Tom Riggs

In the early days of rafting we cherished every dollar and if we did our own shuttle there would be more cash for Hamm’s “the Beer refreshing”.  After an 8 hour drive with a stop to pick up more rafting gear on the way to Rome, OR we reshuffled some equipment, dropped the non drivers at the Owyhee boat lunch and headed to Leslie Gulch to drop off pickups and cars.  Our return rig for the drivers was a 1957 Chevy standard cab pickup and needless to say the evenings in late May in the high desert make for a cool ride when in the bed.  We arrived back at Rome about midnight and the dinner crew left us a foil covered plate where we each grabbed our share of burnt meat and whatever the hell “that” was.  Undaunted we did a few self shuttles on the Deschutes from Trout Creek to Harpham Flat always wishing we could be one of the beer drinking crew left behind to guard the beer drinking maidens;  apparently I always seemed to be deemed less chivalrous and ended up as the road warrior.

As time passed we decided to try that professional shuttle driver scheme.  On an early Yampa trip we were 6 in an International Travelall and figured we better round up a shuttle driver once we motored into Vernal, UT.  We couldn’t get drunk on Utah beer at that time but our waitress must have been hitting the hard stuff as she agreed to drive shuttle and allow us to make her the seventh person in our rig and drive with us the next morning to Deerlodge Park, the launch point for the Yampa about 100 miles beyond Vernal.  Of course we had to inflate and rig three boats and leave behind any (a lot) of gear we weren’t taking down the river, so this took about two hours and she was fuming because she was supposed to be at work by the time she departed.  Would our rig be at the Dinosaur take out when we arrived? Out of our hands now.

Sometimes the shuttle isn’t all that far and a stashed mountain bike suffices for returning upstream to get a truck.  Years ago just stick out your thumb and you might get a ride.  In fact one rainy December I was thumbing my way from North Santiam State Park to Packsaddle Park.  I knew I should have given up the Charles Manson look, but I thought it was going to be the new fashion trend.  Five miles hitchhiking up highway 22 a Datsun pickup pulls over and the couple in the car had just gotten married and were driving over the pass to honeymoon in Bend.  Hubby says “Honey slide on over and we can fit three in the cab”.  I hope they made better judgement in choosing partners than they did picking up a drippy guy in a PFD and wetsuit.  I was grateful for the ride.
On the Elwha river I had a 120 lb Newfoundland dog but I figured my chances of getting a ride with a wet dog would be even worse so I deflated the raft, leashed him to the frame, and surprisingly got a ride back up to the (now gone) dam where I had launched earlier that day.

Sometimes you can con a relative into doing a shuttle.  My niece dropped off a horse trailer and trusty Travelall at the mouth of the Salmonberry for a winter descent down that small coastal tributary to the Nehalem.  By the time we got boats deflated and packed into the horse trailer it was dark and changing into clothes was tricky.  My brother, Richard, kept asking why his sweater got washed because it had apparently shrunk.  Katharine shivered and looked in the back seat and said “get outta my sweater”.  I knew that the “Charles Manson” look would catch on.

 

 

Jump forward to paying for shuttles.  What a great saver of time especially at the end of a multi day trip.  Unless…….
We had it all worked out for my other brother Jim to make some summer cash and spend some time camping in Idaho.  All he had to do was shuttle six vehicles from Corn Creek to Carey Creek.  Both ends of the 9 hour drive had campsites or campsites near.  We trailered his motorcycle from Portland along with our rafting gear and had the logistics such that he would load his motorcycle into a truck bed or trailer and drive that rig to Carey Creek.  The next day ride his motorcycle back to Corn Creek and repeat the process a few more times until all the vehicles were at the take out when we arrive.  Two of our rigs made it to Carey Creek take out and Jim was there.  “What about the other four vehicles?”  “Oh my motorcycle fell over in one of the trailers and broke a turn signal so I’m waiting on the part to arrive in Riggins.”   Weak.  About half the crew got an extended vacation as they rented an air taxi to fly them from Riggins to Salmon, then a ground taxi to get them back to their cars at Corn Creek.  Needless to say Jim was not on the shuttle agenda after that.
Don’t forget to let Alaskan air taxi pilots know when and where you wish to be picked up.  On a Kongakut river trip the pilot had dropped me off on a gravel bar and my gear was unloaded to the side of the cobble beach runway so he started up the Cessna 185 as I was going to watch him take off back to Kaktovik.  He shuts off the engine, gets out of the plane, and walks over to me.  I wonder what’s going on.  He asks “Do we know when and where to pick you up?”  Yikes!  A major space cadet moment.  “No!, Let me write this down.  Cariboo Pass in 8 days”  Saved by the shuttle driver.

Fast forward to this past year.  In July I had a shuttle set up from Hammer Creek to Heller Bar on the Lower Salmon. When our crew arrived everbody’s vehicle was there but mine.  No cell service so I walked down the road to a lodge and borowed their phone to get the shuttle company’s message machine at the other end.  Message left but when would they receive it?  There happened to be a van full of shuttle drivers at Hellers Bar when I returned and when made aware of my plight they got on their radio and were able to get my truck en route and I rode with them towards Asotin where we flagged down my oncoming rig and I took over.  It was only about a 2 hr delay.  They cited that my takeout date was earlier that month.  I need to get one of those time machines.
OK. Trout Creek to Maupin City Park.  I’ve used this service dozens of times. “Ill get the truck, you guys start down rigging the boat”.  Hmm. No truck, If you walk down the Deschutes Access Road from Bakeoven road you can get a cell signal.  I called the shuttle service and they confirmed my truck had been shuttled.  Where?  They got a hold of the driver who said she made a mistake and dropped it off at Sandy Beach.  It was late on a Sunday afternoon in September and no vehicles were going down the Deschutes access road, but my shuttle driver had called Tom of Deschutes U Boats and he came and picked me up in his side by side for the trek down to Sandy Beach.  No blue pick up.  We drove back up to the cell reception area and I called back the shuttle driver who by now was in more of a panic than I and could not figure what had happened.  Theft from vehicles happens at all river spots but theft of vehicles is rare.  Tom said “Let’s take you up to Harpham and have a look”.  Sure enough behind some of the other parked trucks was mine.  The shuttle driver called me and just did not recall leaving it there and was very apologetic.  I’m sure I’ve had those moments too, I just don’t remember them.
November we had a Rogue shuttle and all was well.  Yea!
Consistency is what matters.  Last week we hired a shuttle to have my rig at Stateline on the Grande Ronde.  True to form the truck was not there.  At this rate no one will want to ride with me anymore;  oh well,then wear and tear on your rig.  Of course there is no cell signal on that road between Troy and Boggan’s Oasis, but I figure Boggan’s is on a highway and they would have a land line.  The first vehicle came by 30 minutes after I was determined to hitch hike.  They were rafters from Wenatchee who had pulled out at Troy and were kind enough to give me a lift to Boggan’s where I used the restaurant’s land line to contact the other shuttle service only to leave a message of my plight.  They gal behind the counter at Boggan’s had my shuttler’s personal cell number and I called it to find out they had received my message. They had and were en route to Stateline having just passed Wallowa.  The owner of Boggan’s gave me a ride back to our crew and refused any compensation for his troubles.  The reason my shuttle company wasn’t there with my car is they had me booked for June.  I wish again I had that time machine.