Please post reports for sea or whitewater kayak trips as a comment below. You must be logged into the site to leave a comment, please do so (or register) using the appropriate link under Meta. The comments are searchable using the search box at right. Although you may record any information you like in the trip report you may wish to use the following template as a guide:
Trip location: Skykomish (Main)
Date: 12/12/2012
Number of paddlers: 3.14; Billy-Joe (own boat), Bobby-Sue (Green Diesel), Jack (Habitat), Diane (Small Burn)
Flow/current: 66,666 cfs
Met at the WAC in am (9ish), ran the Sky from Index to Split Rock. Had one swimmer in Boulder Drop, pulled them out with no loss of gear. In the future will not recommend that beginner-intermediates run killer fang falls, they should instead take the fuzzy bunny fairy around to river right. Stopped for coffee in Sultan on the way back. The espresso shop burned the milk, recommend future trips don’t stop there. Pictures and videos are at www.example.com and on the facebook group page.
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GIRLS ONLY Paddle, Big Eddy trip, 2780cfs 2/23/2014
Participants: Kesley, Janelle, Cali, Stella, Ash, Francesca, Robin (representing Western Washington’s Kayak Club!) Lyss + 6 Women of the Greater Seattle Kayak Community
This paddle was specially arranged for our new ladies to work with women of the greater white water community! We had a crew of six newer boater, one there for her first run ever and eight safety ladies. We ran everything in “Pods”, two to three safety boaters with two newer boaters. We had two swims through Railroad, with plenty of ferry practice. Our new boater met us after Rail road. Fisherman’s rapid was scouted by everyone and successfully navigated by our first timer! Weather was cold, immediately after Fishermans we got the mix of snow and rain, but only a few swims. There were intermittent swims throughout the rest of the trip (though nothing on Proctor). Energy was high and All the ladies exhibited STELLAR attitudes with temperatures and varying boating abilities! Thanks to everyone for a great day!
Pictures on UKC Facebook page.
Pods really helped to break up the group of 14 through the more difficult rapids and spread out the safety evenly. Having a drop off at the beginning of the trip added to wait time as did lots of swims. Everyone was pretty cold by the end, but stoke levels ran high throughout the day!
Ryan Dillon
Big Eddy, 5000cfs 2/15/2014
Participants: Scott B., Jared, Ryan D., David L., Ian K., Stella J.
It was a small trip, with 4 beginners and 2 safety boaters. We put in at RR bridge and scouted fisherman’s prior to running it. We had one swimmer in fisherman’s and one swimmer on an eddy line at the bottom of the rapid.
Unfortunately, the paddler who swam on fisherman’s was very cold after their swim. This resulted in consecutive swims on the rapids following fisherman’s. The paddler took out early and was picked up during the shuttle back to RR.
Jonathan Chi
January 20, 2014 MLK day lake paddle.
The paddle consisted of eight people. The day was sunny with no wind. We first paddled to Gasworks Park, then to Lake Union Park where we got off and rested. The group then continued around lake union and back to the WAC. The total trip was about 5.6 nm. Overall it was a great relaxing paddle where members could meet each other and work on their strokes. Pics are on the Facebook page.
George B
Big Eddy “high water” trip, 4500 cfs 1/14/2014
Gorgeous weather! This was a ‘special edition’ UKC trip as the high water required the trip leader to go with a small group who had either run it before without swimming, had a strong roll, or had other ww experience. Trip was: George B., Kesley, Christina, Cali, Jon C., David L., Emily S., Conrad, Robin (from Bellingham), and additional safety boaters Conor, Jon T., Dan K., Aaron, Maren, Elizabeth E. Pictures on UKC Facebook page.
We put in under the RR bridge. At this level most of the run before Fisherman’s was padded out. Fisherman’s was big and we had some swims there, but thankfully on the lower part. Christina hit her combat roll in the meat of the upper part which was outstanding! The rest of the trip was fun and splashy and kind of ho-hum.
As always we need to do a better job of being qwik on the load-up phases of our trips.
George B
Nov. 30, 2013 Skykomish, RR Bridge to Big Eddy, class II+, 2300 cfs
Participants: Cali, Roie, Pal, Nat, David, George B., Scott, Christina
Great follow-up trip from the class for the newer boaters. Both David and Christina hit their first combat roll and everyone made it down a bumpy Fisherman’s with no swims. Scott did most of the teaching and did an excellent job. Nat and George did safety boating. Pictures posted on club Facebook page.
Next time we need to be sure that someone makes sure that the UKC boat house door is fully closed before final departure.
Angie
Lake Washington North (sea kayaking). April 14, 2013.
On Sunday, six of us paddled 9 nmi from the northern tip of Lake Washington back to the WAC. We stopped and visited the lovely Saint Edwards State Park, found some waterfront property for sale just to its north (440 acres, would make a great campground for club members), saw some new beaches and the NOAA Sand Point campus from it’s never-before-seen-by-me north side.
The weather was mostly great.. NWS weather forecasts before the weekend made it clear that Saturday was going to be a terrible day to paddle, and hail and lightning bore that out. So we went Sunday instead. We had light southerlies to start, made the 1 nmi crossing in flat calm but with a dark, menacing cloud to our northeast, then some northerlies built and some waves followed, which became less unpleasant once we rounded Sand Point. But, it didn’t even rain, much less hail or lightning on us! I’m a bit sunburnt, despite wearing sunscreen. Oh, the modern marvel of weather forecasting.
George B
1/26/13
Skykomish, Big Eddy (II+) 2000 cfs
Participants: George (trip leader), Jared, Janelle, Nat, Josh, Max
Put in At Split Rock in the rain. Not too bumpy. Nat did four combat rolls, way to go Nat.! No swims, otherwise uneventful.
George B
11/10/2012
Skykomish Big Eddy @ 3400 cfs, put-in river-left just below RR Bridge. There is a small eddy right by the bridge pillar that provides a nice way to enter the river and sneak the last ledge hole of the RR Bridge rapid.
Participants: George (trip leader), Kesley, John, Jonathan, Jonathan, Conrad, Sam, with non-club participants Chelsea, Jesse, John. Scott and Andrew kindly ran shuttle. Great level for newer boaters, and all did fine at Fisherman’s Rapid. A few swims (one on an eddy-line below Fisherman’s, one at Proctor Hole, two on final wave train), but it was all smiles at the end.
Note to everyone: Be sure that all boats have float bags before leaving WAC.
jwcook
2/19/2012
Skykomish – Main Sky and Big Eddy @ 3000cfs
Participants: Jared, Scott, Josh, Josh, George, Dan, Daril, Chelsea, Kevin, Lynn, Alex, Alicia, Olivia, Tyler, Owen, Charlie, and another non-ukc member.
For the main we started out in Index down to split rock with 11 people, and met up with the rest at Split Rock to run big eddy down. The trip was awesome and my words can’t explain as well as a video can, so here’s the videos!
Also, thank you to all of our sponsors that have helped make these trips possible!
Main Sky section
https://vimeo.com/37147298
Big Eddy Section
https://vimeo.com/37288038
Enjoy!
joshband
2/5/2012
South Fork Skykomish (II), 1300 cfs
Participants: Soyoung, Dan, Jonathan, Alex, Carolyn, George, Andrew, Rob Sheerer, Emily, Lynn, George, Josh
A large group out to enjoy the (relative) warmth and celebrate superbowl Sunday by getting outside and not watching the game. The SF Sky was a little bumpy in a few places, but wasn’t unreasonably low. We had one swimmer at the last super-fun rapid that seemed to legitimize the outing.
A nice and mellow run although there was some adventure slogging through the snow at the put in.
Janelle Deane
Trip location: Skykomish (Main) and with a beginner trip down to Big Eddy!
Date: 12/17/2011
Number of paddlers: (6) Josh Bandfield, Jared Cook, Janelle Deane, Josh B, Kesley (Desiel 60) and Zach (red Fun)
Flow/current: 1300 cfs
Left the WAC about 7ish.We started out the day with taking plenty of pictures for sponsor thank you’s. Then One group went from cable drop to split rock. The J team all ran boulder drop (both Joshs and Janelle) with lots of smiles. We then met up with Kesley, and Zach at split rock and cruised the rest of big eddy. All and all a supper fun day!
Pictures can be found at:
https://picasaweb.google.com/deanej1/Sky?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCP6Tmeua19LbVw&feat=directlink
Janelle Deane
11/19/11
Upper Green River Gorge (III-IV) to Flaming Geyser State Park, 1200 cfs
Participants: Mark, Andrew K, Charlie (Desiel 70), Jule, Janelle and Jon
A small group of us decided to brave the cold for some beautiful Green action! It was a bit bumpy at places but the rapids were still of great quality. There was some down wood in both the upper and lower gorge so be aware and it can be avoided. No swims, but combat rolls were had by all! . Can’t wait to get back on it!
Check out Mark’s sweet pictures at:
https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/sredir?uname=113126773740231581117&target=ALBUM&id=5677209718949010065&authkey=Gv1sRgCMy0qKa45JG2xgE&feat=email
Jule
11/6 & 11/12/2011
Fall Beginner Class – Big Eddy x 2, 1500-2000 cfs
Jared says: “Rivers were low so the pickings were slim, but the motivation was high since the beginners really wanted to get out on the river, and trial by fire was commenced. Overall everyone did great, and next weekend will be the last half of their skills training. Thanks Andrew and Scott for putting together a fall beginner’s course.”
Jule
10/22/2011
Creeking Clinic – White Salmon, III+ (IV+), 2ft /750cfs
Participants: Lynn, Irene, Soyoung, Jule, Charlie, Daril, Dan, Brian
We spent the day practicing advanced kayaking techniques, such as draw and linked strokes, boofs (lots of boofs), and tight eddy turns. Our excellent instructors were Heather Herbeck, Susan Hollingsworth, and Todd Collins of Wet Planet. They sent us on multiple laps on Maytag, took video, and had a really sharp eye for the specific things each person needed to work on. At the end of the day, all but one of us students went over Husum falls like a procession of little colorful lemmings.
The consensus was that we all learned a ton, that this was a really rewarding course, and that we need to do it again!
10/23/2011
Rescue Clinic – Lower White Salmon, II+, 2’/750cfs
Participants: Janelle, Kesley, Mark, Lynn, Soyoung, Jule, Daril, Marn, Andrew, Rochelle, Sheri, Dan, Brian
This year we decided to try going through Wet Planet for our annual trip leader rescue training. They designed a semi-custom program for us, which packed a lot into one day!
In the morning we discussed safe trip leading considerations, group organization, and how to size up and deal with situations that arise on the river. Another really important conversation was about liability issues (abandonment, anyone?), and the importance of protocols and documentation. As a club, we are in a weird space that is more formal than a private bunch of friends going out, but lacks the strict organization of a commercial operation. Lots of fuel for further discussion on how to constantly refine our protocols for leading trips safely!
For the afternoon, we got down to hands-on business. We had asked Todd and Heather to emphasize simple, high-yield strategies for rescue situations, and they did a great job teaching just that. We learned what gear to carry and why. For pinned kayak retrieval, we went over anchor essentials, and went from the 10 boy scout pull to vector pull to a simple z-drag.
The rest of the day was spent on people rescue. We first went down to the river to practice bagging swimmers out of the water. What a surprise it was when a real swimmer came floating down from Husum falls! Nobody had their rope ready, and she had to self rescue – oops.
Then Heather snuck off down the river ahead of the group, and when we finally caught up with her, she was helplessly foot entrapped in the middle of the river. We rescued her by setting a stabilization line, and then brought a boater to her who clipped her rescue tether into a rope to pull her out. This took forever, and it was a good thing she was really just faking it. We did a couple more scenarios and each one was an improvement over the previous one, with quicker and more decisive action. We used a cinch from opposite sides of the river to rescue Todd from a body pin against a rock, and then did the same thing using the amazing one-sided New Zealand cinch or whatever it is called. You throw a rope from upstream that will float across the person, then use a throw bag weighted with rocks to retrieve the rope end from downstream of the person, then clip the rope into a loop and haul them out. We didn’t get a chance to try any strong swimmer rescues, but we did get a chance to try ferrying ropes by kayak which caused Andrew to get his paddle entangled and swim. Sketchy! Ropes and kayaks don’t seem to mix very well.
We paddled out in the last minutes of daylight onto Northwestern Lake which was already much lower than it used to be. The dam will come out in a couple days!
This was a very professionally taught rescue class, and I think it was certainly worth the long trip down to the Gorge. There was a lot of stoke in the air this weekend, which just shows how awesome the year is going to be for the club!
Jule
10/9/11
Skykomish – Main, III(IV), 1500cfs
Participants: Lynn, Mark, Robby, Andrew K (Fun), Andrew L, Scott, Michael, Allison, Chelsea, George, Josh, Charlie (Fun), Jule, and special guest Rob McK
A happy reunion, and the biggest friggin group ever outside of a beginner class! It was all about the socializing, and splashing around, and having fun. Lots of salmon carcasses and dead salmon smells all around!
We put in at Index, which was nice parking wise, but the N Fork really was very shallow, Cable Drop is more pleasant for sure at this level. Boulder Drop saw 4 first personal descents! 1500cfs is a good level for that, it is relatively technical and not particularly pushy.
It’s shaping up to be a great new school year with tons of enthusiasm in the club. We need beginner trips!
jwcook
Trip location: Skykomish – Big Eddy
Date: October 2, 2011
Paddlers: Zach (blue liquid logic), Jared, Daril, Dan, George, Kennet, Josh, and Josh
Flow/current: ~1280 cfs
After an unofficial run down the Main Sky we ran the Big Eddy section as an official trip. Lots of ferrying, combat roll, and eddying out practice was had at the end of Fisherman’s Rapid. Definitely on the lower end of runnable, but was still a lot of fun.
Jule
From Tim Wright:
Over a long-weekend (Sept. 9-12), four of us from the University Kayak Club took a trip out San Juan Isalnd to see if we could see some whales and do a little paddling around the island. We did both on, perhaps, the last good weather weekend of this year’s short summer.
Participants: Charlotte, Angie, John, and Tim
Here are a few pictures (with some rather mundane captions) of the trip—including some blurry pictures of things that might just be Orcas.
http://www.facebook.com/l/nAQDJBGhqAQBmLdpvUtbt8Z7Lcq0vrgXYLGxsaPJfeB0qKQ/bit.ly/oUe5ak
joshband
Trip location: Skykomish – Big Eddy
Date: September 4, 2011
Number of paddlers: 5 – Zach, Mark C., Jared, Josh, and Josh
Flow/current: ~1150 cfs
After running the Main Sky (not a club trip) we met Zach and Mark at Split Rock where we scraped our way down the Big Eddy section. The rapids at the railroad bridge were very rocky and technical but most other sections were OK. We were determined to get Mark out on the water before he went back to Germany. A good time was had with a nice sunny and warm day on the water, but normally the Big Eddy section is best avoided at such low levels.
Jule
August 27-28, 2011
White Salmon – Middle (III+), Orletta (IV), 900cfs (2.5ft)
Participants: Tom, Rob, Robby, Joel, Soyoung (Kingpin), Tyler, and Jule
Time for the annual White Salmon expedition! We enjoyed perfect weather, plenty of water in this beautiful river, and awesome hanging-out at the scenic home of Tom, our gracious host.
Rob, Robby, and I drove down on Friday night and hit up the lovely Miss Orletta on Saturday morning. Tom showed us the lines, with the main points being to hang hard right at the sticky hole, and take out in time to portage BZ falls. We put in below the falls by scrambling down to a small ledge, thus avoiding the sketchy seal launch. We then continued down the Middle all the way to Husum, where the boys ran the falls while I put it off until next time. In the afternoon we were joined by Joel, Soyoung, and Tyler, and enjoyed another run of the Middle. Tyler had the most entertaining line on Husum, but managed to weasel his way out of the hole. I put if off until next time, again, especially after having hit a very foul line with resulting swim at Maytag.
The evening was well spent beer-drinking, ice-cream-eating, and prowling the Hood River scene. On Sunday I took an all-day lesson from Wet Planet instructor Susan Hollingsworth (who is by the way awesome), while the rest of the crew did one more lap on the Middle. Afterwards they had a few hours to burn waiting for me, and entertained themselves by helping the guides fish rafters out from under Husum Falls.
Can’t wait to go back in October, when we will hold our kayak rescue class down there! Details for signup coming soon…
Jule
8/21/2011
Skykomish – Main (III(IV)) and Big Eddy (II), 2000cfs
Participants: Josh, Soyoung (Kingpin), Jule, Daril (2Fun), Rob from the UK, Jared, George, Carolyn (green Diesel), Dave (yellow Diesel)
There’s still plenty of water in the river, and it feels like summer is just starting! That’s what the rest of the Puget Sound population thought too, judging by the painful traffic on Hwy 2. We ran the Sky all the way from Cable Drop to Big Eddy, with George and Carolyn joining us at Split Rock. All the boaters who ran Boulder Drop did so in excellent style via Airplane turn (and who needs eddies anyway). A simul-swim was executed at the railroad bridge rapid owing to difficulty rolling in the shallowness, and one unnamed participant swam into the finish line at Big Eddy. No eyebrows were harmed on this trip.
joshband
Trip location: South Fork Skykomish
Date: August 7, 2011
Number of paddlers: 7 – Dan, Zach, Kesley, Zlatko, Jared, Carla, and Josh
Flow/current: ~1300 cfs
We had a minor injury (cut above the eye) at the beginning after flipping and bumping a rock. We pressed ahead after deliberation and had a good time onwards. There were a number of swims (two first timers) including a funny looking yard sale of green boats after the fun wave train at the end.
SF Sky stays remarkably runnable down to 1300 and it wasn’t too bony.
Jule
8/21/2011
Skykomish – Main (III(IV)) and Big Eddy (II), 2000cfs
Participants: Josh, Soyoung (Kingpin), Jule, Daril (2Fun), Rob from the UK, Jared, George, Carolyn (green Diesel), Dave (yellow Diesel)
There’s still plenty of water in the river, and it feels like summer is just starting! That’s what the rest of the Puget Sound population thought too, judging by the painful traffic on Hwy 2. We ran the Sky all the way from Cable Drop to Big Eddy, with George and Carolyn joining us at Split Rock. All the boaters who ran Boulder Drop did so in excellent style via Airplane turn (and who needs eddies anyway). A simul-swim was executed at the railroad bridge rapid owing to difficulty rolling in the shallowness, and one unnamed participant swam into the finish line at Big Eddy. No eyebrows were harmed on this trip.
Jeff Bowman
7/23/2011
Skykomish – Main (III-IV), 4900 cfs
Participants: Jeff, Andrew, Rob, Deryl (Blue Burn), Charlie (Diesel 70), Emma
A very warm day in Index, and very late in the season for a solid flow…
First time main Sky run for Rob, personal highest levels for Deryl and Charlie. We put in at Index, had one swimmer on North Fork attributable to general mankiness in that stretch. Two paddlers walked Boulder Drop, everyone else ran without incident via the main entrance and the needle after a quick scout. Split Rock looked really good, but we didn’t stay long so as to not keep our shuttle driver waiting any longer…
Jeff Bowman
7/17/2011
South Fork Snoqualmie – Fall in the Wall (IV+) ~200 cfs
Participants: Jeff, Rob (representing Cambridge Kayak Club), Jule
An all around spectacular day on FITW. First time for both Rob and Jule. Rob and Jeff went down on the first lap to scope things out, Jule joined for second lap. Rob and Jeff finished off with a third lap that included rootball. Good runs all around, no carnage!
Flow was a little below medium, slow enough to make stopping between drops easy. This was a good first time flow (water was at least 6 inches below the cup, for those familiar with the gauge rock).
Soyoung Shin
7-15
Snoqualmie – Middle Middle (III) 1750 cfs
Josh (green diesel), Soyoung (green diesel), Daril, Jared
Wonderful trip with great views. Most importantly, no swims and no booty beers! Big splashy waves, and nothing to worry about on this run!
Soyoung Shin
7-14
Snoqualmie – Club Stretch (1800 cfs)
Max (Diesel 60), Alex (Diesel 70), Soyoung (Kingpin 6.2), Daril (own boat)
Whooo! Max’s first trip! Beautiful beginner run, lots of skills practice on the way. The whirlpool at the end kind of got us, and we lost a single pogie. But we saw elk! ELK!!!
joshband
Trip location: South Fork Skykomish
Date: June 26, 2011
Number of paddlers: 7 – Tanya, Tanya, George, Eric, Kesley, Alex, and Josh
Flow/current: ~3200 cfs
Met at the WAC at 9:30am – We were blinded by the strange yellow orb in the sky throughout the day. Overall a nice day on the river, we practiced crossing eddylines a bit and had a two swims. Tanya K.’s roof rack had a malfunction on 405 on the way back to the WAC – all made it back in one piece thankfully.
Jule
6/25/11
Wenatchee, Leavenworth to Cashmere (III), 9600cfs
Participants: Andrew, Ian (Project 52), Jule, Tanya B
We put in in Leavenworth to add another few miles and one nice class III rapid (Boulder Bend) to the usual run. Good thing too, otherwise this would have been a swimless and bootybeerless event! We hardly saw any other kayakers until the takeout, everyone seems to be having Wenatchee fatigue after such a long-running season. We got in some excellent play at Trinity and Turkey Shoot, Granny’s was also reported to be amazing,
Jeff Bowman
5/28/2011
Green – Headworks (II+), 1450 followed by Gorge (III+)
Paricipants: Too many to name! (18)
Two very smooth trips on a chilly spring day. No serious wood issues on Headoworks and only one swim (at the wier). Both runs were a tad bony at 1450, but not too bad. Several people were straight out of the intro course and flows were ideal for that next step up. Paradise was a little below par (levels have shifted over the years, better at 17-1800 now?), or perhaps we were just too tired by the time we got to it!
Jule
4/23/2011
Wenatchee – Peshastin to Cashmere (III), 2300cfs
Participants: Mark, Lynn, Jule, Andrew, Zdenek (Project 52), Ian (yellow Diesel), Tanya B (in her special 220)
As part of the Great Combined Climbing and Kayaking Club Friendship Easter Extravaganza, we enjoyed a low-water, late-afternoon Wenatchee run. It’s a different river at this level – the area around Rodeo Hole was entirely flat! Barely could call it class III except for some light maneuvering in Rock n Roll and Snowblind. A repeat mission the next day took advantage of on-the-fly waves and surprisingly good surfing at Granny’s.
Jule
4/30 & 5/1/2011
Middle Fork Snoqualmie – Club Stretch (II), 900cfs
S Fork Skykomish – Beckler River to Money Creek (II), 1500cfs (3300 on Main Sky)
Participants: 17 people – all boats gone from the club shed!
The first WW class of the season went great, all the students did really well and the weather was gorgeous! We paddled the lake and the Club Stretch the first day, and the S Fork Sky the second day. Both runs were pretty low, and very friendly. Thanks again from Jeff and me to all the safety boaters who generously contributed their time! A few pictures are on the club facebook page, if you have more, please add them:
http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/group.php?gid=2201438551&v=wall
Jule
4/9/11
Main Sky, class III(IV), 4000cfs
Participants: Andrew (Project 52), Scott, Robbie, Jule, & special guest Damon.
Another good day on the home run. Andrew styled his first personal descent of the mighty Boulder Drop (we all did the Needle), which is pretty impressive at this higher-than-recommended-for-first-descend level. However, the river quickly evened out fortunes by sucking Andrew into Lunch Hole. The surf wave on the bottom of Aquagasm was trashy, and Split Rock wave mostly washed out, and it was cloudy and cold. Can’t wait to go back!
Jeff Bowman
4/2/2011
Wenatchee, Peshashtin to Cashmere
Participants: Jeff, Jule, Janelle (Green Diesel), Mark, also joining non club members Chris and Johnathon.
Level: ~7g at Peshashtin
This is a little early in the season for the Wenatchee, but it came in on rain and warm temps. Snow level came down to 2000 ft but the Wenatchee miraculously stayed in on what was presumable lower level melt (this is pretty unusual, maybe an early season phenom.). I think we all thought the cool temps were a pretty good trade for a great day. There was a small amount of surf available at Rodeo (this feature has clearly changed), Turkey Shoot was fantastic, and some in the part hit there first boof off the lowhead. Future trips should not that normal access to the lowhead is blocked, skirt across the boom and stay close to the concrete structure to access. The trip back was epic… rock scambling, BBQ, blizzards, closed passes. All in all a highly memorable day. Mark has some pix up at: https://picasaweb.google.com/113126773740231581117/WenatcheeApril2nd2011?authkey=Gv1sRgCJ-6n4T26JnjXw#
Jule
3/24/2011
Skykomish (Boulder Drop to Big Eddy, class III), 2100cfs
Participants: Zdenek (yellow diesel), Daril (burn S), Jevin, Andrew (project 52), Shane, Kennet, Jeramy, Jule
Oh blessed daylight savings time! We can do after-work trips again (that is, if your work ends at 3pm). We ran the Sky from BD down to BE, some putting in above, some below BD. This adds most of the nicest rapids of the Main Sky run, so it’s perfect for a group ready to step up to class III. So many good things: The water is starting to feel a little less brutal. No swims. Good rolls. Colorful little boats drifting along under the snowy face of Mt Index.
Jule
2/19/2011
Canyon Creek Lewis (class IV), 430cfs
Participants: Jeff, Connor (burn L), Kennet, Mark, Emma, Robbie, Jule
Jule
2/12/11
Lower Green River Gorge (class III), 1500cfs
Participants: Soyoung (green diesel), Charlie (orange fun), Zdenek (yellow diesel), Lynn, Scott, Jule.
The lower gorge run starts off with a bang, relatively speaking. We put in at Paradise, where even the scramble to the river is class IV. We played for a bit, and the hole gave up some loops for Scott. Then right off the bat come several nice class III rapids, which everyone styled with lots and lots of combat rolls. Lynn sustained a small but impressively bloody eyebrow laceration after battling the river bottom – we need full face helmets to preserve our beauty! After that things get more mellow, but the rapids are still really fun class II+, interspersed with increasing stretches of flatwater and rumblings from the crowd wondering where the takeout is (spoiled brats). Lots of eagles and waterfalls and gorgeousness all around.
After the lower gorge, Charlie, Scott and I did the upper gorge. Figuring out how to do the shuttle made my brain melt , but it was totally worth it.
Photos are on the club facebook site.
Jule
2/5/11
S Fork Skykomish (class II), 4000cfs
Participants: Zdenek (yellow diesel), Lynn, Josh, Jeff, Jule.
It seems like every weekend we’ve been getting a big spike of rain, which kinda limits options for beginner trips. We weren’t sure what we were going to find on the S Fork Sky at this high level, but it turned out to still be easy class II. We put in on the Beckler river at the bridge, which added about a mile of fun II+ rapids to the run.
Janelle Deane
Trip location: Snoqualmie, Middle-Fork (Middle-Middle)
Date: 02/13/2011
Number of paddlers: 5: Carla (green Diesel), Janelle (green Diesel), Josh (own boat), Robby (own boat) and Mark (own boat)
Flow/current: 1200 cfs
Left the WAC at 11 30. Set up a super speedy shuttle and we were on the river by 130. The river was a little bumpy in a few places but all in all was a great level. A few combat rolls, one swim at house rock and great snow speckled mountains were had!
Janelle Deane
Trip location: Snoqualmie, Middle-Fork (Club Stretch)
Date: 02/06/2011
Number of paddlers: 7 : Connor (blue Burn), Carla (red Jackson), Janelle (Diesel), Kesley (green Diesel),Tara (piranha), Marisa (green Diesel) and Mark (own boat)
Flow/current: 2000 cfs
Met at the WAC sharply at 11 am. Had a great gaggling group for this trip! The weather held up for us to get some mystic views of Mt. Si. There were a few swims on the very last rapid and a couple a people even did a second lap on it! Overall it was a fantastic beginner trip.
Jule
11/27/2010
Skykomish – Big Eddy (II+), 2200 cfs
Participants: George, Janelle (green Diesel), Josh, Jule, Ruth (representing Stanford Kayak Club!), Shane, Sylvia (green Diesel)
Whoopee! The inaugural trip report is here to report a snowy and gorgeous run on Big Eddy, full of parking shenanigans in the snow, sliding seal launches in the snow, and of course sleet falling on our heads! One swim in Fishermens and a few nice combat rolls, but most paddlers were highly motivated to keep their hair dry.
Pictures (thanks to George):
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=1878859&id=1406683860#!/photo.php?pid=1878858&o=all&op=1&view=all&subj=2201438551&id=1406683860