THE RIVERS RUN wild this time of year on the North Olympic Peninsula.
Not only is there a conga line of native steelhead entering the rivers — and the hundreds of anglers chasing after them — but also gallons upon gallons of water.
With all of the rain the Peninsula receives during the winter, rivers tend to pick up a little speed.
And as last Saturday’s events illustrated — when three men found themselves and their boat in a dangerous situation at a notorious portion of the Sol Duc River — things can get a little dicey when the conditions are right.
Going to jail
Longtime West End river fishing guide Bob Ball calls it “getting into jail.”
That happens when a drift boat oarsman chooses the wrong side of a river when navigating rapids.
As Ball has witnessed several times before, that can often lead to life-threatening consequences.
“I don’t know how many boats have gone down there, a lot, probably more than should have,” said Ball, referencing the “Double Rapids” portion of Sol Duc where the three men’s boat got stuck and took on water Saturday.
“It’s actually a fairly easy rapid if you just know where to go and set up for it. But if you go in the wrong spot, you just can’t get out.”
Located in the “middle run” between the Whitcomb-Diimmel and Lyons Club boat launches, Double Rapids (aka Double Drop) is one of a handful of challenging spots in the area.
On the Calawah, there’s a special stretch of river called “Sucker Rapids” that’s been known to take down boats.
The rapids near Oxbow on the Hoh River can also be a little challenging for novice oarsmen.
Learning the correct and safe way to navigate such trouble areas often comes down to experience.
That’s why it’s extremely ill-advised for anyone to take a drift boat down a river if they’ve never experienced it before, according to West End stalwart Bob Gooding of Olympic Sporting Goods in Forks (360-374-6330).
“Any section on the Sol Duc, if you’re not very good on the oars, you better practice quite a bit on other pieces of water [first],” Gooding said.
“Any stretch you go through you’re going to want to follow somebody who goes through first.
“Find a friend, find somebody who has been through there and follow them; somebody who has been through there a few times and won’t run off and leave you.”
Blind corners
Sometimes, even when you “know” the river, it can throw you a curve ball.
That’s why, for instance, Ball said he plans on checking every blind corner of the Hoh River this weekend when he makes his first run since it washed out.
He will get out of the boat, walk around the corner and make sure there isn’t something like a sweeper (a large log that has fallen across a river) sitting on the other side.
“The wood in the Hoh can cause some serious issues if guys don’t know what’s around the corner,” said Ball, president of the Olympic Peninsula Guides Association.
“If you’ve got to walk, just walk it.
“There’s no pride lost in doing that in my book.”
Among other rules of thumb both Ball and Gooding subscribe to when floating on a drift boat: carry an extra oar in your boat and always have a sharp knife lying near your anchor just in case it gets stuck in a dangerous spot.
Lucky break
Forks fishing and hunting guide Ryan Thomas and his friend Quentin Reaume were able to come on the scene Saturday and rescue the three men who snagged their boat in Double Rapids.
But not everyone is always that lucky.
There have been fatalities in the past on the Sol Duc and other West End rivers. Anyone who floats down one of them should be mindful of that.
As Gooding said: “Carry an extra oar and a knife and a very healthy respect for the river, because it just doesn’t care.
“It has no feelings.
“It’s not going to do anything to rescue you. It just keeps going, and there is no forgiveness.”
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Matt Schubert is the outdoors and sports columnist for the Peninsula Daily News. His column regularly appears on Thursdays and Fridays. He can be reached at matt.schubert@peninsuladailynews.com.