Editorials

Jordan Upstream

Posted by: Waterboy on October 24, 2010 05:43:34 PM -05:00


Date- August 15, 2010

Water release- 1650cfs  Depth at 11th street- 2.5ft  Mean - 

Watercraft- 10ft Pelican Vapor Kayak and 8ft Pelican Burst

Departure Port- West Bank ramp

Time-11:30am-3:00pm 

Arrival Port- West Bank ramp

Pace-the river was active, clear and moderately fast with swirling current under bridges.

Character- Temp at start was below 90 degrees but soon reached 95 degrees, partly cloudy with 10mph wind. The river is surprisingly clear with increasing release. Weather was quite nice with cool breeze from NE.

Wildlife- Not much activity since it is middle of the day. A few herons and hawks.

Fishing – Good.

Vehicle – Jordan is too big for the Burst so he took the Vapor which he enjoys. I am right at the limit of the little burst which has excellent quickness but is noticeably slower. It feels tippy at first but rewards you with its light weight when you have to carry it.

Summary- This was one of the most fun trips I’ve ever had on this end of the river.

Steve Smith

Jordan, my middle son, is an aggressive kayaker preferring to take adventure over safety. I have to admit, I look for fast, easy routes. I have never paddled upstream from Tulsa past the cluster of bridges that include the old Rt 66 bridge at 11th street. Usually it is just too tiresome and the current too much to handle. It’s a good workout. However, Jordan challenged me to overcome my mindset. The water current was moderate, about 1600cfs, and surprisingly clear. That would seem to help us but in fact it only helped in the deeper areas. Getting up to the bridges was like jogging a straight flat path. You just put your head down and persevere.  Once we entered the bridge complex we noticed some little sand bars that we could take a well needed break upon.  But as we moved farther north under the I-75 bridge and the Rail Road bridge the water was turbulent and swirling as it rushed past the large boulders. This threw us back and forth as we paddled furiously to overcome them. 

Jordan led into one of the middle spans but his progress soon slowed. He drifted backwards, aimed slightly river left and took another shot. He didn’t appear to be paddling hard but later said it was the hardest he could muster. He seemed to crest the turbulence and held his paddle triumphantly in the air. “Its in your head dad!” he yelled. Right. Like I needed a motivational speech from my son. 

Then it was my turn. I found out quickly that his path wasn’t going to work for me. Too much current, too much swirl. The water hits the base of the bridge pier and pushes up and to each side which increases its velocity. As it moves around the barrier it begins to swirl.  After retreating, I aimed for the span directly west and tried to get a running start but I hit a boulder which threw me off to the left and turned me sideways. The current quickly took me down towards one of the piers on the other bridge. I recovered and aimed again with Jordan waving me to come. I wasn’t sure I could do this. I paddled hard, very hard with a focus on the front of the boat and trying for perfect, solid pulls on the oars. Nearly exhausted, I quickly glanced at the nearby pier as a point of reference to check progress. I hadn’t moved an inch! This infuriated me. I decided right then that I would make it past the pier and its swirls. Oddly, I felt myself transcend a barrier. My muscles were not feeling pain as I concentrated on increasing the speed of the paddling. Suddenly, I crested the wave of water that was pushing up against the pier and causing me such frustration and I was through it. A few swift strokes and I was able to lift my paddles high in the air and yell. Jordan was right, I had passed over a mental wall and it felt invigorating. It reminded me of two principles I’ve heard my whole life; most people give up just before they reach success, and most of the barriers in life are self imposed mental walls. 

But we weren’t through yet. Ahead about 50yards lay the Newblock Park rapids. They are formed where a rocky ledge crosses the river from just downstream of the refinery over to Newblock Park. It could be that our early city fathers built the barrier to create a pool from which to draw drinking water. Newblock Park (on Charles Page Boulevard West of downtown) contained the city Water Works and served up Tulsa’s drinking water till the state Commerce Commission helped them commandeer Spavinaw Creeks as a better, easier to treat source. The water was a bit salty because of the Cimarron merging with the Arkansas upstream. Because of that, many early day Tulsans relied on well water or rain water to fill cisterns rather than drink from the Arkansas. More likely though, the ledge is a natural barrier created by a fault in the basin of the river. The basin drops at least 3 feet at that point in two stages. 

It creates a lovely series of noisy, cascading falls intermixed with sand bars when the water is at this level. You can pick a spot and walk through them being careful of the slippery flat stones and find placid shallow water on the other side. We both did so and skillfully re-entered our craft. Jordan noted that there were no rapids this fast or exciting on his Buffalo River kayak trip a month earlier. That river had many smaller rapids that were fun but not nearly as large as these. 

We moved a couple hundred yards upstream to Refinery Island and checked out the lay of the river there from a higher vantage point. I explained to him how the path of the river makes a “C” at this point. The speed of the outside of the river tries to scour the banks away (the area from Newblock over to the railroad bridge) while the slower moving water on the inside of the curve drops sand out of suspension and builds land like the island we stood on. The river then drops quickly as it passes over the ledge and straightens out and slows down till it reaches south Jenks. We each found ourselves a memory rock, as is our tradition, and headed for the rapids.

When the water is high the rapids almost completely disappear except for ripples. When the river is 2.5ft at the 11th street bridge, they are not visible at water level till you’re almost upon them but you can hear them over the fire truck sirens, the rumbling trains and flatulent motorcycle exhaust. Then suddenly they are in front of you. Jordan took the big drop that came in two distinct levels. He was laughing and yelling yet looking quite professional. He avoided all the boulders as he picked up speed. I didn’t. I took the lesser rapids and hit a boulder squarely on my rump but continued without much problem. I didn’t want to risk my smaller, brittle, lighter craft on the big rapids but it was still much fun.

The remainder of the trip we effortlessly floated down under the bridges and past the Tern islands reflecting on the wonderful weather, watching 3 ft long fish wiggle alongside us and lamenting the fact that so few people will ever see this river the way we do. We shake our head at how golf is a sport, biking is considered “tough” and pounding your feet and knees on pavement for hours is lauded by the masses and sponsored by corporations, yet so few people in Tulsa give the same respect to this multi faceted activity that weaves history, athleticism and nature appreciation into one. Go figure. We also wondered how the first natives floating down this river must have felt when they first saw those rapids up close.