Methow River 05/09

We loaded the trailer and headed east to Pateros to raft in the sun. The drive from Seattle to Pateros is just short of 200 miles so we were anxious to get on the road after working all week. We made great time getting over Snoqualmie Pass then over Blewitt Pass and managed to get ahead of any Friday traffic. After making it to Hwy 2. we stopped at Rusty's Drive-In (a favorite stop after Wenatchee River runs) to grab a milkshake. We let Lily walk around in the grass a bit and watched her try her first milkshake before heading out of Cashmere for the last half of the drive.
We made it to Alta Lake State Park a little before 8. As soon as we arrived I dropped the trailer grabbed a drink and wandered over the the campfire to visit with some of the rafters I hadn't seen since last year. As soon as I sat down the "ribbing's" began and we spent the evening around the fire laughing at the stories from years past often at the expense of someones pride.
7am arrived early and most folks were up and heading to the Sweet River Bakery http://www.sweetriverbakery.com/ for some fresh pastries and locally roasted Blue Star coffee. After breakfast we shuttled vehicles and set up gear at the put-in. The weather was already in the 70's before we hit the water and soon to reach the mid-80's. The water level was slightly above 2300cfs - pretty low for a river that is often run well above the 7000cfs level. I had never run the Methow this low but it did make for numerous spots that usually get washed out at higher levels to practice my surfing and eddy techniques. All 8 boats worked their way down the 16 miles of river, including through the Class IV Black Canyon, without any major issues. We made it to the take out, broke down the gear and headed the couple miles back to camp. After returning to camp we cleaned up our gear, took hot showers (individually), changed and got ready for a BBQ and another evening hanging around the campfire talking trash.
Sunday morning I climbed out of bed and took my turn at bringing back some lattes and mochas for some of the gang. With a smaller group this morning (2 catboats, 1 paddle raft, 1 R-2 raft & me in a 14' oar boat) we got on the river with little hassle. The water level was very close to Saturday so it was another good practice day for me - I spent most of the 16 miles "making my own fun" - I only had to practice my solo-high-siding skills 8-10 times today - of course this was while spinning around numerous times in a hole I was trying to surf - apparently my high-siding skills were mightier than the Methow today and I managed come out facing forward after pouncing from corner-to-corner-to-corner trying to keep the boat bottom side down, good practice for the Lochsa I guess!
We skipped lunch and glided through Black Canyon to make it to the take-out in about 4 hours. I managed to get back to camp, get everything situated for the drive home, hook up the trailer and get on the road around 3-ish. Lily was exhausted from spending all day playing in the lake with Diane and Karen so as soon as we got on the road she took the nap I wanted to take.
We followed the Wenatchee River along Hwy2 anticipating our planned rafting weekends in June. After hearing a radio commercial that played mariachi music in the background Diane and I both decided that Mexican Food sounded like a necessary stop. So we stopped at my second favorite patio in Leavenworth - Los Camperos http://www.loscamperos.com/ (Gustav's is my favorite patio in Leavenworth! http://www.gustavsleavenworth.com/) After sitting out on the patio for a while we walked back to the car and headed back over Steven's Pass. Once we made it home we took the next couple hours to unload everything and start packing it up again for this weekend's trip to Idaho to run the Lochsa River - it's never ending battle!

Stats:
Methow River - Class IV-
McFarland Creek Access to Pateros
Miles Logged: 16 each day (32)
Flow Data: 2300cfs & 2400cfs
Photo credits go to TomY and Lindsey (aka. Jessica) - thanks!

Lake 22 & Twentytwo Creek

We met Tom and Lindsey at Starbucks at 7am and jumped on the road towards the Mountain Loop Highway. The original plan was to attempt to work our way through the snow up to Barlow Pass then snowshoe the 4 miles to the ghost town of Monte Cristo http://www.mcpa.us/ . Since we knew the snow on the road this early would likely be an issue we made back plans to hike to Lake 22 just in case. After chatting with the ranger we determined that even if we could make it through the snow up to the pass we would not be able to make it through the big steel gate blocking the road to get to the snow - so Lake 22 it is!
We set off from the trail head about 9-ish and were 2 of the 5 cars in the parking area (no leash for Maggie today!). The trail starts out uphill and continues that way for almost all of the 2.7 miles for a total gain of approx. 1400 ft. The path stays pretty much stays within earshot of Twentytwo Creek the entire way and crosses smaller creeks several times. The larger crossings have foot bridges but for the smaller ones you get to practice rock hopping or just splash your way through. This puts you in site of numerous waterfalls. According to the guide book we saw Appron Falls, Confusion Falls, Humpback Falls, Hundred Step Falls and Mossy Rock Falls (though I have no idea which was which since I refuse to be that guy walking around in the woods reading the guidebook unless absolutely necessary) They were all nice to look at even though they were nameless to me. About a mile and a half into the climb we found snow which soon covered the entire area. Being as this was our first attempt at the hike we were following footsteps in the snow of others that we hoped knew their way. This early in the day the snow was still solid enough (I only sunk to my crotch once) we were able to make it to the lake without strapping on the snowshoes.
Once we reached the lake it was quite site. It was still close to 90% frozen with 6-8 feet of snow on the ground and perfectly sunny day. We managed to work our way down onto the bridge that crosses over Twentytwo Creek for a nice spot to sit in the sun without getting our butts wet. The bridge allowed us to eat lunch and keep Maggie & Lily somewhat contained. Probably the best part of sitting there looking out over the lake was watching the numerous small avalanches slide down the face of Mt. Pilchuck and cascade over the cliffs - actually even cooler than watching it was hearing the sounds they made.
After an hour of so of enjoying the snow, sun, and a bottle of wine more and more people started arriving at the lake so we decided it would be a good time to head down. The hike back was a bit slippery as the snow had softened quite a bit. After a few falls (some hilarious!) Tom gave Diane and Lindsey a quick lesson on planting their heels - after that we made a pretty good pace.
On the way down we passed quite a few people - far more than I expected considering there was still snow on the ground. By the time we reached the parking are it was near full and more cars were pulling in.
We decided we should probably head to Red Hook Brewery http://www.redhook.com/as quickly as possible. So the day began with bagels and fresh Starbucks and ended with burgers and fresh Red Hook - Not a bad day!

Cispus River 0509

Sunday morning after running the Green the day before followed by stuffing ourselves at Kevin's house we rolled out of bed (or in my case rolled off Kevin's couch) around 7:30 and started gathering gear. The weather was looking great and the Cispus River was coming up to a more run able level at 1410cfs. Since there were only five of us with four boats we loaded up, hit the BK drive through and were on the road pretty quick.
After a brief conversation with "old-man Denny" in the grocery store parking lot in Randle about the river conditions and hazards we promised him we would leave him a note at the take out of any hazards we encountered on the river so he wouldn’t kill himself on his next run down the river. We in deed did leave a note on the tree as promised but that doesn’t mean he won’t kill himself – we can only do so much for others that try this stuff!
We made it to the put in as the sun was burning through the cloud cover. The sun was so nice I even took a brief nap on Tom’s trailer before we jumped on the river. We set up and were on the river by noon. The water was low but it was still a good time. We enjoyed the warm sun pretty much the entire 8 miles to the take out. I wish I had taken more pictures on the trip since this in a favorite river of mine and the weather and scenery is spectacular.
Since we didn’t really make any stops along the way, except to watch each other run White Lightning, we completed the run in about 3 hours. And most importantly I was home in time for dinner!
Stats:
Cispus River (Upper) - Class IV
Miles Logged: 8
Flow Data: 1410cfs

Green River Clean Up - 24th Annual 05/09

Saturday several club members, including myself, attended the annual Green River Cleanup. This has happening each spring for many years though it was the first time I was able to attend. This trip through the 10 mile Class IV Green River Gorge was not a trip where we took a bunch of passengers out for the day. This trip was only open to guides and guide-trainees as it is our chance to "give back to the river & community" by picking up some garbage and squeezing in a little fun at the same time. We met at the put in a 7am which meant I had to be on the road around 5am so I was able to sleep in an extra half hour today! The setup went fairly smooth which was good since the shuttle on the river is a 45 minute drive each way. This worked out okay too since Tom was able to take a nice nap in the bed of my truck during the drive back to the put-it. The weather called for a forecast of "partly crappy" with some rain expected. As usual they were wrong again! The weather was cloudy but in the mid-50's with only a few minutes of light sprinkles after we were already on the river. The river was low but still quite runnable near 1400cfs. I was a little worried since Friday morning the river was at 863cfs until they began releasing more water for all the boaters on Saturday.

We made it down the river without any issues (though that was almost changed by me running the catboat sideways through The Nozzle with one oar - don't ask - just know I made it!) and were able to do our part to save the planet from the onslaught of vile river trash. We managed to fill a couple rafts with junk we found on the rivers edge. John Catron and Allison actually got to fill their boat up twice! This amazing feat was accomplished after offering the collected trash back to the river during a lovely high side maneuver and then regaining possession of the garbage after another boater captured and then surrendered the treasure back to John and Alli further downstream. What team work!

After close to 6 hours of Class IV boating I was ready to get off the river and out of my wet gear & find some food - Capri Suns, Power Bars and beef jerky will only satisfy you for so long!

Stats:

Green River Gorge - Class IV

Miles Logged: 14

Flow Data: 1410cfs

Jetty Island - Sunset, Whales and a Friendly Harbor Seal

Sunday evening around 5pm Ben and I put the kayaks in the water at the Everett Marina and planned to circle Jetty Island before sunset. At near 60 degrees a clear sky and no wind the weather was spectacular to get out.

First we headed towards the north end of Jetty Island where the Snohomish River meets the sound. We passed through the area which is used for log storage though today there were no logs around only hundreds of lonely pilings dotting the area. Also near the mouth of the river they have grounded probably a dozen old ocean going wood barges. It was really cool to get up close to these and see the workmanship that was involved in putting the rotting hulks together. The tide was high enough that we were actually able to paddle into one of them. Some of the wood beams on these barges were massive - you would probably not be able to acquire wood this big anymore - and if you were able to find one it would likely have 40 chanting hippies chained to it as you cut it down!

After exploring the barges we headed back out into the channel towards Hat Island. Since the wind and current were almost nonexistent at that time even I had no trouble keeping a straight line. Once we got out to the channel marker roughly half way to the island we circled back around towards the south end of Jetty.

Nearly halfway back we came near a small fishing boat (I guess you'd call it that, to me it looked more like a large bathtub with an outboard motor strapped to it). The folks on board were busy dropping several crab pots. As the boat got near us the lady on board asked where we were heading from and Ben told her we came out from the marina. She then said "I can't believe you guys are out here with the whales." By the way she was talking I was thinking the crab lady may have had a few too many! Not less the 20 seconds later a gray whale surfaced a couple hundred yards just north of us it was amazing and all I could think was "WOW! - maybe she not as drunk as she sounds???" Well we worked our way around their boat (at a safe distance) and continued towards Jetty.

On the way back we stopped several times to watch the whales playing in the warm shallow waters near us. We did our best to keep our distance. There were a few minutes there where we were wondering if we were going to get to meet them on a more personal level as one, maybe two, of them appeared to be heading our direction before turning north and passing in front of us. These guys are huge they looked like Greyhound buses that could swim! In the 20-30 minutes they were out there with us I counted at least four we were able to identify individually but my guess is there were more.

After the whales moved north past us we continued around the south end of the Jetty where I was surprisingly greeted by a very curious harbor seal. Man those guys are cool - very friendly. As Ben put it "they're like a dog.....but they swim" and that's really the best way to describe him. As a matter of fact he was so friendly he followed us all the way from the end of the jetty past the waterfront restaurants through the middle of the marina and almost all the way back to the boat launch. One couple walking near the restaurant actually asked if he was ours!

Wow what an evening we planned on paddling 4 miles and ended up going closer to 9. We planned on it not being a very adventurous trip and it ended up being one if the most exciting times I've had a quite a while.

Sorry I didn't get any pictures on the whales being that it was only my second time on open water in a sea kayak I didn't want to take my chances that close to them!

Stats:

Miles Logged: 9

One Highway & Three Dead Ends

This morning we decided to take off and explore the Mountain Loop Highway (WA. SR 530). Diane found a couple hikes up there she wanted to check out. I knew it was a little early in the season to attempt to make the entire loop over Barlow Pass due to the snow and since the road on the north side of the pass is not paved (roughly 25 miles of mostly smooth dirt, mud and gravel) I decided to start from the north end of the loop outside the town of Darrington with the hope we could make it to the trail head before getting stopped by snow.

We drove through Darrington in the rain with more dark clouds heading our way. I was beginning to think this could be a messy day. Less than 10 minutes out of Darrington, and inside the National Forest, the pavement gave way to a wet gravel road. We followed the "highway" another 16 miles and turned off on FS49 to reach the trail head about a mile up the hill. The walk to North Fork Sauk Waterfall. This hike to the waterfall was only 5 minutes from the car but defiantly worth all the effort. The falls here are said to be only 58' high but the water rushes off a 90 degree drop and the sound of the canyon walls are worth the walk by itself - here is better picture a pro took: http://www.waterfallsnorthwest.com/nws/image.php?st=WA&num=277&p=0

After taking a few pictures we climbed back up to the truck and headed up FS49 to reach our next hike. After less than a mile I had to turn around due to the road still being covered with fresh snow - I thought about attempting to push on but then thought I have nobody to pull me out if I manage to do something "spectacular" and it will be a long cold night out here with no sleeping bags. Looks like a dead end!

Once back on the main road we continued south towards the pass but again at the elevation we were only made it a couple more miles before we were confronted with with snow. This snow looked much more manageable as it looked to have been driven through be several others. That's when I looked up the road and realized 30 yards ahead the road was completely blocked by a large tree that had fallen - this explains why there were so many tire tracks in the snow...they had to drive through it twice! Dead end #2!

After we turned around again we pulled off the road next to a creek and parked under a giant cedar tree to have some lunch. The tree blocked pretty much all the rain, and now some snow, so we got out of the car and tailgated it for a few minutes. After lunch Lily and Maggie played in the snow then we headed back down the mountain.

On the way down the road was getting pretty muddy from the rain but it wasn't really enough to slow down for. Near the end of the highway we turned off on to FS23 that runs north along the river. This road was a pretty messy. The road was covered with small tree limbs and branches and the parts the were not covered were mud - it look as if nobody had driven on this road recently. About 1.5-2 miles down the road I found out why....there was no more road! The river, which was currently flowing 30 feet below the road, had completely washed out the side of the mountain taking the road with it. Dead end #3!

After coming to our third dead end in three hours we decided to call it done.