Trip Report: Annual LCCC Sweetheart Paddle Blessed with Sweet Flows and Sunshine
By Mark Scantlebury
Eschewing the crass commercialism of Valentine’s Day and Superbowl Sunday, 11 LCCC paddlers opted instead to paddle the Nehalem on February 12. Their reward? A sweet flow, blue sky, and glorious sunshine.
The morning began with temps in the low 30s as we gathered at Anderson Park in Vernonia for the 10-mile paddle to Big Eddy County Park. Cast and craft included Mark Scantlebury and Chuck Wilkison in a Wenonah Jensen canoe, Ron Lagraff and Lee Sessions in a Mad River Explorer canoe, Philip and Hannah Todd in a new Esquif Canyon canoe, Audrey Bergsma and Karl Dinkelspiel each in their own Mad River Outrage canoe, Eric Lee (a closet canoeist apparently) in a Dagger Ovation canoe, Lisa Benaron in a whitewater kayak, and Clay Shaddox in a Sea Eagle inflatable kayak.
All aced this classic Class 1 run described as “pleasant canoeing through a beautiful corner of the state” in Canoe and Kayak Routes of Northwest Oregon by LCCC member Philip Jones. (Buy this essential guide if you don’t already have it.) We had excellent current at 220 cfs (gauge) for an easy paddling day especially in the tandems. The run provides enough riffles, twists and turns, plus a small ledge drop, to keep paddlers entertained. Some folks even managed to catch a wave here and there.
With luck, you’ll have lunch in the sun like we did at the traditional lunch spot—a grassy bank river left with a pebbly beach. And with even more luck, you’ll have Lisa Benaron along sharing delicious chunks of South American chocolate.
Big Eddy didn’t disappoint, presenting its usual mudfest of a takeout. However, it was better than some years and I didn’t see a single paddler slide down the hill. While boats were being loaded, group snacks came out and no one faced a hungry ride home.
The club has done this run a number of times now in February for the Sweetheart Paddle. I think it’s time to do it sometime later in the spring when the trees have leaves and birds have returned from the south. I guess I’m threatening to post the trip again, if not later this spring, then another year.
