This trip was the first commercial Klick trip for the season, and the group was huge.  We had 5 rafts plus two guide school rafts.  The drive from Wet Planet to the Klick is about an hour, but it goes through the Condon National Wildlife Preserve, which is super cool!  We saw Sand Cranes and Elk going across the reserve, and into the small town of Glenwood.  From Glenwood you can see Mt. Adams (which is next to you) and look back South and see Mt. Hood.  Pretty cool.

We headed to the put-in and got a bit lost.  The area is pretty remote, so there aren't many signs and the put-in road is not marked.  It is the first turn after the tree that says "4" on it, but that's about all I've got for directions.  Once at the put in, we got everyone going with the safety talk and were off.

Classic photo of Jeff at the put in.  Photos by Carrie Heaton.

Todd giving the safety talk.

I was one of the last boats to get on, and as soon as I did, I noticed that the sweep boat wasn't following me.  It turns out that Caleb's dog had jumped in the river after him and he had to climb back up to get him into the car.  Craziness.  The top part of this run has a bunch of wood hazards and logs coming across the river.  It is all boat scoutable, which is good, but you need to be on your toes.  I imagine some of the wood will shift as the river goes high to low.  All the lines were clean today, but definitely stay on the inside of corners and be cautious.

Opie who jumped in after Caleb, postponing the trip.

Waiting to get back on the river

More than anything, the Klick is a scenic river.  At 3400cfs, there were tons of fun waves, lots of holes, and good action, but it is in a really beautiful place.  The canyon walls are all columnar basalt and the canyon is very dramatic.  The scene changes as you go downstream from columns to open green valleys.

Huge wall across from a nice beach we stopped at.

Large columnar basalt walls line most of the section.  Anyone bring a climbing rope?

We ate lunch at the Fish hatchery about 10 miles down.  At the higher water level we ran the first section in less than 2 hours.  It was really fast like the Tieton River.

Classic Klick scenery.

Caleb and Hootie at the takeout.

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