I spent about 6 hours taking notes, walking the course, and paddling it a couple times too on Sunday March 5, 2107. I ran into Dave Zimmerman who was one of the minds and designers behind the gates at the NW Canoe-Kayak Race Center. HOW LUCKY IS THAT?! I saw the gates moving downstream when I was taking notes upstream. Someone had dropped the poles all the way into the river and I was wondering if they knew what they were doing. So I ran over there and introduced myself. Dave must have thought I was crazy. When I realized who he was and what he was doing. I quickly grabbed a pen and my index cards and started taking notes on what he was doing to get the gates to work. I stuffed my notes in the ropes to come back and rewrite. Dave only had so much time to get the gates set and get a paddle in before he had to leave so I had to keep up. I was literally helping him move gates, taking notes as fast as I could, and running around following Dave. He got gates I thought were broken and non fuctional working!!! I took photos of all the notes I've taken so far. There will be more I'm sure in the future. I'm hoping to eventually laminate and affix directions on the posts so people can continue to use and learn the gate system. Dave was also kind enough to give me some slalom lessons and we paddled a couple laps together. He taught me how to work the river better for mastering the gates and gave me some great paddling technique critiques. I'm so grateful I found him at the course randomly!
ORANGE TWINE is tied to the base of the nails on the gate stations to signify the POLE/SLACK line. This is the line that will give and take SLACK and move the POLES UP/DOWN. The twine is tied to the top and bottom nails to make it more obvious. The plan is to replace it with another color duct tape (not gold or silver).
GOLD and SILVER duct tape are used when two different gates are managed at the same gate station. Look for it wrapped at the base of the TOP nails on the stations.
All gates that function via river LEFT only have two ropes used to adjust them up/down and right/left. I will refer to the line that moves the POLES as the POLE/SLACK line (orange twine indicator). I will refer to the line that moves the gate right/left as the CART line.
So for the gates that can be moved completely on river LEFT ONLY are Gates 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, and 16.
If you are moving a gate that is directed ALL on the river LEFT side and you are wanting to move the gate towards river RIGHT, you must GIVE SLACK with the POLE/SLACK* line and you would TAKE up the slack of the other assigned rope* around the nails. To move the gate river LEFT you would TAKE SLACK with the POLE/SLACK line and wind it around the nails and you would GIVE SLACK with the other rope assigned to that gate.
*Each gate is color coded GOLD or SILVER. Only manage one gate at a time to keep ropes from being confused.
*QUICK TIP: Moving gates to river LEFT seems to be the easiest way to move them, river RIGHT seems to be more difficult. When moving gates towards river RIGHT you will have to give a lot of SLACK in the POLE/SLACK line to take off enough tension on the CART (top gate board) to allow it to move. Sometimes we had to lower the poles to river level to get enough slack the in the rope so we could get the cart to move.
-PLEASE ALWAYS LIFT POLES HIGH OUT OF THE WATER WHEN YOU ARE DONE. THE GATES COULD GET SWEPT AWAY OR RUINED IN HIGH WATER EVENTS.-
If you are moving a gate that is directed ALL on the river LEFT side and you are wanting to move the gate towards river RIGHT, you must GIVE SLACK with the POLE/SLACK* line and you would TAKE up the slack of the other assigned rope* around the nails. To move the gate river LEFT you would TAKE SLACK with the POLE/SLACK line and wind it around the nails and you would GIVE SLACK with the other rope assigned to that gate.
*Each gate is color coded GOLD or SILVER. Only manage one gate at a time to keep ropes from being confused.
*QUICK TIP: Moving gates to river LEFT seems to be the easiest way to move them, river RIGHT seems to be more difficult. When moving gates towards river RIGHT you will have to give a lot of SLACK in the POLE/SLACK line to take off enough tension on the CART (top gate board) to allow it to move. Sometimes we had to lower the poles to river level to get enough slack the in the rope so we could get the cart to move.
-PLEASE ALWAYS LIFT POLES HIGH OUT OF THE WATER WHEN YOU ARE DONE. THE GATES COULD GET SWEPT AWAY OR RUINED IN HIGH WATER EVENTS.-
Directions for the gates at the NW Canoe-Kayak Race Center:
GATE 2:
Gate 2 directions from river RIGHT.
This gate is NOT WORKING. (3/5/17)
Gate 2 is stuck in the bushes on river RIGHT currently. We could attach ropes and get it river LEFT to switch it out and repair it. I'd like to attach rope for river RIGHT to the gate that's currently there and utilize it to drag the rope across for us. We will still need a water assist to walk the gate across to the river LEFT so it can be worked on.
GATE 3:
Gate 3 Pulley Gate:
This gate uses a clothesline system with pole assist.
This gate is adjustable via river LEFT.
Gate 3 directions from river RIGHT.
Gate 3 direction from river LEFT
This gate currently WORKS. (3/5/17)
Functions from river LEFT.
GATE 4:
Gate 4 directions from river LEFT.
This gate currently WORKS. (3/5/17)
Marked with SILVER duct tape.
Functions from river LEFT.
GATE 5:
Gate 5 directions from river LEFT.
This gate currently WORKS. (3/5/17)
Marked with GOLD duct tape.
Functions from river LEFT.
Gate 4 and 5 station. What the poles look like currently. I put the directions for each gate on index cards and put them in ziplock bags to keep them legible. There is a marker in one of the bags at the Gate 4 and 5 station. I left extra index cards in many of the baggies for communications. Please leave the date and a note if you change, fix, or break something! THANK YOU!
GATE 6:
Gate 6 directions from river LEFT.
This gate is WORKING. (3/5/17)
Functions from river LEFT.
GATE 7:
Gate 7 directions from river LEFT. Gate 7 shares and adjustment pole with Gate 8. So Gate 7 is labeled with SILVER duct tape.
This gate currently WORKS. (3/5/17)
Functions from river LEFT.
GATE 8:
Gate 8 directions from river LEFT.
This gate currently is NOT WORKING. (3/5/17)
Gate 8 is a different gate. The adjustment ropes are in two different places. I labeled their nails (what the rope gets wound/unwound from) with GOLD duct tape at the base of the nail and it's also using orange twine instead of rope at this time.
Gate 8 directions from river LEFT.
This gate currently NOT WORKING. (3/5/17)
Marked with GOLD duct tape.
Functions from river LEFT.
Functions from river LEFT.
Gate 8 needs 2 people to work the easiest since the right/left and pole/slack lines are in two different places.
Gate 8 has issues! The gate works for the most part, but there is a knot in the rope line that works the pole/slack line that gets stuffed in the eye bolt and won't slide through. The gate needs to be pulled river left and have the knot removed or retied. Or perhaps replace the pole line with new rope.
GATE 9:
Gate 9 directions from river LEFT.
This gate currently is NOT WORKING. (3/5/17)
Functions from river RIGHT and river LEFT.
Poles/slack adjust on river LEFT.
Gate 9 has issues. There are directions tied to the tree with instruction on what needs to be done. There is alot of extra rope on river LEFT. You have to pull the gate from river RIGHT to move it RIGHT. To move it LEFT it must be pulled from river LEFT. The river LEFT rope needs to be pulled towards the tree closer to the roadside (trail road) and put through the metal loops up in the tree. The metal loop portion may need to wait til the next work party. If the rope can be tied to a tree for now the gate may become functional enough to use for the races with the temporary fix. The pole rope on the river RIGHT side needs to be restrung and retied. The eye bolt was missed on the river LEFT side so the ropes are more likely to get tangled if left the way they are.
GATE 10:
Gate 10 doesn't exist.
This gate is NOT WORKING. (3/5/17)
There's a rope crossing the river that marks where a wire needs to be placed and perhaps a new tree setting.
GATE 11:
Gate 11 directions from river LEFT.
This gate is WORKING. (3/5/17)
Functions from river LEFT.
This gate has all it's original parts!
GATE 12:
Gate 12 directions from river LEFT.
This gate is WORKING. (3/5/17)
Functions from river LEFT.
GATE 13:
Gate 13 directions from river LEFT.
This gate is WORKING. (3/5/17)
Functional from river LEFT. (I think, could also be adjusted by river LEFT and RIGHT ropes-this needs to be investigated 3/8/17)
This gate does have a few problems though.
I ran out of daylight to record notes on gates 14, 15, 16 that are right above the bridge. These gates function all from river LEFT and appear to be WORKING. (3/5/17) These gates do need work.
ORANGE TWINE is tied to the base of the nails on the gate stations to signify the POLE/SLACK line. This is the line that will give and take SLACK and move the POLES UP/DOWN. The twine is tied to the top and bottom nails to make it more obvious. The plan is to replace it with duct tape.
GOLD and SILVER duct tape are used when two different gates are managed at the same gate station. Look for it wrapped at the base of the TOP nails on the stations.
So for the gates that can be moved completely on river LEFT ONLY are Gates 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, and 16.
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