# Sherars Falls on the Deschutes @16,000 cfs



## 90Duck (Nov 19, 2012)

Sherars is a Class VI with a 15 foot drop in typical flows. All the snowmelt runoff from the last storm has it pretty well washed out.

I didn't have my boat, and no one else was out there either, but there were pretty obvious ways to get through the big hole-wave at the bottom if one was so inclined. Technically illegal, but...


----------



## 90Duck (Nov 19, 2012)

*second try at the video...*

didn't like the file format the first time - or the second. 

i guess you'll have to trust me - it was pretty cool to see it that high


----------



## glenn (May 13, 2009)

Over Sherars Falls on inner tubes!!! - YouTube


----------



## 90Duck (Nov 19, 2012)

*and here's that video the old fashioned way...*

Sherars Falls on the Deschutes River @ 16,000 cfs, 2/15/14 - YouTube


----------



## David Spiegel (Sep 26, 2007)

Just my opinion... but there is nothing "Class VI" about that rapid. Looks very runnable at low and high flows. 

Maybe the pics and vids i've seen aren't doing it justice.


----------



## TriBri1 (Nov 15, 2011)

David Spiegel said:


> Just my opinion... but there is nothing "Class VI" about that rapid. Looks very runnable at low and high flows.
> 
> Maybe the pics and vids i've seen aren't doing it justice.


It is Class VI because of legal considerations as it is part of the Warm Springs Tribe.


----------



## smauk2 (Jun 24, 2009)

I don't think the legality of a run influences its class.


----------



## glenn (May 13, 2009)

TriBri1 said:


> It is Class VI because of legal considerations as it is part of the Warm Springs Tribe.


What a bizarre reason to adjust the difficulty rating of a rapid.


----------



## 90Duck (Nov 19, 2012)

*Class Rating*

The class rating has a lot more to it than the reservation. It is a tribal members only fishing site (you can see the platforms in the background on river right), but at normal flows it funnels everything over into a really gnarly lava slot feature on river left which is not a place you would want to go.

Here is a link to a better picture and description. I posted the video just because the Deschutes' flows generally don't vary that much throughout the year and it is kind of a rare treat to get to see it running that big.

Sherars Falls, Wasco County, Oregon | Northwest Waterfall Survey


----------



## cmharris (Apr 30, 2013)

*What falls?*

Wow - amazing. As you were moving the camera left I was waiting for the big drop but it didn't materialize. As you mentioned, it's mostly washed out at this level.


----------



## Avatard (Apr 29, 2011)

cmharris said:


> Wow - amazing. As you were moving the camera left I was waiting for the big drop but it didn't materialize. As you mentioned, it's mostly washed out at this level.


I've seen pictures of Rainy Falls on the rogue where you can't even make out the rapid that under normal flows has swallowed many a craft


----------



## 90Duck (Nov 19, 2012)

The Rogue went up to 30k this last weekend - I'm sure Rainey wasn't even discernible, Mule Creek Canyon overtopped, and no rocks even peaking out at Blossom at that kind of volume.


----------



## carvedog (May 11, 2005)

glenn said:


> Over Sherars Falls on inner tubes!!! - YouTube


That is hilarious. Glad no one died. 
White tshirt guy comes up with no PFD?? Say what. 

And then the Native looking fellow looking on at the end. Not shaking his head quite but you can tell he is unimpressed with the stupidity on display.


----------



## mikev (Feb 20, 2014)

*One of the Idiots Responds!*

I have to agree about the stupidity of the event. It was 1972 and we were rafting the Deschutes, the Rogue, and the Grande Ronde in our homemade inner tube crafts. Not a lot of traffic on the rivers in those days. Had $1.00 Navy surplus life jackets and our raft allowed us to carry numerous cases of beer and Cribari Wine/Purple Wonder Water in clorox bottles. The remarkable thing is that 44 years later a couple of us are still serious river rafters with a pretty impressive resume of completed rivers. Even more impressive is that every one of those crazy SOB's is still alive. I now raft with my children and grandchildren. Wouldn't recommend the early stunt for anybody else. We probably got lucky, especially my buddy Doug who's life jacket got entwined in all the boat straps and he had to drop out of it to regain the surface. You gotta love the old U of O leather football helmet he was wearing. Stupid we were -- and it didn't necessarily end there. But time has mellowed the old gang, and 44 years later we are still talking about our 4 minutes of fame on Channel 12 TV and all the free beer we got afterwards at the Rainbow Tavern in Maupin. Hope to see you out there someday. We're on the Main and the Rogue this summer.
Remember -- there's no off switch on a Tiger.


----------



## JHimick (May 12, 2006)

^ BAMF


----------



## carvedog (May 11, 2005)

mikev said:


> I have to agree about the stupidity of the event. It was 1972 and we were rafting the Deschutes, the Rogue, and the Grande Ronde in our homemade inner tube crafts. Not a lot of traffic on the rivers in those days. Had $1.00 Navy surplus life jackets and our raft allowed us to carry numerous cases of beer and Cribari Wine/Purple Wonder Water in clorox bottles. The remarkable thing is that 44 years later a couple of us are still serious river rafters with a pretty impressive resume of completed rivers. Even more impressive is that every one of those crazy SOB's is still alive. I now raft with my children and grandchildren. Wouldn't recommend the early stunt for anybody else. We probably got lucky, especially my buddy Doug who's life jacket got entwined in all the boat straps and he had to drop out of it to regain the surface. You gotta love the old U of O leather football helmet he was wearing. Stupid we were -- and it didn't necessarily end there. But time has mellowed the old gang, and 44 years later we are still talking about our 4 minutes of fame on Channel 12 TV and all the free beer we got afterwards at the Rainbow Tavern in Maupin. Hope to see you out there someday. We're on the Main and the Rogue this summer.
> Remember -- there's no off switch on a Tiger.


Fantastic. Thanks for posting up. You just won the Buzz. it made me think of the many dumb things I did when I was younger and survived in spite of myself. Hope you stick around.


----------



## Schutzie (Feb 5, 2013)

Stupid?
By todays standards probably. I mean, inner tubes??

But then, John Wesley would have been turned away at Less Ferry today if he had shown up with the gear of his day. Can you imagine the ranger??
Ranger; "Where's your life jackets?"
JW; ".............??"
Ranger; "Wheres your groover?"
JW; "............??"
Ranger; "the hell is that chair strapped to the boat deck supposed to be?"
JW: "...........??"

Anyway, in 1972 we were running around Colorado in pretty much all military surplus gear, and/or the old Udiscos that were considered to be the chevys of the rafting world then. And great big puffy life jackets that you dare not lean on at all. And wooden paddles, and wooden frames and wooden dry boxes that were anything but dry.

So I'm guessing in 40 years or so, people looking at our gear are going to be asking how the hell those dummies survived, and what were they thinking?

AH, the human spirit.........one never stops being amazed.


----------



## The Mogur (Mar 1, 2010)

Nobody has mentioned that there's a pretty tough Class IV+ rapid right downstream. I think they call it Bridge Rapid.


----------



## The Mogur (Mar 1, 2010)

Schutzie said:


> Stupid?
> By todays standards probably. I mean, inner tubes??


Note that one of those guys didn't have his lifejacket fastened, and he was dragged back onto the tube raft without it.

An interesting footnote. The group that used that inner tube craft included (but not on this run) former Oregon governor Neil Goldschmid.


----------



## Wadeinthewater (Mar 22, 2009)

The Mogur said:


> The group that used that inner tube craft included (but not on this run) former Oregon governor Neil Goldschmid.


And he certainly is a fine example of good judgement.


----------



## The Mogur (Mar 1, 2010)

Wadeinthewater said:


> And he certainly is a fine example of good judgement.


You need to read my novel!

El Camino: Ken Baysinger: 9781629020792: Amazon.com: Books


----------



## mdconner (Feb 1, 2011)

Wadeinthewater said:


> And he certainly is a fine example of good judgement.


Once again, Adlai Stevenson's quote that "An editor is one who separates the wheat from the chaff and prints the chaff" rings true.


----------

