Budweiser Creek

Budweiser Creek would be a delight if it were not for the fact that some timber company went through the drainage like a pack of crazed voracious beavers. The drainage, when visited in 2016, was just a mess of cut logs and blowdown. The rappels are all great -- with the unusual note that all four are overhanging - but reaching them requires substantial effort. Come in the early season if you must... as the flow reduces substantially heading into early summer. Like the beer of the same name, why not try something else?

This area is a maze of logging roads. Map and GPS may be handy. Roads are gravel but 2WD-friendly if driven slowly. High clearance may be nice. From Bridge of the Gods, follow Hwy 14 east for 1.6mi. Turn left on SW Rock Creek Dr (signed for Skamania Lodge) and follow for 0.3mi before turning left onto Foster Creek Rd. FCR becomes Ryan-Allen Rd; follow for 0.9mi. Under a set of powerlines, turn left onto Red Bluff Rd. Red Bluff quickly becomes a good gravel road; follow it northwest for 2.5mi, before turning right on CG 2330. The road drops down to a bridge crossing Rock Creek in 0.3mi. On the far side, stay on CG 2330 as it climbs out of the drainage. Follow this windy road for 2.8mi to a prominent junction about UTM 10 582576mE 5067254mN. From the junction continue on CG2330 for 100yrds before bearing left on an unnamed gravel road diverting to the northwest. Follow for 0.75mi to a large pullout just before the road swings north into the Budweiser drainage. Pullout is at about UTM 10 582238mE 5067788mN. Drive back out to CG 2330 and head north about 1mi, passing a prominent junction along the way. Your goal is to reach the spot where the road crosses Budweiser Creek. There is room off the road here for several vehicles.

Be prepared to get your thrash on as you drop into the creek per clambering over, under around, and through various obstructions and logjams. In some place it's easier to exit the creek entirely and re-enter downstream. The drainage is filled with huge fallen trees... so many were cut and left to rot in the drainage one is forced to wonder just how competent the loggers were in these parts. If you're not going to haul out the trees, why cut them? The first rappel is 2min from the road. Expect a long thrash between R2 and R3. It's long enough to start having thoughts along the lines of: Has my life really led me to this point? Where did it all go wrong? Topo maps show an old logging grade crossing the creek which might be a viable early exit, but it's not obvious where the crossing is when you're in the creek.