I am anxious to float/fish the Hoh R., particularly the "gorge section". I am looking for help with access above Hwy. 101 but not all the way to the park. Any info on access, river hazards, hints, etc. will be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

Hey Riverdog,
Ive floated the float your talking about a few times, even gonna float it this weekend to break in the new riverboat. The section your talking about is the "canyon" I believe. Ive not heard of the gorge unless its up in the park on the south fork or somthing! The put-in is Minny Peterson or Morgans Crossing, Morgans is about ten miles up the Hoh vally rd. Look for the "public fishing" sign, and turn rt. The take out is Oxbow campground or Allens (pay at allens). The float is the most difficult on the river, watch the rock garden going into the canyon, the chute in the canyon, and the real hazard "the Oxbow" it can be tricky, tricky in low water, unless your really good on the oars. Theres no time to change plans in the middle of the Oxbow so set-up is important!!! Go to the takeout at the Oxbow and have a good look so you know what to do before you get there. There have been boats eaten here. Good luck and let us know how it went.

Thanks Bob, it sounds like this may be a section to fish with a guide before floating on my own. I read in a previous posting that Bob (the moderator) does instructional floats. It's just hard to determine the actual difficulty until experiencing it. I have never had any problems but I have a lot of respect for the rivers on the peninsula. I don't want to put anybody in the water or bang up my boat. Good luck this weekend, I wish I was going!

River Dog ... While Bob D. may make this sound a little worse than it is with his wording ... you do need to be cautious in the bottom of the canyon at Oxbow ... it is easily passable if you have decent control of your boat and know the direction change that you have to make at the bottom ... but if you don't feel that you can make a sharp change if direction in heavy water ... then you might wait until you feel comfortable doing so, because it will eat boats from time ... I personally have seen it twice on the big boulder at the bottom ... good luck!