Local photographer, John Marshall, was running out of time.
He has worked with the Minnesota-based canoe manufacturer, Wenonah, for several years photographing various boats and for the last few months he had in his possession a 16-foot Rogue, a deep, wide canoe suitable for tripping on fast, rough water. He was tasked with capturing exciting whitewater shots of the boat but the local rivers had been too low (early in the spring) or too high (once the melt started). He neither wanted to trash the boat he was photographing, floating it over boulders, nor did he want to kill his volunteer paddlers, throwing them into a torrent of icy meltwater.
Photo: Here's the 'safety' boater John arranged for the canoeists. Boy, did they feel safe.
Months dribbled away and suddenly he needed the shot: The catalog was going to press the next day … without his picture if he couldn’t deliver. He checked the river levels and the Wenatchee River was finally cooperating. It had dropped a few thousand cubic feet in a few days and was approaching a level that might be safe for open canoes. He had some lemming paddlers on hold and now he told them to jump.
The crew put in near Dryden, and got used to the boat as they paddled down to Drunkards Drop. Here John knew the exciting whitewater, sandstone cliffs, and evening light would combine to make a beautiful picture. And so the team milked the site. The lemmings in the Rogue ran the rapid multiple times while John clicked away. The next morning with the photos he emailed to Wenonah, he wrote the following:
“I had a successful shoot of the Rogue last night. I had a crew of five to do the shoot: two guys paddling, and three on standby in case there was need for a rescue... I have yet to paddle the Rogue myself, but I am highly impressed from what I saw. My guys were running Drunkard's Drop. There are a lot of bragging rights associated with Drunkard's. It is one of the best known rapids on the Wenatchee which is the best known white water river in the state of Washington. Ten thousand people or more run it every year on commercial rafting trips. Probably fewer than one hundred run it in canoes in a given year.
Washington Whitewater, a guidebook to the state, says this about the Wenatchee: "It can be run in open canoes at levels below 3,000 cfs, although only experts are likely to avoid swamping at levels above 1,800 cfs in Boulder Bend, Rock n' Roll, and Drunkard's Drop." Well guess what, the river level was at 4,600 cfs last night. On the first run through, the Rogue did not take on more than two gallons of water. Unbelievable!”
On the third run through Drunkards, the canoeists, getting ever bolder, took on some of the really large swells in the wave train occupying the center of the rapid. Here they took in a tad more water than the two gallons John mentioned above.
When fished out of the river and asked for his impression of the boat, a sodden Robbie Scott noted, “It’s a wonderfully buoyant submarine.” Andy Dappen, the other muskrat paddler, said he was impressed with the boat 95 percent of the time, “It’s a fabulous boat…except when it sinks.” ***
*** Despite the flippant remarks (included here for levity) both Scott and Dappen were much impressed with the Rogue and are looking forward to swamping it on other local rivers.
More about the Rogue.