Good for you. Yea, The Pipeline can be pretty hairy at times. It looked like you must have hit the water somewhere around the 9.2' level? Just remember, as it gets higher, all the rapids get a little trickier, especially The Pipeline. Also, there is that rock in the middle of the river right at the base of the rapids as you come down into Blue Hole - that thing gets pretty nasty at high water. You don't want to get caught in those hydraulics. There must be at least 5 or 6 islands where you have to choose left or right, so just be careful as the water rises and you choose another side of the islands next time...
As for the laws... I've done some research on this in the past, and I've found a sign in between the girl scout hole and the beach right below that. It stated that camping was prohibited on the Sandy below where the Salmon River spills into it. So basically, you can camp above Salmon River in the Mt Hood National Forest. Below is a no-no, which is where this run is. Also, a lot of that land above the high water mark is either private (Campfire USA comes to mind) or it's part of the Sandy River Gorge Preserve, which is managed by Metro and The Nature Conservancy to name a few. They all have their own restrictions that prohibit camping.
Also worth pointing out, the regs state:
No angling from a floating device upstream from a point that is 200 feet below the Oxbow Park boat ramp
So basically, if you fish this stretch, make sure you get out on the bank...
Maybe one of these days I'll see you out there. I have a little one on the way in a few weeks, so I suspect my river trips will be few and far between this summer. We'll hopefully be out there, just not in a boat!!
Did you notice any strainers worth mentioning?
