I have never drifted the Sol Duc before. I have heard several times that this river is technical in lower spring time flows. I would like to try to drift the duc in March. I am by no means an expert oarsman but not a novice. I am an average oarsman with 5 years experience on rivers like the lower hoh or humptulips. My question is would a guy like myself run into a whole bunch of trouble on the Sol Duc with spring time flows? Is there any part of the Duc I might be able to float? thank you for any help.

The float from maxfield to whitcomb dimmel on the duc is fairly easy. There is realy only one boulder garden and it isnt very long. Its right at the beggining of the run, its clear sailing from there on out. Its only about a 4 mile float so take your time and fish it hard.

if the lower Hoh is the toughest you have rowed i would avoid the duc until you can at least run the canyon on the upper hoh. You could try maxfield to dimmel though i did that in high water, but lower levels you will meet the wall of rocks. The dimmel drift is the next hardest and its quite a step up. Double rapids claims boats every year.

Hire a guide first. It's the only way you can tell without getting yourself into trouble. Only you know what you can safely row. It sure is a lot more enjoyable to watch someone experienced on that river than it is to haul your boat across the rocks because you took the wrong fork, or worse, end up hurt or dead.

When I asked the same questions, I was advised to hire a guide first. That would have been a smart thing to do. We were nearly killed on our first attempt.

Here is a really great link which has some pictures from the Sol Duc

http://www.steelheader.net//ubbthreads/s...;o=&fpart=1

Ok so I might not drift the sol duc after seeing pictures of overturned driftboats on that whitewater thread. Might try the upper hoh first. how is the bank access on the sol duc. If I recall correctly I heard there was some access at the hatchery. please correct me if I am wrong.

More rough days on the water:

the rockgarden at the top of the Hoh Canyon ate this local boat.



Double Rapids in the Middle Run of the Sol Duc claimed this one:



Be careful out there!

The reference to being able to float the middle Hoh (Canyon stretch), before hitting the middle Duc is pretty acurate.

That is how me and my fishing partner (the rower) approache the issue.

The canyon of the Hoh has 2 tricky spots, the entrance to the main "Canyon", and right at the bottom before oxbow where you go down a rapids, and then have to row HARD to get to the left to avoid the "boulder".

Double Rapids is some water that you really should go down a few times as a passenger before hitting the sticks. All I can say is stay LEFT the whole way thru it.

Book a trip with the webmaster here, he knows the water and even took us thru double rapids a year or so ago in the dark!

Heed the warnings and be careful.

thank you for the advice and the concern. I will not be drifting the sol duc and will think twice about the hoh canyon. Bob's pictures say it all. I love fishing but losing all your gear and maybe your life isn't worth it. I will go with someone who knows the river before I go it alone. Thank you again.

What is your advice for floating the Sol Duc the first time? I have a drift boat and have floated the Hoh, including the drift thru the canyon down to Oxbow, I got out and looked at it before going down and didn't have a problem but it did scare me some. It is probably the toughest section of river I have floated in my drift boat. I have also floated 6 or 7 rivers in Alaska in 13 1/2 foot rubber raft with a rowing frame. So I consider myself pretty experienced but no wear near an expert. And, my fishing partner and I each just bought 11 ft Bucks Bag Pontoon boats. So, with all that in mind, what would you suggest for first time floating the Sol Duc and which drift, should we use the drift boat or the Pontoon boats? We are heading to OP in late Feb with several others with drift boats that have floated the Sol Duc, we can bring which ever is best, drift boat, raft, or pontoon. What's your recommendations?

Steelydon
Sounds like you have the rowing experience to drift the Sol Duc in your drift boat (Maxfield to Whitcomb Dimmel), especially given you will be going with someone you can follow. Following somone who knows the water really helps. The key is knowing how to set up on the top end. I would either follow someone (you know has experience in that section) or get a guide on any sections of the Sol Duc the first time through. It is quite different at different water hieghts.

The first time I drifted the Hatchery to Maxfield on the Sol Duc I went with a guide (9 boards), the second time I followed someone (7 boards) much different drift at different river hieghts. If I would have drifted from memory I think I would have made a couple of mistakes that could have got me in trouble. Following someone with experience in that section was very important.

As a couple board members have mentioned get out and take a walk down stream and check the water. Figure out how you are going to set up and the general path of your track through that section.

Antoher thing I do when I drift a section of difficult river for the first time is lighten the load. I take everything out of my boat I can unless it has to do with safety and the bare essentials of fishing. Lightening the load by 50lb and taking only 1 person with you definately helps.

Don't forget that extra oar and keep it handy.
Good luck and be careful