Whitewater: Inflatable Kayaking the Upper McKenzie River, Oregon Aire Force

This week I'm sharing some footage I took while kayaking the upper McKenzie River near Eugene on Highway 126. The river is COLD, beautiful, and fast. Not a great place for beginners. The whole run is very rocky, has some logs and obstructions, and fast cold water makes a swim dangerous. Technically, it's a class 2 river, but it's a dangerous place to swim because of how cold the water is and how continuous the whitewater is - especially during the first 3-4 miles below the put-in at Ollallie Campground.

Below Belknap Lodge Hot Springs (also a great place to stay in your RV), the rapids spread out a bit and the character of the river changes from continuous whitewater to more of a pool-drop although it still is narrow, shallow, swift, and of course COLD. The river has several dams and reservoirs and the origin of the river is at Clear Lake where the water comes out of the rocks. Very cool to see if you get a chance.

The McKenzie River trail is an epic hike and mountain biking trail, but my favorite way to travel this section is without a doubt on the river in a kayak.

Today we paddled mostly Aire Lynx kayaks, a few Aire Tomcat boats and a few Aire Outfitter boats were present. The fast, high-performance boat I paddled for about 1/2 of the trip is the Aire Force which I will be acquiring as soon as I can. Loved that boat! Amazing to paddle, fast, and responsive.