Professor Paddle: a few days of boating in the shadow of mt R vanlinelogistics.com Seattle Washington (WA) Warehousing & Order Fulfillment vanlinelogistics.com Seattle Washington (WA) Warehousing & Order Fulfillment vanlinelogistics.com Seattle Washington (WA) Commercial Relocation vanlinelogistics.com Warehousing & Order Fulfillment
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rhoyerboat
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  Quote rhoyerboat Replybullet Topic: a few days of boating in the shadow of mt R
    Posted: 26 Oct 2014 at 11:19pm
Hi Everyone!

Nice site.


I am attempting to put together a plan for boating in the greater Seattle area / points east sometime in the near future. (Will be arriving from and returning to the east, as in Montana.)


I am especially looking to paddle some stout IV+

I know absolutely nobody in the area.

Length of stay would be 3,4 or 5 days, depending on blah.

Current level of fitness: been staying on my toes running class III stuff in a squirt boat, bicycling. It has been pretty dry in my world for too long, not for complete lack of boating, but for lack of super-high-quality boating. WAY dry in Montana right now!

Safety gear: wanting loopage and carabeeners - also wanted, an outfitter that actually has some drytops / a breakdown in stock. Missoula Montana is not a great place to buy WW gear.)

This is my rough list of want-to-hits -  :


looks like good day 1 !!
Nooksack, N Fork (2 - Nooksack Falls to Douglas Fir Campground) http://www.professorpaddle.com/rivers/riverdetails.asp?riverid=527

an absolute must do:
Canyon Creek (Lewis) http://www.professorpaddle.com/rivers/riverdetails.asp?riverid=365

Also wanted:
Cooper River (Waterfall to Cle Elum River) http://www.professorpaddle.com/rivers/riverdetails.asp?riverid=405
Foss (Big Y to Railroad Trestle) http://www.professorpaddle.com/rivers/riverdetails.asp?riverid=437

 broken coords fed to the map application ?? Not sure where this is exactly right now, I'll dig it up later..
 Lewis, E. Fork (Sunset Falls to Horseshoe Falls) http://www.professorpaddle.com/rivers/riverdetails.asp?riverid=486



Comments, smart remarks, suggested rendesvous or other runs ?

After looking over the beta on this site I am planning on coming to Seatle area quite frequently until say .. springtime in Montana .. ;)


Anyway, please PM me if you have any suggestions - planning a 3-4 day trip to run IV+ when you don't know anyone is rather daunting .. I'd like to pack the car tonight but I don't think that would be practical. I would especially appreciate hearing from people who get some of the runs on my list on an after-work basis and would happily grovel before them for an introductory run.

happy floating yall
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not-very-clever
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  Quote not-very-clever Replybullet Posted: 27 Oct 2014 at 7:43am
if you dont have a dry suit, better off not coming to washington state in the fall... or even in the spring for that matter.  it might as well be winter here right now anyways.  hopefully i am misinterpreting your WW gear needs.

the cooper is primarily a spring time run, i have never heard of anyone running it in the fall but i might be wrong. the foss can be a fall time run, but harder to nail down due to the flashiness of it. 

a good itinerary could be hitting tumwater canyon on your way over on the wenatchee depending on flows. then going straight to the skykomish, a staple run always with plenty of water, a 50 classic run.
then head north to the nooksack is a good idea, the bend and the canyon are good. maybe hit the sauk too since its in the vicinity.

or if you wanted to head south from highway 2, go to the green near seattle, it is a 50 classic run.  and then continue to head south to the Tilton and if you get on canyon creek and the lewis, by golly that would be a great trip. 

usually easy to find paddling partners on runs near seattle, harder the farther away you go.

good luck, and dont come without a dry suit
http://www.precisionmotions.wordpress.com
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irenen
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  Quote irenen Replybullet Posted: 27 Oct 2014 at 10:28am
For deals on drysuits you can try Kayak Academy

http://www.kayakacademy.com/pages/store/used.html#drysuits

Those are used and if you click the link at the top of that page it takes you to specials on new ones.

We were wondering about the Cooper too, it looks like it's in right now and we were thinking there probably wouldn't be snow making things impossible - anyone know for sure?


It's all fun and games until someone loses a paddle.
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rhoyerboat
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  Quote rhoyerboat Replybullet Posted: 27 Oct 2014 at 8:24pm
Thanks for the link to Kayak Academy, awesome! I'll be grabbing a rental while my tailored new Kokatat Gore-Tex is being built..

(Got away with a lot of wintertime heavy-mil weitsuit runs in Colorado in the driving snow but never had an epic swim in those situations and there wasn't as much winter boating. When in Rome ... )


I'll be out to go boating on Saturday afternoon.. http://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/okawen/alerts-notices/?cid=stelprdb5376262 this seems to say 4600 Cooper road is open, even if the campgrounds are not - although may be worth a call to the ranger station? Video of the run makes it looks like a lot of fun, scenic, clean pool-drop..
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irenen
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  Quote irenen Replybullet Posted: 28 Oct 2014 at 10:22am
On Sat. there's a kayaking event on the Sky River, people are racing the upper (includes Boulder Drop) and lower sections and I think a lot of people will be around just in general, if you are not already hooked up with a bunch of boaters that would probably be a good place to meet a lot of kayakers in one place and it's also a great run. Here's the link:

http://www.professorpaddle.com/reviews/review.asp?reviewid=103
It's all fun and games until someone loses a paddle.
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oukr9965
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  Quote oukr9965 Replybullet Posted: 28 Oct 2014 at 10:23am
plenty of free camping at the cooper on the road up to the put-in; you shouldn't have a problem there. Never seen the gauge reading "in" this time of year....anyone know if it's just an anomaly or is indeed in?
-Lanson
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mikenash
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  Quote mikenash Replybullet Posted: 30 Oct 2014 at 9:28pm
Im hoping to paddle Icicle on sat and cooper/cle elum sun. If levels stay good. Give me a txt/call if this fits your plan.
Mike, 206 799 8687
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