| 2 - Nooksack Falls to Douglas Fir Campground |
Nooksack, N. Fork
Class IV+
2.5Miles
Avg Gradient 75 fpm
Max Gradient 110 fpm
River Mapplet
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| County |
Whatcom |
| Put In Longitude |
-121.874739 |
| Put In Latitude |
48.90371 |
| Take Out Longitude |
-121.911667585373 |
| Take Out Latitude |
48.9019677405806 |
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Gauge Information (Professor Paddle updated levels from NF NOOKSACK RIVER BL CASCADE at 9/10/2010 12:45:08 PM)
| Gauge |
Forecast |
Height |
Current Flow |
Authority |
Physical Update |
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NF NOOKSACK RIVER BL CASCADE
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NWRFC | FC Page |
2.54 |
500 cfs
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USGS - NWIS |
09/10/2010 12:15 PDT |
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Minimum Recomended Level: 350 cfs Maximum Recomended Level: 2000 cfs
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AccessPaved shuttle, with Riverside walking Trail |
Putin DetailsDrive northeast on the Mount Baker HWY from the take out. Around 2 miles gravel pull outs begin appearing. Use the 3rd pull out which is the largest. look for a Purple Care Bear Shoe and a cloud of smoke. |
Takeout DetailsTake out at the Bridge that crosses over the N. Fork Nooksack just east of the town of Glacier. |
Run Description [Season: Year Round]The North Fork of the Nooksack is one of the Bellingham Staple Runs. It does not take more than 1 lap to figure out why. Within the first mile your running through class III rapids and easing into class IV. By the beginning of the second mile your looking at a solid couple hundred meters of quality whitewater. The shuttles short, the river has sweet trail from the takeout right along the river to the beginning of the quality at the Bench. You can do hiking laps on the quality till you are spent. And thats why the Locals love the Bend!
The run begins with a few turns of class II-III which gradually pickup when you reach a wall of wood with a blind corner and significantly more whitewater than the beginning. This Rapid is called Entrance.
Just after Entrance you will arrive at a fun flume style rapid that has a few nice lateral holes and diagonals which is run down the middle. A few eddy turns later you come to the Dangler or S turn. This sweet little guy is a nice wave that leads around a boulder and then up and over a sweet boof ledge. As you continue from here the pace picks up until you reach the Bench Drop. Bench Drop is the largest ledge on the run and also named from the Bench that spectators sit and watch from.
Right after Bench are a few fun ledges that end in a great series of holes in the center of the river. Practice your boofs as you sail them all but don't get too far right since there are little pieces of wood hanging out.
The final big rapid is SAT which is aptly named as the Bellingham students are sure to be found working on academics and not aquatics near this sweet boulder garden. A nice beginning ledge and then a fun series of S turns around holes and boulders ends the difficult rapids of the run.
A final class III boulder garden that ends with a sweet eddy on river left awaits paddlers with extra energy to burn. See how many times you can make the attainment!
As you finish the run and see the bridge, be sure to try for the last big boof off the angled rock in the center of the River!
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