[Paddlewise] whitewater trip report

 It's raining again in Seattle after a long dry summer, and our rivers are
coming back to life.  Yesterday, I ran a river for the first time in many
months, and I had a wonderful time.
 
 I met several of my good friends in Seattle, and then drove up to the
Skykomish River to run the Sunset Falls stretch, which is class III. At
the put-in we met several more friends to make a total of eight paddlers.
A quick change and shuttle, and then we carried our boats down a steep
hill to the river. 
 The put-in is about as beautiful as put-ins get. The river thunders 120'
down Sunset Falls, and huge Mt. Index looms directly above the river. All
of the peaks visible had a significant dusting of snow, making them even
more dramatic. We could see salmon leaping out of the water trying to jump
the falls. They cannot, of course; instead they must find their way into a
holding pen at which point they herded into a truck and carried several
miles upstream above three sets of falls. One of the fisheries science
grad students in our group was rather amused by this process -- she called
it dumb.
 The put-in itself present two options. One is to perch on a low sloping
granite slab and then slide five feet into the river. Sometimes this can
get a little slippery, but it is really easy and most people use this. The
other option is to set your kayak on top of a large boulder and "seal
launch" into the river. At 1,500 cfs, this is about a 10' drop. The rock
itself is the friendliest seal launch spot I have ever seen; it is very
difficult to screw up and get hurt; thanks to a gently rounded lip and
deep pool below. I think this option is actually easier, and of course
much more fun. Most of us elected for the seal lauch, and the one person
who took the sloping slab lost control of his boat and had to jump into
the water to retrieve his escaping boat.
  Just below lies "First Wave", which is a very polular and friendly
surfing wave. We spent a long time here re-learning how to surf and
warming up stiff bodies.. For me, surfing is the ultimate expression of
freedom and creativity in kayaking, but this time I felt like a goon and
couldn't hardly stay on the wave. Eventually I started to get my old
reflexes back, and I went for a cartwheel. Immediately I got a cramp in
right leg and had to spend a little while on shore straightening it out.
Back on the water for afew more surfs and felt much better than before, so
I tried another cartwheel and got yet another cramp in my other leg.
Almost certainly a sign of approaching old age...
  Below first wave there are several very enjoyable rapids in a very
beautiful canyon setting. We saw several salmon and many different vies of
Mt Index. And of course we played on every little wave, hole, or pourover
that we could find. What fun it is to play and paddle on crystal clear
cold mountain water. The Skykomish is one of the most pristine watersheds
left in this state, and it shows.
  Eventually we got to Anderson Hole, which is a very good play hole at
1,500 cfs -- at higher levels it gets a little "munchy". Somehow I never
play very much at this hole, because I know that Boulder Drop is just
below. Boulder Drop is a long technical class IV rapid set in amongst some
huge granite boulders. This is the hardest rapid on the river, and many
paddlers who can make the rest of the run portage this drop. 1,500 cfs is
an easy level relatively speaking, as the water moves somewhat slowly and
does not "push" so much. The required moves still need precision, but I
had no trouble making the ferries and catching the eddies even in my SLOW
7'9" playboat. Everybody else also had a clean run. I like the challenge
of this drop, and the waves and holes are bigger here than elsewhere on
the river, which does add a certain element of fun, especially at the
bottom where the rapid is almost over. 

 After boulder drop, everyone always feels some sense of relief and the
rest of the run is just pure joy. We played and surfed our way to the
take-out, as the sun came out and lighted up our souls. There is a lot of
camraderie involved in running a river with a group of good friends. As a
whole, the experience is tough to match. Later in the evening, we
converged at my house for dutch-oven lasagna and a soak in the hot tub.

  Well, I can see out the window that it is still raining heavily today.
Maybe next weekend I will get to run the middle section of the Middle Fork
of the Snoqualmie River, also called the Middle Middle. This is my
favortie river in the state.

 Cheers,
Kevin

	 ___________________                                                            
	/   Kevin Whilden   \
       |Dept. of Geosciences \___
       |University of Washington \
       |kwhilden_at_u.washington.edu| 
        \________________________/                       

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