s no longer a “project” to persue.

Why

When was the last time you did a 30
mile day ?



Guy

It’s no biggie - with technique
Arm paddlers simply can’t - small muscle, fatigues fast.

Experienced paddlers can, and will do 30 miles,

in 1 day, several times a month, weather permitting.

Wind, current, rain -
big factors. An 8 - 10 hour day paddling is not my style but certainly there are people that do this sort of thing. But seems like no matter how experienced you are if you’ve got a hard headwind its going to be a task.

Oregon City
There are certainly some areas of the Williamette that are not conducive to paddling (especially at night) and I’m not sure you could safely bypass Oregon City, at all. This milltown with its waterfall in the center of the river will, I believe, be only passible through the locks.



There is a photo on google earth of paddlers near the lock gatess, so I guess it’s possible, but you aren’t going to get there safely by floating aimlessly at night.



There are also lots of floating obstructions on the river at verious points. Bridge abutments (left behind after the bridges were destroyed), logging debris (probably lots of that in the water), and other construction artifacts which may be an issue, depending upon water level.



Not saying that it can’t be done, and you probably know the river better than I, but floating aimlessly at night on a river with boat traffic, lots of which is logging traffic, isn’t a very attractive proposition to me.



Rick