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JoesKayak
Rio Banditos
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 Posted: 22 Nov 2009 at 7:42am |
Ugh... the DOE gages stopped updating data last night (as they sometimes do) so can't get a reading on the Pilchuck today. Based on other rivers.. it may be in, but likely a bit lower than yesterday.
Anyone want to get a visual and see if it's in? Or just run something else? SF Stilly and Sauk both look good today.
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SupaSta
Big Boofer
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 Posted: 22 Nov 2009 at 8:48pm |
What's a good flow for this run so it's not too boney or pushy?
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water wacko
Master Poster
Team Jackson
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 Posted: 23 Nov 2009 at 2:32am |
1500-2000 on the DOE gauge. 6000-11000 on NF Stilly gauge is what AW calls for.
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Wiggins
PP Junkie
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 Posted: 23 Nov 2009 at 3:06am |
The middle section runs lower than the upper, For the upper section You want at least 1000 cfs. The lower section runs as low as 700 cfs without having to portage the falls, I have done the middle as low as 500. It is doable at that level, but you will definitley leave a lot of plastic on the rocks (and walk the falls).
Kyle
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JoesKayak
Rio Banditos
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 Posted: 23 Nov 2009 at 7:40am |
Originally posted by SupaSta
What's a good flow for this run so it's not too boney or pushy? I ran it this weekend twice. Saturday we had levels dropping from 1000 to 800 which equaled about 4.0 to 3.8 feet on the stick gague. Sunday it was steady at 4.1 feet on the stick... which I'd guess as 1,100-1,200 or so (the online gage stopped reporting data Saturday night). It was good to go on both days, but it would have started getting boney if we went much lower, so 900 cfs is probably a good bottom end level. I haven't run it high, so I'll defer to those who have for upper level. There is also the rock gage at the bridge, I've taken a couple pics of it at different levels. I'll post them when I get a chance.
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arnobarno
Big Boofer
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 Posted: 23 Nov 2009 at 8:54am |
Some of the information from AW's site about flows is not internally consistent between what it says about flows on the Upper and Lower, rock gauges, cfs correlations, etc. AW says, If water is only just reaching the rock but
not really flowing up on it then you probably
want to skip this upper section and just paddle
the
middle section. If water is flowing up over
the rock then this is the level where the upper
section becomes boatable (around 4.5,
approx. 1390 cfs). But, yesterday the gauge was 4.2 when we put on and a little over 4.1 when we took off. And, water was just flowing over the rock (different than what AW says). As an aside, the reading at the time of take-out is much more indicative of the water level while one is paddling if one is traveling at roughly the speed of the water and the gauge is at the takeout. This wasn't a big deal for us yesterday as it was surprisingly steady but given the flashy nature of this run and a typical .1 (or more) foot drop (or rise) per hour, it could be a big deal.
I have nothing to compare it too since it was my first time down but things seemed relatively padded out on both the upper and lower. We utilized a put-in about 3/4 mile further upstream thanks to a suggestion by Matt. That gave us about a mile of class III boogie water as a warm-up before beginning the Upper run. The Upper run has better action but the Middle run is much more scenic (or maybe I was overdosing on adrenaline too much to notice on the Upper!). We must have seen a dozen waterfalls from the sides of the canyons on the Middle section and at least two eagles (we saw the same eagle multiple time, I think). Thanks to Dave, Bryon, Joe and Matt for assistance on my first-d!
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jP
Rio Banditos
Diddle Fuerte Diablo !
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 Posted: 23 Nov 2009 at 4:31pm |
here's what I have down in my river log for the two times I ran it. I'm not 100% sure how accurate my numbers are, but they should be close.
1/11/09: 4.5' on stick gauge, or 1500-2000 cfs. Rock above HWY 9 bridge pouring over, but the porover was above the surface of the rest of the river flowing by it. This was a great "medium high" level. I liked it enough to go back...
10/31/09: 4.85' on stick gauge, or 2000-2500 cfs. The above mentioned pourover was sunk down into the muddy water, with a fat, velvety brown curtain of water only about 4" tall. The upstream hump of the pourover was barely raised above the rest of the river's surface. Definitely higher than the trip on 1/11, and much more fun, IMO. The river was closer to bank full. I'd call it the higher end of Medium High. Maybe the Lower end of "Highwater". I don't know. That stuff is always subjective. All I know is that's the flow I like it best: I give the whole run (Upper and Middle combined) a solid IV rating, or maybe a IV- rating, with some IV+ spots, and lots of bigwater class III+. It's very continuous and that's why I call it a solid IV at that flow. It had a few in our group huffing and puffing and needing an eddy to rest in from time to time, and it had one guy paddling into wood in a delerious stupor. I give it a IV.
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JoesKayak
Rio Banditos
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 Posted: 24 Nov 2009 at 1:42pm |
The gauge is finally back to reporting data including all the data from the weekend. It looks like on Sunday we had about 1200 cfs, and the stick gauge was showing 4.1 to 4.2.
That seemed like a great medium flow to me for both sections.
Edited by JoesKayak - 24 Nov 2009 at 1:43pm
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jP
Rio Banditos
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 Posted: 25 Nov 2009 at 10:20am |
sounds about right.
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huckin harms
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 Posted: 26 Nov 2009 at 9:27am |
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arnobarno
Big Boofer
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 Posted: 26 Nov 2009 at 10:21am |
I wonder about that, Mike. It looks like it will be quite high today, but what do I know.
The day that JP & crew did the high water Pilchuck run a few weeks ago, the Pilchuck gauge stopped collecting data so it was unclear of the flow (but > 2500 cfs). That day, the NF Stilly gauge peaked at just under 14K (according to AW, 6K-11K on NF Stilly is a good suggested range for the Upper Pilchuck). Today, the Pilchuck gauge again looks stalled as it is soaring, and the NF Stilly just peaked at 25K (almost double the flow of the high water day).
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arnobarno
Big Boofer
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 Posted: 26 Nov 2009 at 10:24am |
Some more info: HEAVY RAIN OVER THE CASCADES OVERNIGHT WILL DRIVE THE STILLAGUAMISH RIVER AT ARLINGTON JUST ABOVE FLOOD STAGE THIS MORNING. THE HEAVY RAIN HAS ALREADY TAPERED OFF THIS MORNING...BUT JUST ENOUGH HAS FALLEN OVERNIGHT TO PUSH THE RIVER ABOVE FLOOD STAGE.
WAC061-270128- /O.NEW.KSEW.FL.W.0060.091126T1732Z-091127T0931Z/ /ARLW1.1.ER.091126T1732Z.091126T1800Z.091127T0031Z.NO/ 828 AM PST THU NOV 26 2009
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN SEATTLE HAS ISSUED A
* FLOOD WARNING FOR THE STILLAGUAMISH RIVER AT ARLINGTON * UNTIL LATE TONIGHT. * AT 8:09 AM THURSDAY THE STAGE WAS 13.6 FEET. * FLOOD STAGE IS 14.0 FEET. * MINOR FLOODING IS FORECAST. * FORECAST...THE RIVER WILL RISE ABOVE FLOOD STAGE AROUND 10 AM THURSDAY AND CREST NEAR 14.1 FEET AROUND 10 AM THURSDAY. THE RIVER WILL FALL BELOW FLOOD STAGE LATE THIS AFTERNOON. * IMPACT...AT 14.0 FEET...THE STILLAGUAMISH RIVER WILL LOCALLY SPILL OVER ITS BANKS. MINOR FLOODING AROUND SILVANA WILL OCCUR... INCLUDING OVER PIONEER HIGHWAY. A STAGE OF 14 FEET ON THE STILLAGUAMISH RIVER CORRESPONDS ROUGHLY TO PHASE 2 IN THE SNOHOMISH COUNTY FLOOD PROGRAM.
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Monk
Paddler
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 Posted: 27 Nov 2009 at 8:40am |
Anyone interested in the Pilchuck today? Lowish perhaps.
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jP
Rio Banditos
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 Posted: 27 Nov 2009 at 8:29pm |
...in other words:
Originally posted by huckin harms
should be good today.
so how was that today?anyone get out on it?
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JoesKayak
Rio Banditos
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 Posted: 13 Jan 2010 at 12:57pm |
Don't look now, but the PIlly has been coming up to runnable levels the last couple days.
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JoesKayak
Rio Banditos
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 Posted: 13 Jan 2010 at 3:39pm |
...and it looks like it might be in this weekend.  Come on, rain!
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jP
Rio Banditos
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 Posted: 16 Jan 2010 at 1:23pm |
My guess is it may be in Sun, more likely Mon, if it comes in.
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JoesKayak
Rio Banditos
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 Posted: 26 Mar 2010 at 12:32pm |
Well, I'll be dipped!
The ole Pilly shot up today to a nice, juicy 2100 cfs and of course is now dropping and will be too low tomorrow, most likely.
I hope someone spotted that and made it out to give her a run. it would be a shame if no one got on this little blast of h2o
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Texas Dave
McNasty
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 Posted: 26 Mar 2010 at 1:55pm |
Wow - good catch Joe.
Anybody want to hit it tonight? I can be at the takeout around 3:30 - 4. Just enough time to make a run.
Give me a call soon.
425-754-9477
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JoesKayak
Rio Banditos
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 Posted: 26 Mar 2010 at 3:37pm |
Man!... I wish.
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jP
Rio Banditos
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 Posted: 26 Mar 2010 at 8:24pm |
I wish, Too! Who'da thought? Gotta be quick on the draw for that one!
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JoesKayak
Rio Banditos
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 Posted: 28 May 2010 at 10:06am |
Be advised!
She's a spikin' fast!!! And rain forecast all day... might be in for Saturday!
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jP
Rio Banditos
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 Posted: 28 May 2010 at 10:12am |
Think I'm going for more FITness on the Wah
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PowWrangler
PP Junkie
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 Posted: 28 May 2010 at 10:18am |
I could be into that if she's anywhere in the 1,300 to 3,000 range.
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jP
Rio Banditos
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 Posted: 28 May 2010 at 10:36am |
I'd go for 2000 and up, but its FITWah season so...
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