Just to toss it out there, Puntledge River Festival is this weekend in Courtney, BC on Vancouver Island if anyone is interested...about 3-4 hours drive plus ferry from Seattle I believe?

Upper Puntledge is an amazing IV-V creek run with 300 foot slides and waterfalls, the lower is a great class III play run with 4-5 great surfing features rivaling Wenatchee's playrun. In the immediate area is also Lower, Upper and Alpine Browns, class III-V creeking w/waterfalls as well as a plethora other island classics of every class which should be running over the weekend.

Puntledge flows are guaranteed dam release 85 cms Saturday and 85-110 cms Sunday.

If you've never hit it up, something to consider! Google it for more info.

The Puntledge is a neat river that at the higher end of flows really does rival the Wenatchee's playboating. The benched bedrock riverbed results in more playwaves strewn around than any river I've seen. The upper has some long slides and is a great intro to steep class V creeking. The Alpine Browns is a little manky but is unlike any BC creek I've done. Highlight is a fun 20'er.
Glad we made it out to the Puntledge Fest. Got to meet lots of great people, good camping, nice weather and an amazing live performance that consisted of one guy with drums, guitar, microphone and 4 didgeridoos: http://www.myspace.com/shanephilip