|
Paddling the Pacific Northwest
Got rapids? This being Spring and all I would expect there to be plenty of water from the still plentiful snow up in them there hills. I know my local favorite, the South Fork of the American River has plenty but what about them rivers up North? I hear all about the green mountains, tall trees and raging rivers but is it true? Are there places to play in Washington State? You better believe it! I just got back from a three day weekend worth of white water kayaking and boy did I have fun! Paula and I packed in four runs over three days on two different rivers and still had plenty left over for another trip or ten! What a gas!! My trip began with a flight from the Bay Area up to Seattle. Once there I managed to score a rental boat and paddle from a great little outfit on the lake called Seattle Raft and Kayak. Pretty laid back folks with a great selection of gear and an ideal location (especially if you want to take a sea kayak out for the day). I picked up a Jackson 4Fun just like the one I own and hit the road. First stop, The Club Stretch on the Snoqualmie River. This is pretty much a beginner run down the river. Paula being new to white water paddling is understandably conservative when it comes to paddling with only one other person, especially when that person is me! That's ok, we went ahead and tried our hand at this run and had a good time. To be honest it was a bit tame for my taste but then again I didn't want to push Paula into something uncomfortable for her. We found some nice little play spots and practiced eddying out and then back in. The water was too shallow to do any roll practice and I did get bounced around a bit from all of the rocks. Ugh! In the end we managed to do four miles of easy river and had no issues or incidents. Earlier Paula had emailed a friend regarding an evening paddle. Sure enough that friend came through and decided to do a run in the evening. Whoo hoo! We took a break, grabbed a bite to eat and then made our way over to the Powerhouse for our second run of the day. This one being from Snoqualmie Falls to Plum's Landing. Paula's friend as well as two other people showed up. Very cool! We geared up and were on the water by 6:30pm. Now this was more my speed! The river was running at a good level and there were some nice rapids to play in right at the put-in spot. I immediately set out to ferry back and forth across the river and sample a couple of surf spots. What fun! The four of us rotated in and out of eddies and generally caroused in the general area of the Powerhouse for about 45 minutes to an hour. This time of year the sun doesn't set until nearly 9pm so we had plenty of light. We soon wandered on down river to play in a couple other other fun little rapids. Paula was gaining confidence as she went and the other folks practiced skills at every point of interest. We finally pointed bows down stream and headed for town. There was a fair bit of flat water but that was perfect for enjoying the last rays of sunlight. About a mile short of town there was one more little wave train that we hit. I was bouncing along enjoying the ride when to my surprise Susan flipped her boat. Next thing I know she's out and swimming. Oh no! I kicked into rescue mode and paddled on down to her side. Quickly I had her grab my stearn and then with all my strength I started paddling for shore. Man that was hard work! Seemed like it took an hour to get there but in reality it was maybe a couple of minutes. Talk about a good workout! Whew! Once there we gathered up Susan and her gear and got her situated again. From there on down to town it as all just an easy float. We rounded the last bend and then pulled off at the bridge. Cervesa time! What a great way to finish up a Friday! Saturday dawned cool and foggy. Today our plan was to make a run up to the Green River and check out the Headworks run. This little run is mostly class II with one distinctive class III drop right past the railroad bridge. Nothing we couldn't handle. We setup the shuttle with Paula parking the van at the take-out site and then riding her DRZ400 back to the put-in. We soon found ourselves lolling around on a rather peaceful river. I was hoping for more action and was immediately concerned that this was going to be another sleeper. Luckily things changed quickly. We found ourselves running a couple of fun little rapids with some great play spots and decent action. Whoo hoo! We did notice that the water level had dropped a bit but we still managed to have some fun. Paula's skills were definitely improving and it was fun to see her take on some good surf waves and practice her jet ferry skills. The scenery was quite lovely and I often found myself watching the greenery go by as I puttered on down the river. So that's how I suddenly found myself upside down in a nice little eddy line. Whups! I rolled back up, laughed at my silliness and then continued on over to watch Paula. Fun! We soon approached the afore mentioned railroad bridge with it's flat and featureless horizon line. We scouted it from the left and immediately saw the line through the middle. There's a big rock line on river right that splits the channel and forces water down the middle and then some off to the right down a small channel. We needed to hit that just to the left and we would then be swept right down the tongue. Being ever so chivalrous I went first. As I rolled on down the tongue I noticed the water channeling to the right in a transition that was not so obvious from the hill side. One flick of the paddle and down I went. Prefect! I eddied out at the bottom, pulled my camera out and signaled for Paula to go. Damn camera battery chose to go south at the wrong moment so I missed Paula's success. Rats! Ah well, at least she knows she did it and did it well. As we sat there basking in our glory I decided that once wasn't enough! I grabbed my boat and with much difficulty made my way back up the river. I soon found myself bobbing on down the tongue again. Only this time I managed to bury the bow of my boat and tossed it right at the exit. A snap roll brought me up laughing all the way. What fun! We continued our trek on down the river and at times found ourselves dodging fishing lines as we approached a number of anglers on the riverbanks. Toward the end of the run we had noted that there were quite a few rock gardens. As we approached them we found that it took quite a bit of effort to read the river and pick a smooth line through the rocks. It was great fun and we managed to make it through the maze with nary a scratch. Yet another great day under our belts. I was sorry it was over but then as with all good things you need to know when to quit. We motored on back to town to rest and reload for the next day. My flight home was scheduled for late Sunday afternoon which meant we had time for one more run. We chose to go back to the Powerhouse run since that was close, convenient and easy to setup a shuttle. At the river we ran into two groups of kayak schools. Both were gearing up for some river time. One of the instructors happened to work for SRK which turned out to be ideal for us. I chatted with the guy and told him that I needed to return my boat but I had limited time because of my need to get to the airport. Without batting an eye he agreed to return my boat to the shop. How very cool! Soon Paula and I were playing on some surf waves and having fun. The sun was out today which in turn made everything seem that much greener. The water flow was perfect so we were able to surf to our heart's content and then play in the short series of rapids going down the river. After a couple of hours of fun we packed it in, turned my boat over to the instructor and hit the road. I have to say paddling around Seattle is very cool. Water flow on some rivers seems to be an issue but again we only chose to do a couple of the easier runs. I suspect some of the class III and IV runs are a bit better off. The other thing that's nice about this area is the fact that most of these runs are barely an hour's drive from town. How cool is that? Normally for me to go play I have to drive for 2-3 hours and then battle it out with all the rafting folks for river time. Thanks to Paula for shuttling me around and showing me the rivers. I'm definitely up for more! Here's some photos from the weekend as well as video... Happy Paddling! Craig
|
