Fished the Sol Duc for the first time Saturday. Me and two others in my boat, DK and two in his. Neither of us had ever been down the River before, and against the advice of many we went for it.

We drifted from Mary Clark to Maxfield at 5 boards. We went 1 for 2, a hatchery buck about 15. Got him on a 35 red/green hot shot just below the Cabin.

The top 2/3 was a fairly easy drift. The further we went the more challenging it got. We made one serious error, going left when we should have went any other direction. The river breaks into three parts, The left was basically impassable. Without Curtis sticking his neck out to push we would have been in more serious trouble than we ended up. We got through, although I'm still not quite sure how.

We way underestimated the length of time it would take to do this drift. In hindsight, One of us should have been through here before. By the time we got to Maxfield, it was 5:30 .

Now, having been through here once, I can hardly wait to get back. I think I will wait for a little higher flow, however. Maybe 8+ boards. What a beautiful River!

Is Maxfield to Whitcomb Dimmel similiar? How tough is Shuwah? What would you think is a reasonably safe minimum flow? How much time would you expect the drift to take?

Gutz

The first time I rowed that portion of the Sol Duc, I rowed it at two boards and dropping.(Yikes) I also rowed it blind. A couple places the river had me bent over the rowers seat yelling,"Who is your Daddy! ", but I made it through.
5 boards and greater, would be best for this stretch, and others. Though 8 boards or even 9 is alot nicer to row. Only stretch I haven't run yet, is the run with haystack. Not in a big hurry to do this one blind.

[This message has been edited by KORE (edited 01-23-2001).]

Maxfield to Whitcomb Dimmel is not a long float by any means. A full day if you seriously pound every good looking hole.

Any run on the Duc should only be done with someone who has been down it before. Doing it blind is stupid. Not only do you place your self at risk, but also other boaters and potentially Search and Rescue folks. You may have the idea that the only one you can hurt is yourself, but there are many spots where you can stick a boat and make the river impassable for other fishermen. I certianly wouldn't want to be following someone in that situation. In addition when something does happen, others generally feel obligated to help, and may be placing themselves at risk. I don't mean to chew anyone's ass out, but I learned the runs on the duc with someone in the front that knew. You either gotta pay the price to a guide to show you or in time, trying to find some one to help you down. If you don't pay the price up front, you will pay the price in the end, and it will be much more costly.
Every time I head out I worry about some guy who think's he knows it all getting his boat stuck in the middle of my path. Not a pleasant thought. There is enough that can happen even when you know where you are going. The duc has a reputation for a reason. I've even picked up a guides tackle after he flipped his boat on the duc.
You can only be lucky so many times

Any run on the Duc should only be done with someone who has been down it before. Doing it blind is stupid. Not only do you place your self at risk, but also other boaters and potentially Search and Rescue folks. You may have the idea that the only one you can hurt is yourself, but there are many spots where you can stick a boat and make the river impassable for other fishermen. I certianly wouldn't want to be following someone in that situation. In addition when something does happen, others generally feel obligated to help, and may be placing themselves at risk. I don't mean to chew anyone's ass out, but I learned the runs on the duc with someone in the front that knew. You either gotta pay the price to a guide to show you or in time, trying to find some one to help you down. If you don't pay the price up front, you will pay the price in the end, and it will be much more costly.
Every time I head out I worry about some guy who think's he knows it all getting his boat stuck in the middle of my path. Not a pleasant thought. There is enough that can happen even when you know where you are going. The duc has a reputation for a reason. I've even picked up a guides tackle after he flipped his boat on the duc.
You can only be lucky so many times

Rogue Runner,

I agree with you that running a river blind is not always the best idea. But if you are a good rower, and research is done ahead of time, and you get out and scout rapids if possible, or watch others then most runs, on the Sol duc are not going to endanger yourself and others. When in doubt get out. Now the runs above the hatchery are a different story.
I guess when I say blind, I mean no prior trip runnning, but having talked to a few people prior, looked at maps, or have seen the rapids from shore. Take for example the run starting at whitcomb Dimmel. The double rapid, is taken on the left hand side, then go right and pick a line. Some one who knows how to row a boat, then this is enough information. I agree with you that running it totally blind would be a bad idea. The problem I had when I ran it blind was there wasn't enough water. I knew how to run the stretch, but the limited water made it tricky. Running with a guide at 6 boards, would not have helped me running this stretch at 2 boards.