Logging cables whipping across river!

Yesterday Mark Collet and I paddled up the North River to see if there were any fish up near the head of tidewater. All we saw were carcasses at the mouths of some side creeks and a couple of post-spawn zombies still ghosting around.
As we passed the last float house and floating boom dock on our way up to the "head of tidewater," we saw a cable stretched across the river whipping up and down. It was probably an anchor line for the logging tower up on top of the steep ridge just above the river. Very steep terrain, and active logging going on.
Then, the tower operator gave several blasts with his warning horn, and another cable that was under the surface upstream, whipped up in an explosion of spray, way up into the air as it stretched taut!  :oImagine paddling over that at precisely the wrong moment!
That cable whipped up and down for a bit and then settled back into the river. We hesitated a bit, then paddled underneath the first one, since it was now stationary and taut, over 100 feet above us. Then we approached the spot where we thought the other cable was, but couldn't see it entering the river on either brushy bank, as the tide was high with the river backed up and into the brush and trees along the steep banks.
We sprinted up through that danger zone and continued our journey. Later we guessed that the second cable was being reeled in when we saw it thrashing, as we couldn't find any trace of it on our way downstream.
So if you find yourself paddling up the North, just hope you don't hear a logging tower horn going off!  And yes, I also thought I heard banjos!
Mark, did you hear those banjos?

   NO BANJO .......I was too busy making sure we didn't get whipped sky-high by that damned cable.
   I had never seen a logging show going across a river like that.That whole scene just felt way wrong to me.
   Fortunately we made it safely through.

Dang, talk about a hairy situation!  That's crazy!

That cable whipped up and down for a bit and then settled back into the river. We hesitated a bit, then paddled underneath the first one, since it was now stationary and taut, over 100 feet above us.

The thought of a tension cable whipping out of the water below and flipping you would be one thing, but imagine if you actually managed to get entangled and coincidentally suspended from it. Holy shit wouldn't quite cover your thoughts in that milli-second. Also, the thought of losing a limb or being knocked out. Would the average person even know, say if visiting the area, what the horn was for? I doubt I would unless I saw it all unfolding before me and hopefully put it together quick enough to survive. Glad you guys are okay.

Damn, that's actually pretty scary!  I'm glad you boys are OK.  Hiking, paddling, mountain biking, and driving in logging areas are all risky business.  Hang a homemade sign of caution if you go back.

That sounds like a good lawsuit waiting to happen.

Who would you report that type of irresponsible conduct to? The Dept. of the Interior? OSHA?

Logging that close to spawning grounds is one of the main reasons salmonids are in the sh!t pickle they're in.

Glad you guys got away with all the body parts you showed up with.

  That was indeed one of the most nervous times for me ,ever on a river.Worse than running class V rapids,being surrounded by other boats at bouy 10,even more intense than busting in Grays Harbor bar during a squall.The power and speed of that cable whipping up and out of the water then slapping back down with the insueing commotion then ripping back up again was not a pleasant place to be.We could hear the engine revving up,which added to the unknown factor,but the suspense of not knowing when that 2" cable of death could slash back out of the water and rip you to pieces or hurl you 100' in the air was uncomfortable to say the least.Lots of pucker power going through that stretch of water.
  Logging across a navigable river that supports spawning salmonoids has to be regulated.By what agency ?--DNR,Fish and Game,Dept. of Ecology,EPA, and probably several others might have a stake in this situation.A call to the state patrol may give me some direction to go for furthur inquiries.I'll be making that call today.I will go to the county sheriff's office to make a statement in person as well.This has a stink on it that needs clarification/rectification.

I've never seen anything like that before. I just know that when a logging tower or "slack-line yarder" operator sounds his horn, its a warning that he's about to do something that may put "anyone not aware of what's going on" in major danger.
I could see the first cable when I came around the corner, as there was a couple standing on the last floating dock looking upstream, and I just looked where they were looking and saw it. I asked them what was going on, and they said that they pointed toward the ridge top where the cable stretched up to, and said "Logging." From our vantage, we could not see the tower, not any loggers, just the cable disappearing up and over the top edge of the ridge. This little gorge has steep high sides, with the ridge tops maybe about 400 to 500 feet higher than the river, on average.
I was closer to the people on the dock, and they cautioned me to watch for a second cable. I couldn't see it.

But we could hear the yarder revving up, and then the horn sounded a series of blasts just before that 2nd unseen and submerged cable got pulled tight and came blasting up through the surface. It whipped up and down with great force and thrashed the streamside trees and the river a few times before it fell back in. In retrospect, I think the logging crew was reeling that one in right then, after repositioning the tower and setting up another cable.

The particular location was immediately upstream of what locals sometimes call "the first grass island at the top of tidewater." This is just upstream from the last float house and last floating dock on the lower river. At high tide, you can just go right around it, but at low tide, that grass island marks the top of easily navigable river, and you usually must walk your boat down around the shallow, debris-filled riffles on either side. Downstream from there, it is navigable at dead low, but now you have to watch for the many deadheads and all the woody debris that were covered by the higher tide.
Perhaps the loggers figured that nobody would be heading up through that zone yesterday. The people on the dock most definitely were not part of the logging crew. There was no warning sign nor logging crew member stationed on the river bank to warn any boaters of possible danger. And I doubt the logging crew even knew we were down there paddling. It might be possible for them to hear an outboard motor heading upstream, from way up on top of that ridge, but no way could they know if stealthy paddlers were paddling upstream, unless they were watching the river constantly.
It is possible, that if that couple weren't standing there on the dock, and mentioned the possibility of a 2nd, unseen cable, that I would have continued paddling under the first one that was now taut and not moving, and could easily had been cruising right over the underwater cable when that horn started blasting and the cable exploded up through the surface. That thought is what sticks in my mind about this.
Mark and I were the potential "wildcard" that the logging crew should have anticipated. Lots of people go on the North River, and anyone could be up there at any time.

At least we avoided a "Deliverance" scenario.  I'm sure I heard banjo music off in the distance, several times. Going by that one float house with the "wood spirit" sitting by the door...maybe it just inspired latent banjo reverberations in my reptilian memory.
Hey Mark, thanks for pointing that out. It blended in with the rustic shake job so well that I missed it on first pass.
That "wood spirit" carving you did and now have up for your avatar image is pretty cool. If I had that kind of talent, I'd carve one in each of my split cedar fence posts that I have running across the front of my yard. I might have to practice a bit, and then go for it!

Sounds like a level of Super Mario!

Sounds like a level of Super Mario!

Good one! I haven't played that in maybe ten years. 

Holy cow.  That is NOT right.  Suspended by the cable?  How about being cut in half by the cable?  Glad you guys are safe!