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<h6><a href="http://registerguard.com">The Register-Guard</a></h6>
<p>River run</p>
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<h1>RIVER RUN</h1>
<p>Jet boat tour up the Willamette and into the McKenzie is equal parts thrilling and relaxing ride.</p>
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<h1>RIVER RUN</h1>
<!-- <p>Jet boat tour up the Willamette and into the McKenzie is equal parts thrilling and relaxing ride.</p> -->
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<a href="#one">The fire</a><br><a href="#two">The community</a><br><a href="#three">Lingering questions</a>
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Eugene/Springfield firefighter Andy Fidino sprays water on veneer at the Springfield Plywood and Veneer mill on Thursday, July 17, 2014. The plant burned to the ground. (Andy Nelson/The Register-Guard)
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<h2>Jet boat tour up the Willamette and into the McKenzie is equal parts thrilling and relaxing ride</h2>
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By <a href="mailto:[email protected]">Christine Sherk</a> | The Register-Guard
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August 09, 2014
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<p class="firstcharacter">Mike Hurd of Harrisburg may be six years into leading evening and weekend scenic jet boat tours along the Willamette and McKenzie rivers, but to look at the joy on his face as he sits in the driver’s seat aboard the Kimmy Jo one can’t help feeling his fresh excitement about what may be up ahead.</p>
<p>“We’ve got more eagles this year than I’ve ever seen on the river,” the co-operator of <a href="http://scenicjetboats.com">Scenic Jet Boat Tours</a> says. “Keep your eyes open.”</p>
<p>Who doesn’t want to see an eagle? Or whatever other creatures should grace us with their presence?</p>
<p>We keep our eagle eyes peeled as Hurd slowly backs away from the Marshall Island boat landing north of Eugene and turns south on the Willamette River.</p>
<p>Certified by the United States Coast Guard and the Oregon State Marine Board, Hurd goes over safety regulations, pointing out life jackets stowed within one of the seats — state law requires these be on board for adults and children — and making sure we’re sitting comfortably on one of the boat’s six seats. </p>
<p>Usually Hurd pushes off from the boat landing at McCartney Park in Linn County, about four miles north of Harrisburg where he lives, and either heads north to Corvallis for about a three-hour round-trip; or he heads south to Armitage Park on the McKenzie River and back for about a 2.5-hour trip.</p>
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Mike Hurd of Harrisburg, owns Scenic Jet Boat Tours and offers passengers rides along the Willamette and McKenzie river. (Collin Andrew/The Register-Guard)
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<p>Tonight we are on a “fast track,” which is just as well. The Kimmy Jo, powered by a 400-horsepower, 6-liter Vortec Chevy engine, can motor. </p>
<p>“It doesn’t do super great on fuel,” Hurd admits, “but it has lots of power.”</p>
<p>He tells us he will stop along the way to share stories or to point out interesting features. </p>
<p>“I may do a few spins,” he adds, his grin wide and boyish. “But before I do, I’ll let everybody know so that you can get seated. We don’t get too much water in the boat, but I can get a whole lot if I want to.”</p>
<p>Hurd hits the throttle and we launch in no time, river water spraying in sun-glistened arcs behind us, the motor’s roar deep and reassuring. </p>
<p>The boat landing disappears. The river opens before us.</p>
<p>This ride is on.</p>
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(Alan Sylvestre/The Register-Guard)
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<h3>The scenic route</h3>
<p style="margin-top:0">We fly for a while, glimpsing a blue heron along the sidelines and an osprey circling near the river surface. The early evening sunlight casts everything in a golden glow.</p>
<p>The scent of blackberries emanating from the miles of riverside brambles is as much a surprise as it isn’t: blackberries are everywhere in the height of summer, and yet on the river one expects to smell, say, fish, not ripening fruit to put one in the mind of berry picking.</p>
<p>Hurd’s voice rises above the motor as he points to the left: “Last year the river was on that side. It moved clear across this gravel bar to this side over the winter.”</p>
<p>That’s just the thing, Hurd adds, that makes these boat tours interesting. “The scenery is always changing from season to season. Even from day to day.”</p>
<p>He would know. Growing up about a mile east from the Willamette River just near where we speed past, he spent many hours fishing in the river waters, and then when he got older, learning how to float in drift boats. He slows the jet boat to point out the east bank along which his great grandfather and his three great uncles farmed in the ’40s, ’50s and ’60s.</p>
<p>“They grew sweet corn, table beets, carrots, beans and hops,” Hurd says. “We grew a lot of hops then down in this part of the valley. Not anymore, though. The hot item in the valley right now is filberts, or hazelnuts. Anyone who’s got land that can be planted to filberts is planting them. There is a huge demand for them, especially in the Asian market. Oregon can grow a very high quality nut.”</p>
<p>We see how erosion is eating into one farmer’s wheat field. Some stalks have succumbed to gravity. “He didn’t plant the wheat there,” Hurd explains of the farmer. “The river has eaten into that field and as it eats away at it, the crop is dropping off into the river along with his land.” </p>
<p>Crop talk is part of the trip, as is history, and pure tall tales.</p>
<p>Hurd deftly maneuvers the boat, warning us when a turn will be a bit sharp or when a channel is narrowing. </p>
<p>He operates Scenic Jet Boat Tours with one of his good friends, Tadge Cook, aka Captain Cook. Captain Cook couldn’t make the tour tonight. Nor could Mike’s wife, Kimberly, for whom the boat is named based on a friend’s nickname. “My wife likes to come on the Friday night trips,” explains Hurd, who, with Cook, began Scenic Jet Boat Tours as a way to share the river’s beauty with RV owners visiting the area while having work done on their rigs. </p>
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Along for the ride with Mike Hurd of Harrisburg who owns Scenic Jet Boat Tours, and offers goers rider along the Willamette and McKenzie river. (Collin Andrew/The Register-Guard)
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<p>Hurd and Cook do about 25 trips in the summer, but they do offer trips year-round. “The earliest anyone has asked for one was in February and the latest was in November.” </p>
<p>At the confluence of the Willamette and the McKenzie rivers, we see an adult bald eagle, his white head and tail feathers clearly visible as he flies up to reach the safety of a tree branch.</p>
<p>“There’s Sponge Bob,” Hurd jokes. “I name all the regulars.”</p>
<p>He lets the motor idle so we can admire the eagle glaring our way.</p>
<p>When we turn into the McKenzie heading toward Armitage Park, our turnaround point, we look back to see the eagle drop back down near the water.</p>
<p>If one were to make a checklist of animals one hoped to see on a boat ride, it might include Canada geese (check), ducks (check), osprey and fish (check and check), blue heron (check), eagles (check), buzzards (not on the list, actually, but check), beaver (nope) and black-tailed deer (not this time, but Hurd has seen them plenty of times, and you may, too).</p>
<p>Beyond the sights and sounds, however, the pure joy of the boat ride leaves us mostly quiet on the way back, until Hurd does a round of those promised thrilling spins.</p>
<p>Water flies. Somehow, we stay dry.</p>
<p>Afterwards, when giggles have subsided, we pause one more time to drift in total silence as Hurd cuts the motor and breaks out cookies and beverages. The river is soothing noise enough — a welcome counterpoint to the boat’s roar. </p>
<p>Too soon it seems, Hurd starts up the Kimmy Jo again, and we head in. </p>
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An Osprey holds on to dinner over the Willamette River while on a tour with Scenic Jet Boat Tours with Mike Hurd of Harrisburg. (Collin Andrew/The Register-Guard)
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<p>“We meet some of the neatest people,” Hurd says of his times guiding tours. “I love being on the river. I always have.”</p>
<p>With autumn around the corner, there will be fall colors to enjoy and higher water. “It’s easier to run in higher water,” Hurd adds. “It’s a totally different ride.”</p>
<h3>Scenic tours</h3>
<p><b>When:</b> Scenic Jet Boat Tours run May through August, at 6:15 p.m. Monday through Friday and 11 a.m., 2:30 p.m. and 6 p.m. Saturday and Sunday; and September through April, 11 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.</p>
<p><b>Tour details and costs:</b></p>
<p> - From Harrisburg to Armitage Park and back, about 50 miles, 2.5-hour trip; $69-$99 per person.</p>
<p> - From Harrisburg to Corvallis and back, about 60 miles, three-hour trip; $79-$125 per person.</p>
<p> - From Corvallis south to Irish Bend and back, about 50 miles, 2.5-hour trip; $79-$125 per person.</p>
<p> - From Harrisburg to the Marshall Island boat landing and back, about 25 miles, one-hour fast track; $199 for the boat, from two to six people. Fast tracks run on weekends or at 6:30 on summer weeknights.</p>
<p><b>For more information:</b> To arrange for a tour, call Mike Hurd, 541-912-9107; or Tadge Cook, 541-409-4299. <a href="http://scenicjetboats.com">scenicjetboats.com</a></p>
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